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

Bitly is a helpful URL shortener that Ive utilized for many years. There is a simple way to rapidly identify whats behind a Bitly URL without in fact clicking on the link. When you include the “+” the URL will redirect to Bitly rather of to whatever the initial URL was.

Bitly is a helpful URL shortener that Ive utilized for lots of years. As a signed up user I can develop custom-made, reduced URLs that individuals can in fact spell. I use these whenever I require to share a link to a Canva or Google Slides discussion since the default URLs offered by those services are always long and incoherent..

Applications for Education.
Building great digital citizenship and cyber security abilities is something that everybody must be helping our students do. Showing them little pointers like this one to avoid clicking on suspicious links is one of the methods that we can assist our students develop their digital citizenship and cyber security skills.

There is a simple method to rapidly identify whats behind a Bitly URL without really clicking on the link. The trick is to simply add a “+” to the end of any Bitly URL. When you add the “+” the URL will redirect to Bitly rather of to whatever the initial URL was.
You can attempt this trick with a URL that I just recently reduced. Bit.ly/ THWTAPRIL will lead you directly to a copy of the slides that I used in 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 produced the reduced URL..
View this short video to see how you can use the “+” technique to discover whats hidden behind a Bitly link..