How SMS Links Have Shaped Remote Learning

How SMS Links Have Shaped Remote Learning

To say that the pandemic has changed the way we experience life personally and professionally is an understatement. Its impact on our everyday lives is still seen today and felt throughout several industries, but none more than our education system. COVID-19 shaped the way our educators teach and how students learn, which proved to be a delicate balance between engaging students and keeping parents updated.

Between emails, the news, and managing the constant changes of life, staying up to date with the latest developments and changes to school procedures and curriculum has been managed through SMS links. Online learning required quick and swift action that gave new value to SMS links because they could be distributed quickly and easily between teachers, students, parents, and school officials. While it’ll be years before we ever know the full scale of how SMS links are used for remote learning, here’s a few ways they have changed the educational system so far.

How The Pandemic Changed Our Education System

School icon

Education had to make a pivot during the pandemic which opened up the gates for remote learning and hybrid approaches that blended together traditional and digital learning concepts. Remote learning allowed for school systems to adapt to the needs of different demographics whether it was a teenager, child, a person with a job or even special needs. It expanded the opportunity for new types of classes, virtual tutoring, video conferencing, and partnerships with online learning platforms that some schools still use today. However, like many changes during the pandemic, the trial and error of remote learning proved to be challenging for educators and parents who had concerns over continued learning, access to learning materials, and ensuring younger children are interacting with safe digital resources. While remote learning in itself isn’t a new concept since there were models like this pre-pandemic, the widespread adoption of it globally as a way to educate students left many unanswered questions for parents and educators who were unsure of how to navigate digital learning. 

Remote learning may not be for everyone; but there are many educators who are able to leverage SMS links from link shortening tools like Bitly to fulfill the demands of digital learning. Over 60% of the global population owns a mobile device which include 96% of Americans. Here are a few of the benefits of using SMS links whether you’re a student, administrator, teacher, or parent:

  • Keeping students engaged and learning at home regardless of any community or global crisis.
  • Homework is accessible and readily available via an SMS link that students can easily click on.
  • Parents can have visibility into their children’s learning experience by accessing their lectures, homework, and assignments with SMS links.
  • SMS links can drive clicks towards important mobile-ready downloads like audio, video, and images that can be accessed anywhere.
  • SMS alerts can be used to keep educational goals like grades, report cards, or missed projects.
Elementary School SMS message with a Bitly link

Why Bitly SMS Links Can Help Strengthen Digital Learning

SMS link

One of the hallmarks of SMS links is that they are short, bite sized links that can be customized and branded to make your digital experience simple and effective for your students. Bitly users have the ability to generate branded links that have been used by small businesses, creators, and enterprise organizations all around the world. While schools may not need to grow their brand awareness, they do need to have trusted, safe, and reliable links that parents and students can trust on their mobile devices. Parents have to be able to trust that they are getting accurate and timely messages that will enhance and not deter their child’s learning experience whether it’s a toddler or college student. Bitly is here to help. If you’re wondering what the correlation is between short links and SMS, we’ve got you covered. You can’t send a SMS link without a short link and with Bitly, you can do both!

Short links work with SMS because they are already optimized for mobile devices that will make it easier for your students to engage with their digital content whether they need to download an specific learning platform app or proceed to the mobile experience. SMS communications require short and concise messaging that is 160 characters or less so using short links ensure you can get your messaging out in one text message instead of a series of messages that could get lost or out of order. Nobody wants to read their assignments backwards. In addition to mobile optimization, short links can be used to inspire action that enable students to click on the right modules, lessons, and announcements with customized messaging that tells them where the link is pointing to. Instead of seeing a link that may appear suspicious or scammy, they can click and know they are going to a trusted site where they will get reputable information.

How SMS Can Be Used In Education

Girl with a tablet

We’ve covered the basics of SMS links, but it’s been amazing to see how they have been used to adapt, strengthen, and innovate the remote learning experience because at one point, this was a universal experience for students, parents, and teachers all over the world. The move to online learning could become a pivotal catalyst for our education system in the future and understanding how and why SMS links should be used is important. Without the constraints of traveling and traditional schooling, students were provided the opportunity to engage deeper in their learning and to do so safely. SMS is a low-cost and affordable way to give people of all class, culture, and backgrounds the opportunity to learn and it’s fantastic to see what a little link can do for remote learning. Check out a few examples of how SMS links have been used across all grades and spectrums of higher education.

University and Higher Education

  • Use a dedicated SMS link to enable discussions during pertinent lectures while distance learning.
  • Enrollment can be hectic during the mid-semester season and you can remind your students to start choosing their classes and get enrolled before they miss the deadline.
  • Teachers can send anonymous surveys that help rate their classroom performance and curriculum with a short SMS text.
  • Collegiate bookstores can send SMS links to students during restocks of popular classroom textbooks that are available for purchase.
  • Professors can provide students with eco-friendly options to access their E-books via SMS links with trusted retailers.
College SMS message with a Bitly link

Elementary Education through High School 

  • Keep parents informed with emergency alerts whether there’s a public health crisis, weather forecast, or community threat.
  • No parent wants to miss their parent-teacher conference, SMS links can be used to send friendly reminders of their appointments or allow them to reschedule for a different day.
  • SMS links can be used to help inform parents of student absences they may be unaware of that allows for them to take corrective action at home.
  • Extracurricular activities like band, sports, and theaters can use SMS links to remind students and parents of upcoming school events and promote ticket sales.
High School SMS message with a Bitly link

Are you ready to enhance your digital learning experience with SMS links? Contact a sales rep today to find out how you can get started.


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Mobile SMS Marketing

Desiree Johnson

Content Writer, Bitly

Desiree has been a professional writer for over a decade with an expertise in social management and branding. As a Content Writer, she creates marketing content to help people learn more about how they can ignite action with their links using Bitly.