Thinglink
By Shannon VanHorn, Director of Distance Learning and Faculty Development
Introduction:
Many of us have models, timelines, photographs, and even videos we use in our classes.
Would you like to make these items even more interactive? Have you seen material that has
mouseovers (additional information about something pops up when you run your mouse
over it)? Ever wished you could do this yourself? Well, now you can!
Tool Identification:
Thinglink is a cool tool that allows you to add information to the graphic you post for your
students. You will need to create an account. Then for free, you can create a class for your
students and invite them via e-mail to the class. What can you do in the class? Well, I’m
teaching Introduction to Public Speaking online this summer. I plan on putting up the
communication model and inserting information on each part of the model, so that
students just need to click on the “I” icon (meaning “information” for each part. When they
click on “ sender, “ I may have my own definition on what a “sender” is. Or I may have a link
to a short article, slideshow, or video that discusses the “sender” component. I may have
my own little video I created to talk about this component. All the student has to do is click
on the icon to get this additional information.
Creating the information or making links is very simple—with just a click or two of a
button. And one classroom is free. If I want more than one classroom, it costs $35 a year.
Rather than having page after page of text for students to read, they can click on icons and
read more information about your subject, diagram, photo, etc. You can also search and
use other people’s works, which are open via Creative Commons Licensing.
How to get the tool:
Go to www.thinglink.com .
How to use the tool:
1. Upload a photo of a theorist or someone well known in the field and include links to
interviews with him or her, research s/he has conducted, and pop culture articles or
videos about him or her.
2. Include a photo or diagram related to the topic of your course (such as equations,
parts of the body, maps, compositions, and such) and include information that
provides further information about your subject.
3. Have students create thinglinks for topics in the course that they can then share
with each other.
4. Use Thinglink for advertising your program.
5. Create scavenger hunts where one link takes students to another with clues to
another link.
Conclusion:
Thinglink adds another interactive component for homework or an online course that
engages students into the course. Try it!