Surfly - Surf the Web Together

I know it has been a while since I posted anything on this blog (over two months) but I came across this resource today and thought it is well worth sharing.  Surfly is an tool that allows users to share a link to a webpage that they would like users to surf with them.  In the age of One to One the teachers ability to showcase a webpage to students at the same time they are using it would be very beneficial.  Registering for the site is as simple as providing an email address and a password and then agreeing to the terms and service.

With Surfly, all you do is provide a link and then when users visit the site their arrow is highlighted and users can show them certain areas of the website they are surfing that they want them to focus on.  Surfly would be a great tool to teach students about authentic resources and information on websites, how to use Wikipedia for research, the steps to create usernames and passwords, or use the various web 2.0 tools that are available.  Surfly works on any device as well, so if you are using iPads or Tablets, you can use the service as well.  For more information, see the video below.

Bundlr

Bundlr is another option for organizing and sharing content from the web.  There are several options out there that I have shared in the past.  Bundlr allows users to sign in using either a Facebook or Twitter account.  Bundlr could be used by teachers to organize websites that they want their students to use for research or to share in class covering a specific topic.  It could also be used to collect current events stories for the purpose of gathering different views. 

Bit.ly Bundles

This is similar to some other sites out there.  I recently posted about BridgeURL. A lot of people use various URL shorteners but I have always favored Bit.ly.  Bit.ly has recently introduced Bit.ly Bundles which allows users to group several URL's together and then share one URL.  There are several features that you can use that increase the use of Bit.ly Bundles. 

With each site you can add a title, description and notes to the page, making the tool very useful to share several links in a presentation.  You have the freedom of arranging your links in a particular order as well, which can also be a benefit for presenting websites.  Once you share your bundle, people who view it can comment on the bundle, therefore your websites can start a conversation and can lead to a discussion on effectiveness and use of the websites. 

SchoolRack - Free Website or Blog

SchoolRack is a site that advertises itself as a place for teachers to create websites and blogs to increase communication with parents and students.  SchoolRack says that it is free of advertisements and that you can upgrade to a Pro account for a small fee.
 
Without creating an account myself, it seems to have a useful and easy to follow user interface.  It also has a simple Teacher Search, making it easy for parents and students to find your site if the URL is not handy.  When looking at one of the websites, there is an option in the top corner that allows you to click and receive an email when the website is updated, kind of like an RSS feed.  SchoolRack looks to me like this site would be a great starting point for teachers hesitate about creating their own website.