Teacher Technology - URL Shortener Makes Sharing Long Ugly Links a Breeze

Unhelpful Teacher Meme

You found an awesome website link that needs to be shared with everyone! And I mean everyone -- friends, family, strangers, students, colleagues and little Betty's soccer coach. But there's a problem. The link for this amazing website is 273 characters long and attempting to pass it on always ends in tears. Being dyslexic, I especially feel your pain. Well, we're in luck! Nobody ever ever ever needs to be the teacher up ^ there again! See, the world is just.

Shortening a URL 

Web address, link, shortening is quick and easy. URL shorteners came into vogue due to Twitter's concrete 140 character limit. However, short URLs are handy far beyond Twitter and provide features such as tracking clicks or QR codes for every link as well.

Below I listed my two absolute favorite URL shorteners. Also, I included a quick "how to" tour and tutorial of the sites at bottom of this post. These URL shrink rays are middle school history teacher tested and approved, impressive, I know. Give them a shot. Start living an easier life today!

tiny.cc (link)
As a teacher tiny.cc is my favorite for two big reasons.

Reason 1: Custom short URLs. Instead of having a computer randomly assign you a link such as tiny.cc/tzy3j5, you can create you own. For example, I used tiny.cc for a History Channel Civil War 150 anniversary website, I shortened the URL to be tiny.cc/cw150.

And here is what it spits out.

Reason 2: Tiny.cc lets you easily track clicks on a URL. Just make a free account, it is painless and fast. Then you have access to total clicks and other details shown below.

goo.gl (link)
Yes, goo.gl is owned by Google and is also fairly handy.

• The Good: This shortener is has an even more simple interface than tiny.cc and is backed by Google, very reliable. Also if you want great tracking data and a QR code with every link, goo.gl is the way to go. You do need a Google account to access the data and QR code.
• The Bad: There is one main "bad" but it is a big bad for teachers. You cannot create custom URLs. Some students will struggle to enter even short strings if they are entirely random characters. 

Copy link, click Shorten URL and you're ready to rock.

Other URL Shorteners acceptable for teachers

http://is.gd.com - pronounced "is good," bare bones but gets the job done
http://tinyURL.com - the original URL shortener. They make money through advertising
http://bit.ly - has a paid Pro level
http://ow.ly - Part of Hootsuite's free service but they also have a paid revenue model

The Best URL Shorteners for Educators

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