This post originally appeared on FreeTech4Teachers.com. It has actually been utilized without consent if you see it elsewhere. Sites that routinely take my (Richard Byrnes) work include CloudComputin, TodayHeadline, and 711Web.

There is an easy way to rapidly identify whats behind a Bitly URL without in fact clicking on the link. The trick is to simply include a “+” to the end of any Bitly URL. When you add the “+” the URL will redirect to Bitly instead of to whatever the initial URL was.
You can try this technique with a URL that I just recently shortened. Bit.ly/ THWTAPRIL will lead you straight to a copy of the slides that I utilized my current Intro to Teaching History With Technology webinar. Bit.ly/ THWTAPRIL+ will lead you to the Bitly page where you can see my original presentation URL and see when I created the reduced URL..
Enjoy this short video to see how you can utilize the “+” trick to discover whats concealed behind a Bitly link..

Bitly is a handy URL shortener that Ive used for many years. As a signed up user I can produce custom, shortened URLs that people can really spell. I utilize these whenever I need to share a link to a Canva or Google Slides presentation due to the fact that the default URLs offered by those services are always long and incoherent..

Bitly is an useful URL shortener that Ive used for numerous years. There is an easy method to rapidly determine whats behind a Bitly URL without in fact clicking on the link. When you add the “+” the URL will redirect to Bitly rather of to whatever the original URL was.

Applications for Education.
Structure great digital citizenship and cyber security abilities is something that all of us should be assisting our trainees do. Revealing them little ideas like this one to prevent clicking on suspicious links is one of the ways that we can assist our trainees build their digital citizenship and cyber security skills.