Using Pinterest for Education

You have probably heard of this social media tool… but can it help you find educational resources? Can it be used for educational purposes? http://pinterest.com

What is Pinterest? Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. It allows users to organize and share all the great resources that can be found on the web. Educators can browse boards created by other educators to discover resources, lessons, websites, tools, and ideas.  Pinterest is made up of Pins and Boards. A Pin is an image added to Pinterest. A pin can be added from any website using the Pin It Button, or images can be uploaded from a computer. Each pin added using the Pin It Button links back to the site it came from. This creates an archive of materials on a specific subject or topic.  A board is basically a set of pins. A board can be created on any topic, such as a subject area, topic of study, curricular area,  or educational technology tools. Users can add as many pins to a board as they want. These boards can then be shared with others.

 How Can Pinterest Be Used in Education?

• Curration of Content - resource boards can be used as a visually engaging way to gather and access information
• Collaboration - collaborative boards can be set up so that multiple users can pin together ideas and resources in order to create one combined visual storage place of information
• Engaging students with technology - boards can be used as portfolios, for finding and sharing cultural and historical information, for creating a digital newspaper, for creating a photo journal with captions in a foreign language or documenting a trip they took, and for creating a virtual field trip.
• Sharing conference summaries and notes - presenters share their websites and links to useful information during their lectures. Pinterest provides a platform for accumulating this information and sharing it with colleagues who were unable to attend the conference
• Finding tutorials on topics that you need to represent on an online course
• Teaching copyright and digital citizenship - use this as an opportunity to teach students that many images and photos are creative works that need to be appropriately cited when "pinned". Encourage your students to be aware that written permission may be needed in order to "pin" a professional photo.
• Encouraging creativity - allow students to use their imaginations to create their boards and organize them in a way that is visually stimulating and useful

Note: Keep in mind that Pinterest also includes people outside of education and educators must use discretion if including students. Please check the Pinterest Terms of Use.

Want to learn more about Pinterest in Education? Check out these links:

• Edudemic: Straight Forward Guide To Using Pinterest In The Classroom – Great article with Infographic.
• Teachers’ Quick Guide To Pinterest – Another outstanding ”Getting Started Article” from Edudemic
• 30 Inspiring Pinterest Pins For Teachers – Some great ideas… be sure to check school AUP and Terms
• Pinterest and Education: Are you Playing with Pinterest Yet? Stephen's Lighthouse blog.
• Pinterest Resources For Teachers – Some outstanding articles and resources  including who to follow and great ed boards.
• Pinterest For Educators – Great ideas from Edutopia.
• Pinterest For Teacher Video Tutorial Part 1 – If you have about 5 minutes you can learn a lot
• Pinterest in 90 Seconds Video –  Learn the concept fast.