Bitly is a helpful URL shortener that I’ve used for a few years. As a registered consumer I can create customized, shortened URLs that folks can truly spell. I exploit these each time I must share a hyperlink to a Canva or Google Slides presentation as a result of the default URLs supplied by these companies are at all times lengthy and incoherent. 

Sadly, not all Bitly customers are utilizing them for good causes. Some individuals use them to cover nefarious hyperlinks. Happily, there’s a straightforward strategy to shortly decide what’s behind a Bitly URL with out truly clicking on the hyperlink. The trick is to easily add a “+” to the tip of any Bitly URL. If you add the “+” the URL will redirect to Bitly as a substitute of to regardless of the authentic URL was. That may then present you the Bitly web page on which the shortened URL is hosted and can present you what the unique hyperlink was. 

You may do that trick with a URL that I just lately shortened. Bit.ly/THWTAPRIL will lead you on to a copy of the slides that I utilized in my latest Intro to Educating Historical past With Expertise webinar. Bit.ly/THWTAPRIL+ will lead you to the Bitly web page the place you may see my authentic presentation URL and see once I created the shortened URL. 

Watch this brief video to see how you need to use the “+” trick to seek out out what’s hidden behind a Bitly hyperlink. 

Purposes for Training

Constructing good digital citizenship and cyber security expertise is one thing that every one of us needs to be serving to our college students do. Exhibiting them little suggestions like this one to keep away from clicking on suspicious hyperlinks is likely one of the ways in which we can assist our college students construct their digital citizenship and cyber security expertise.