With the advent of Web 2.0, the Internet has exploded. People are constantly posting and sharing websites in both their professional and personal arenas. With URLs typically long and cumbersome in length, web-shortening sites are quickly gaining traction, especially in today’s classrooms where teachers are constantly posting web resources for their students. These sites (e.g. tinyurl or goo.gl) are simple to use and literally take seconds to convert your lengthy URL into something shorter, cleaner, and more manageable.
For this assignment, I used Goo.gl to shorten the URL to my blog (pizziclass.weebly.com). Here is the shortened link: http://goo.gl/RgFM9h
Another digital curation method I employed this week was to work with Quiet Tube, a bookmarklet or browser extension that removes all the “clutter” from You Tube videos. This clutter can take the form of advertisements, comments, and other videos. Further, as we discussed in Week 1, You Tube can sometimes pose a challenge for teachers when inappropriate content suddenly appears on the screens of their students. Thankfully, with Quiet Tube, those days are disappearing.
Click here for an example of a video I made “quieter” with Quiet Tube:
http://tinyurl.com/k8jpn8t (notice how I used a web shortening tool!!)
Lastly, although I never caught the QR Code bug while teaching, I am beginning to see its value. With more and more schools allowing the use of mobile devices in the classroom, QR Code activities are beginning to gain popularity amongst teachers and students. The process is actually quite simple.
1. Build a lesson that utilizes multiple websites
2. Build a QR code on Delivr.com (takes seconds!)
3. Print the code that was generated and think of creative ways in which to embed it into your lesson (i.e. scavenger hunt or station teaching)
See below for my QR Code for an article on the JFK Assassination: