This presentation was given at the 2015 Fort Wayne Teaching Conference on February 6th, 2015.It looks at how Pinterest can be used in the college classroom. The notes of the presentation provide links to many of the examples discussed on the slides.

1. USING PINTEREST AS A WAY TO
HAVE STUDENTS SHARE
CONTENT AND BUILD CLASS
ENGAGEMENT
Gordon B. Schmidt
Assistant Professor of
Organizational
Leadership &
Supervision
IPFW
th

2. WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?
“a group of Internet-based applications… that allow the
creation and exchange of user-generated content” (Kaplan
& Haenlein, 2010)
• Places people can share their content, information,
opinions, and knowledge
• How many of you are on at least one of these sites?

3. IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Significant part of how people interact today
Facebook alone
1.39 billion active monthly users (1.19 billion are on mobile)
890 million active daily users (82.4% outside US/Canada)
71% of adult Internet users use Facebook
Other sites significant percentages as well
Instagram (26%), Twitter (23%), LinkedIn (28%), and Pinterest (28%)
Significant communications/interactions through such sites
What you can post can even have employment consequences
Stay tuned for 2:15 pm session focusing on that, next in this room!

4. SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE CLASSROOM
With many students familiar with and interested in social
media sites, such sites can be tools for engagement in the
classroom
Sites can also offer tools or features that help learning
Has anyone here used social media in classroom?

5. WHAT IS PINTEREST?
“Pinterest is a place to discover ideas for all your projects
and interests, hand-picked by people like you” (Pinterest,
2015)
Pinterest is a digital bulletin board that acts as a means of
visual discovery, collection of images and links, easy
medium for sharing, and a storage/organization tool for
things of interest to a user
They conceptualize Pinterest
as like a physical pin board
Who uses Pinterest?

6. WHAT FEATURES DOES PINTEREST
PROVIDE?
Provides a visual medium in which to store pictures, links,
videos, infographics
You can title boards and sort “pins” to appropriate boards
You can offer personal descriptions or commentary on
each thing pinned
You can see other people’s boards and pins
Follow boards to be informed of new content
For a pin you can like the pin or repin it on
one of your own boards
You can also message other users

7. WHAT VALUE DO THESE FEATURES
PROVIDE?
Allow users to share content from anywhere on the web or
their own computer (as long as it is/is represented by a
visual, a picture or a video)
Creates a visual board users can scroll through to look at
content
Boards can be collaborative
Multiple authors on one board
Can repin content from other boards
Can share content from others, too

8. EXAMPLES OF PINTEREST
USE IN CLASSROOM
Pinterest has been used in some
classrooms
Suggesting additional reading
materials
Giving examples related to content
Students share stories or examples
Posting of student art
Peer review of content
http://edudemic.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/12/professors

9. MY CLASS CONTEXT
OLS 37500- Training Methods
Teach students about how to design and run training
programs in organizational settings
Understand the general principles of training as well as the
nuts and bolts of running a training program
The course is a hybrid section
Meet in person for 1 hour 15 minutes once a session
Other “session” each week is done online
https://www.pinterest.com/iopsychology/ols-3753m-training-
methods-spring-2015/

10. PINTEREST IN MY CLASS
With the hybrid set up I was looking for how to make
online part more engaging
Had before done exclusively through Blackboard
discussions boards
Wanted students to be more active in content creation and
search
Help make the online part more active
Had begun own professional use of Pinterest for sharing of
research and teaching resources with others

11. HOW I USE IN CLASS
I pair Pinterest posts with Blackboard message board posts
Pinterest is used as a medium for students to share
relevant content on a topic area they found (Tyler et al.
2009)
Students find a relevant video clip, blog entry, or picture that
relates to what we are studying that week and “Pin” it on the
course website
They give a 2 sentence description of the content they pin and
how it connects with the topic on Pinterest
They then go to the course Blackboard forum to write a more full
description analyzing the content and connecting to class
concepts give a more
Other students then comment on those posts

12. EXAMPLE ASSIGNMENT
“Choose a media clip online that shows a performance gap
at an organization” (So where workers are not doing
behaviors or performing at a level expected)
The students then write a 2 sentence summary
On Blackboard they discuss how they would do
A needs analysis to figure out why this happened
other students then comment with other
things to look out to figure out the issue

13. ROLE OF PINTEREST IN MY CLASS
I focus on that Pinterest is a good place for students to
share visual content
Pinterest is the place where students share the content they
have found related to course concepts
I give instructions of content for students to find related to
course concepts taught during week
Thus students reflect on the material in finding appropriate
examples
The deeper analysis done by students is kept for the

14. PITFALLS AND ISSUES FOR CLASS
So far no big issues for my class but a few small ones
Getting students signed up
Need to follow board and get pinning privileges assigned
by me
Refresh when new pins added inconsistent
Some students are very familiar with the site while others
are not
Need to realize one student understanding how to use doesn’t
mean everyone else will immediately

15. APPLICATIONS TO OTHER CLASSES
Significant potential to apply to classes across the
spectrum of courses
Will need to fit with your own goals
Helps the most when visual is helpful for learning or
engagement
I will now give examples across a few different types of
courses

16. WRITING OR ENGLISH
Post examples for analysis-critique
Find writing online
Discuss any elements of writing
Structure
Grammar
Language use
Could also be student work

17. ART
Post example work of art for topic
Ex. Post an Impressionistic work and describe elements
that it fits the movement
Post own work or representative work on a topic
Can be used for peer review or analysis

18. COMMUNICATION/PHILOSOPHY
Could use existing pins
Quotes are very popular on site
Re-pin examples and analyze
How persuasive is the quote?
How does it try to influence the reader?
What theories, rhetorical tools, or philosophies does it fit
with?

19. NATURAL SCIENCES/ENGINEERING
Choice an example of what discussed
Use comment to describe nature or characteristics

20. ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?
This presentation can be found on Slideshare:
You can also email me at: schmidtg@ipfw.edu
Or message me on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/gordon-
schmidt/13/a90/891