I've never bothered with URL shorteners before. In the time it takes to shorten something I figured I could just type in the whole thing, and hyperlink. But then, in our assignment for this week, the directions stated that you should be able to give the link to someone over the phone. Now that makes sense to me.
I started with this URL: http://www.methacton.org/domain/1083
Ow.ly came up with this: http://ow.ly/Y2Tu6
I'm not seeing the improvement. Even worse, I found out that my school district blocks ow.ly EVEN THOUGH THEY USE IT:
Methacton Schools @MethactonMSD to host free screening of a film
confronting the opioid epidemic,
get the details at http://ow.ly/Y0gAX
But then I went to tinyurl.com and ended up with this:
tinyurl.com/WorTechClub
Perfect! I can absolutely give people that link over the phone, And if I send an email and forget the hyperlink it will be fine.
I started with this URL: http://www.methacton.org/domain/1083
Ow.ly came up with this: http://ow.ly/Y2Tu6
I'm not seeing the improvement. Even worse, I found out that my school district blocks ow.ly EVEN THOUGH THEY USE IT:
Methacton Schools @MethactonMSD to host free screening of a film
confronting the opioid epidemic,
get the details at http://ow.ly/Y0gAX
But then I went to tinyurl.com and ended up with this:
tinyurl.com/WorTechClub
Perfect! I can absolutely give people that link over the phone, And if I send an email and forget the hyperlink it will be fine.
I even put the link (and a QR code) on the back of a fun STEAM bookmark!
Speaking of QR codes, I've tried to use them a little for things like an iPad scavenger hunt. I've helped other teachers use them for various projects. And I have some students using their MakerMonday time to record themselves reading some popular books so the younger students can borrow a book, scan a QR code and follow along. We've made some recordings but have yet to add QR codes to the books. The process has so many steps!
I have 6 iPads for library use, and I would like to have the students using them more for looking up the books they want. So I was brainstorming ideas and came up with a great one - students are always looking for the next book in a series. Creating QR codes to link to the series list will be extremely helpful, and I'm sure the students will make use of it.
I picked 10 series - because ultimately I can print these out on shipping labels, 10 per page - and went to Delivr.com. Delivr certainly has a lot of features - you can track who does what with the links and other business-related activities. However, you can only generate 5 QR codes under the 'free' account. They say 5 'campaigns,' and I was expecting it to be 5 different topic or ideas. But it is quite literally 5 QR codes. So when I got to #6 - it said I reached the limit. No problem, I archived a couple and kept going. However. I found out when I tested them the the 'archived' QR codes no longer work. I was quite surprised. Perhaps the data gathering capabilities would no longer work, but I expect the simple linking properties would. Nope, Delivr.com didn't deliver.
Now I have a great idea - QR code series lookup - and I need to execute it! I remember hearing that Google Sheets can create QR codes. Can it ever! You used to have to do this:
Speaking of QR codes, I've tried to use them a little for things like an iPad scavenger hunt. I've helped other teachers use them for various projects. And I have some students using their MakerMonday time to record themselves reading some popular books so the younger students can borrow a book, scan a QR code and follow along. We've made some recordings but have yet to add QR codes to the books. The process has so many steps!
I have 6 iPads for library use, and I would like to have the students using them more for looking up the books they want. So I was brainstorming ideas and came up with a great one - students are always looking for the next book in a series. Creating QR codes to link to the series list will be extremely helpful, and I'm sure the students will make use of it.
I picked 10 series - because ultimately I can print these out on shipping labels, 10 per page - and went to Delivr.com. Delivr certainly has a lot of features - you can track who does what with the links and other business-related activities. However, you can only generate 5 QR codes under the 'free' account. They say 5 'campaigns,' and I was expecting it to be 5 different topic or ideas. But it is quite literally 5 QR codes. So when I got to #6 - it said I reached the limit. No problem, I archived a couple and kept going. However. I found out when I tested them the the 'archived' QR codes no longer work. I was quite surprised. Perhaps the data gathering capabilities would no longer work, but I expect the simple linking properties would. Nope, Delivr.com didn't deliver.
Now I have a great idea - QR code series lookup - and I need to execute it! I remember hearing that Google Sheets can create QR codes. Can it ever! You used to have to do this:
resize your spreadsheet, add formulas to generate the code, etc. etc.
Now, thanks to a Google Add On called QR Code Generator all you do is specify two columns, one with the information to be encoded and one with the label or caption:
Now, thanks to a Google Add On called QR Code Generator all you do is specify two columns, one with the information to be encoded and one with the label or caption:
Then click Generate, and you get a document with labels. Fantastic! With the other QR generators I tried I had to open and rename every single code computerspeak into English. This add on takes care of that and generates a new document.
I still would like to figure out how to generate a label document so I can print and stick. But in the meantime, voila!
I also worked with a few bookmarklets in an attempt to make the whole 'Using YouTube in Class' process go more smoothly. Quietube works very well - especially now that a colleague showed me how to mute the A/V on my projector. So I can keep the projector light off until I've started the video, closed the on-screen pop-ups or adds and hit the Quietube bookmarklet. I still need to be a little bit careful as the students close to me can still see my computer.
KeepVid sounded great as well. We've been looking for a way to allow students to use specific videos in school. But only teachers have YouTube access. KeepVid could be the answer - I can download and then share the links with students.
But alas - KeepVid is blocked at school. So I decide to try downloading at home on my personal laptop and saving to my dropbox. Then I can use the dropbox link to allow students to view the videos. Well, KeepVid is a little problematic on a Mac. It doesn't work well in a Chrome browser. I got it to work in Safari after making a few adjustments to my settings. If those are one time adjustments then I think KeepVid will be valuable. I need to check how the video quality is after being download on one computer, uploaded to dropbox and played on another. What do you think - here's one of my favorite Kid Snippet videos. If you don't know Kid Snippets, you really should! Enjoy!
Update: I just heard there is a KeepVid for Mac somewhere... if that is a bookmarklet as well I guess I should check it out. Although mine is working fine now.
KeepVid sounded great as well. We've been looking for a way to allow students to use specific videos in school. But only teachers have YouTube access. KeepVid could be the answer - I can download and then share the links with students.
But alas - KeepVid is blocked at school. So I decide to try downloading at home on my personal laptop and saving to my dropbox. Then I can use the dropbox link to allow students to view the videos. Well, KeepVid is a little problematic on a Mac. It doesn't work well in a Chrome browser. I got it to work in Safari after making a few adjustments to my settings. If those are one time adjustments then I think KeepVid will be valuable. I need to check how the video quality is after being download on one computer, uploaded to dropbox and played on another. What do you think - here's one of my favorite Kid Snippet videos. If you don't know Kid Snippets, you really should! Enjoy!
Update: I just heard there is a KeepVid for Mac somewhere... if that is a bookmarklet as well I guess I should check it out. Although mine is working fine now.