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Trick.ly

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What it is: There are several url shortening tools out there that let you shrink down a cumbersome url into something more manageable for sharing.  Trick.ly is a url shortener with an added feature: it can be password protected.  When you share the url, you can add a clue and a password that has to be used in order for the shared website to be accessed.  You may be wondering why you would want to password protect a url in the classroom, I’m glad you asked… 

How to integrate Trick.ly into the classroom: I am constantly sharing shortened url’s with my students, it makes it easy to get all my students to the same website quickly.  Trick.ly adds the ability to password protect the url.  This could add a layer of learning and fun to accessing websites in the classroom.  Give your students a Trick.ly shortened url with a secret clue that helps students “unlock” the website. For example, if you are using National Geographic Maps website with your students, don’t just send them to the website, give them a clue that is related to the website such as “Capital of Colorado”.  Students have to correctly solve the puzzle to unlock access to the game.  The password “Denver” would provide students with access to the website.  Create Trick.ly shortened url’s with math, geography, history, spelling, vocabulary, science, or foreign language problems built in.  Make the clue to solve related to the end website that students will access.  Kids enjoy solving problems, adding a puzzle to a website gives students a sense of anticipation for the activity they will be completing.  Trick.ly urls take just seconds to create, they are a fast, easy way to direct your students to a website.

Tips: Trick.ly would be a great way to share websites and web pages that you create for your classroom.  We have a school Facebook and Twitter account.  If I wanted to share pictures I took of our school carnival, I could share them with Trick.ly, adding a layer of protection.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Trick.ly in your classroom.

Founder of Anastasis Academy, The Learning Genome Project, 5Sigma Education Conference, tech integration specialist, instructional coach, writer, dreamer.

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11 Comments

  1. Hi Kelly. I love this idea. It gets the kids thinking before they even see the activity. Anything that promotes thinking is good with me 🙂

  2. This is a really good idea and one way to share items only with your class. They will feel really special that way too.

  3. This looks like a good tool for another reason. Kids often make mistakes entering URLs, this adds a good layer of protection to keep them from landing on unintended sites. Thanks for sharing.

  4. I like this! When I first started reading your post, I was not sure how interesting another url shortener could be, but you changed my mind! I really like how you share idea about ways to integrate things into the classroom. I can’t wait to share this post … I may even need to tweet it! Have a great day Kelly! 🙂

  5. Great thought Matt, it does add a nice layer of protection so that students don’t end up somewhere unintentional.

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