Pinterest has taken off in the past few months. According to a Shareholic study, it exceeds reddit, Google+, Linkedin, and YouTube as a referral source. It may seem as though everyone you know is Pinning something to the online bulletin boards to share their favorite articles, collections, and items available online. This is a great social networking tool that you can use for educational purposes, whether you are a teacher or a student. This tool can make it possible to create boards for specific projects and to collect and share lesson resources.

Visit the Education Category

One of the easiest ways to begin using Pinterest for education is to visit the education category page on the site. This allows you to browse boards that other members have created on a variety of educational topics. As you browse you may find boards that cover the material you are already looking for and you can link to them as an additional resource for your class or lesson planning.

Creating your Own Boards

Another option is to use this as an organizational tool for the information that you find online that you can use in the classroom. It is easy to Pin the site you find to a board on the right topic so that you can access the information when you need it. One of the problems with bookmarks is that it is too easy for them to become disorganized, and you may spend a lot of wasted time sifting through them all. The Pinterest format also provides a nice visual so that you can remember what the site was about and quickly find the source that you are looking for.

Providing Reading Lists and Additional Resources

College professors have begun to use Pinterest as a place to post their syllabus, as well as additional resources for the classes. One example of this is Steven Bickmore’s Pinterest boards. He teaches English, and has several boards dedicated to specific classes or focus groups. One example looks at his reading for one class, while another looks at literary theory.

Finding Projects and Supplemental Material

Parents can also use the information they find on Pinterest to supplement the school projects and learning that their students are doing in school. A quick search on science projects bring up a wide variety of Pins that have several links to ideas for projects as well as resources to get organized. As you find what you like, you can add it to your Pins, so that you can easily find and access the information again. Parents who homeschool can make the same use of the resources, and take advantage of the research done by other homeschoolers to make completing projects much easier.

Students Using It to Track Research

Another possible use is to have your students create boards dedicated to research projects. This is a great way for students who are working on group projects to share resources remotely and then generate discussion based on the research that was completed. The research is easy to use and share, and the visual appeal of Pinterest will make it easier for students to organize the information they collect.

About the Author:

Bridget Sandorford is a grant researcher and writer for CulinarySchools.org. Along with her passion for whipping up recipes that incorporate “superfoods”, she recently finished research on top culinary schools in the United States.