As Pinterest has continued to evolve, we have seen its growth in personal, business, and professional areas. However, one trend to keep an eye on with Pinterest for the future is education. Social media has largely been condemned by schools and universities with sites like Facebook and Twitter causing more issues than assistance. However, Pinterest is looking like something that teachers and professors have found to offer potential. If you’re an educator or are simply interested in how Pinterest continues to grow, here are some key ideas on how to effectively use Pinterest for education.
1.) Supplement Lesson Plans – Because Pinterest is such a visual media, graphic arts and image classes are featuring Pinterest pinboards in the classroom. The idea is to showcase upcoming and completed projects. Some marketing and communication courses are also requiring students to use Pinterest as a specific media in multimedia communications presentations.
This is, for many teachers, the first time they have required social media integration in project presentations. Teachers have also found pinboards to be very useful in keeping ideas for future lesson plans in one spot. By pinning material, Pinterest allows a visual reminder for these teachers to come back to.
2.) Sharing Ideas & Offering Assistance – Teachers and professors are also using Pinterest as a way to offer their students assistance beyond the classroom. Teachers are placing visual assistance materials such as assignment guidelines and problem examples for students to follow and learn from. In addition, some teachers are setting up pinboards to present students an area to share ideas that will help spur future topics and communication. One example shows a professor setting up a “World Events” board that allowed students to pin images of current event articles that would then be discussed in class.
3.) Student Usage – In order to create a better atmosphere for learning, some teachers have set up classroom pinboards. These boards help to present an organized way for students to accumulate ideas for group projects, presentations, essays, etc. It helps students collaborate with their group members in a more engaging way. This is because each student can see what resources have been discovered and how each resource can be used to effectively complete the project.
These are just a few ways that teachers and professors have incorporated Pinterest into the classroom. With Pinterest still rapidly evolving, there are sure to be many more ways educators will find to use Pinterest. Be sure to check back occasionally to see how this resource develops.
