Pinterest allows users to create their own virtual bulletin boards with "Pins." Pins can be photos, videos, or discussions. Here are a few ideas that I can think of for use in the classroom.
1) Students can create a bulletin board of their interests to share with their classmates, perhaps as some form of an introduction or icebreaker type of activity. Classmates can follow each other (and their social networking friends).
2) Students can create themed bulletin boards pertaining to a given topic that is being studied. This of course could be used for an array of content areas and topics.
3) If students add a pin, say from a topic from a science class, students can create a discussion on the pin.
I really like the idea of an ice breaker for the class, it can definitely help the class come together. I was thinking of possibly using pinterest as a portfolio throughout the year. Students can post images and figures of things they learned though the year. When exam and SOL time comes around, they can easily refer back to their bulletin and see everything they learned.
ReplyDeleteHey, I like the idea of a portfolio!
DeleteThat's an interesting idea. I personally feel that for secondary students that making a portfolio may seem too-open ended, but if you provide a rubric of what could be included and how it would be evaluated, then I really think a Pinterest Portfolio would be very useful. Perhaps they could keep a portfolio throughout say high school showcasing their major projects and learning all of the different science (biology, chemistry, physics, geology, etc.) Of course, that could expand to any discipline.
DeleteHere’s a few ideas that I thought Pinterest could be used for:
ReplyDelete• Collaborative tool—Students could build resources/images for a science concept not just with student teams/groups within the classroom, but school-wide, district-wide and even globally.
• Teachers could start a board with the Big Ideas of the Day or Week and let students add to it or repin to their boards.
• Students could use it as an alternative to the usually PowerPoint when making a presentation.
The Big Ideas of the Day or Week is an excellent idea. I was actually thinking about perhaps doing something like that for a unit of study. I know in secondary science students tend to study a unit (usually a chapter) and then take a test on it. I think if the teacher starts a Big Ideas Pinterest bulletin board, the students could add pins capturing and summarizing the big ideas of the chapter so that it sort of serves as a review/summary/study aid.
DeleteAs I read your response, it made me think of using it as a tool for grading period or semester reviews. The various boards that were created could be used as sort of an outline for study.
DeleteI like the Big Ideas of the Day or Week.
DeleteOne could ask students to create pins with major science ideas for each unit of study, perhaps multiple pins. I' thinking different areas of concern, not just major concepts for each unit. For example, science in the news, ethics in science and/or medicine, politics and science.
I really like the idea that we, as teachers, start a board and post things that are relevant to the class and concepts we are currently learning. This gives the students the opportunity to view them and possibly re-pin them. However, we do have to be careful when encouraging our students to join a social networking site for classroom use. This could possibly conflict with rules at home for the children when it comes to internet usage. Something as simple as sending out a consent form that the parents are required to sign could solve this issue.
ReplyDeleteI agree, that it is tricky to ask students to join a social networking site. In addition to the consent form maybe students could be presented with several option, one being pintrest.
DeleteThe presentation of this choice could give the students self-determination in the classroom and help keep them motivated. (who just took quiz six in educational psychology?)
Maybe you could start one just for parents, so they can take it for a "test drive". It might be a good way to introduce them to Pinterest and communicate with them. You could have several boards--classroom policies, helpful hints for homework, skill building, etc.
DeleteI was about to post a similar concern to the blog, then I saw you already had! I find myself hesitating to use Pinterest in the classroom for the same reason: the connection to a social networking site it requires. I personally didn't want to connect it to my Facebook, so I created a Twitter account for the sole purpose of being able to sign up for Pinterest. I imagine that, even if some parents agree to using it, several students might feel uncomfortable connecting with some of their classmates online via social networking.
DeleteI also am hesitant to use Pinterest due to the connect to Facebook issue. The Twitter account may be a useful alternative.
DeleteI wonder if there are any school districts with policies that would severely limit use of the social networking sites and Pinterest in ways that would make Pinterest unusable for the classroom?
If a Pintrest site is used for the classroom, it seems the only reasonable solution is that it is optional. We would need to post everything to a common class website (or something similar) that does not require you to sign up using your name, etc. If this was the case, it might just be easier to go directly to the class website, and cut out the Pintrest all together.
DeleteI took that quiz lat semester!
ReplyDeleteThe optionality seems to be a great solution for Pinterest. I would really like to emphasize that the non-Pinterest solution be as equivalent as possible. Maybe manufacturing a poster or collage in place of the virtual board.
ReplyDeleteI would like to ask why everyone seems more comfortable with connecting to Pinterest through Twitter rather than Facebook? I guess what I probably really need to ask is....what is Twitter? Of course, I have heard of it, but I have never explored what it was, I just assumed it was a social networking site like Facebook.
ReplyDeleteThe poster or collage idea would be a good alternative and/or companion to using Pinterest. Putting aside the policy issues and parental objections, there would be a need to have an alternative for students without online access outside of school and students with disabilities that may prevent them from participating.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Pinterest has the capability of doing anything for students with visual disabilities?
ReplyDeleteIn any case, any tasks, assignments that we create or use always need to be amenable to being redesigned for purposes of differentiated learning. Or, failing that---which can happen---we have to be able to come up with pedagogically relevant alternative assignments.