Qwiki has been on a number of my “The Best…” lists — it’s sort of a multimedia search engine that provides audio support for text, and it’s very engaging.
I was “bummed-out” last month when I read in TechCrunch that they were changing their focus and instead were going to emphasize themselves as a new platform to create presentations. I then went to the usual Qwiki link, and found that yes, they were now a presentation platform. It wasn’t open to the public yet, but you could request an invitation.
So, I went to some of my “The Best…” lists and removed Qwiki from them.
I just received an invite to try out their new service, and wasn’t that impressed (though Richard Byrne has a more positive take on it). Just as I was going to click-off, though, I saw a small line at the bottom of the site asking “Looking for Qwiki Reference?”
I clicked on it, was brought to a new url address and there it was — the old excellent Qwiki (the url is now http://www.qwiki.com/reference).
So, now, that site goes back to being on The Best Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced English Language Learner Sites and The Best Search Engines For ESL/EFL Learners lists.
Hi,
Found your blog when I googled for the “old” qwiki, and I fully agree with you! As a Swedish ICT-coordinator I was thrilled with the opportunity to engage our learners with a cool resource which would also improve their skills in English.
Now, I sent a message to the qwiki-people, expressing my concern that the old site will soon disappear as I cannot find any other way to access it but by typing the url, no links, no info… and I also referred to this post, just so you´ll know.
Your blog looks interesting and I´ll make sure to check it out more thouroghly once I find the time 🙂
/Åsa Hofsten
Östersund, Sweden (check it out on Qwiki!)