Power of Social Media: 15 Ways Teachers Can Use Pinterest

              Like all the other social media websites we have been talking about here in  Educational Technology and Mobile Learning, Pinterest has some educational potential that we need to capitalize in our teaching. There are several ways to use Pinterest for educational purposes.

Inspiration

1.    Get inspiration for decorating your classroom.

Looking to liven up your classroom? There are tons of photos of great classroom setups, from kindergartens to high school that you can use for inspiration.

2.   Organize your ideas.

Do you find yourself jotting down ideas or bookmarking websites and then forgetting about them? Pinterest can help you keep these ideas organized and easy-to-find when you need them.

3.   Get ideas for an inspired bulletin board.

A great bulletin board display can make kids excited to learn and proud to see their accomplishments on the wall. You’ll find some amazing ideas for creating your own when you browse Pinterest.

4.   Look for ways to organize your classroom.

 Classroom lacking organization? Search through pins for some great, often very creative, ways to keep your class neat and tidy.

5.   Get fun ideas for new projects.

Whether you’re looking for holiday fun for students or something to relate to your lessons, you’ll find some really amazing ideas when you look through educational pins on the site.

Lessons

1.    Swap lesson plans.

Pinterest is full of lesson plans that you can use and adapt to your own needs. You can also show off your own great ideas by pinning photos and blog posts on your own.

2.   Locate amazing images for your lesson.

 Pinterest is a very visual resource, which is what makes it such a great place to look when you’re trying to find images for a lesson or a lecture. There are tons of material that is historical, contemporary, art historical, or just plain interesting to look through.

3.   Pump up your science lessons with amazing experiments.

 Search through the pins on the site for some ideas that can help bring science to life for your students.

4.   Get ideas on how to make learning more hands-on.

There are pages and pages worth of pins all about hands-on projects for students. Take advantage of some to make your lessons more interesting and memorable for your students.

5.   Look for grade-specific materials.

Need to search by grade? You can do that, too! If you find boards you like, make sure to follow them.

Professional

1.    Collaborate with other teachers and educators.

 Through Pinterest, teachers can create collaborative boards. This makes it simple to work together on projects, build better lessons, or just connect over shared ideas.

2.   Get links to great tech resources.

Pinterest is a great place to find out about new tech resources for teachers, including places to print off materials, track your students, or get free educational videos, among other things.

3.   Look for new and innovative teaching methods.

 Don’t get stuck in the past! Learn about new ways to connect with and manage your students from blog posts linked to on Pinterest.

4.   Find other teachers.

Seek out other teachers on Pinterest so that you can share ideas. You can find your coworkers or strangers and start following each other.

5.   Develop as a teacher.

You might not have thought about using Pinterest as a personal development tool, but it works for that as well. Find ideas that can help you push your teaching to the next level.

                 You will find that Pinterest is a great Educational technology  which every teacher should try out. So what are you waiting for? Explore and sign in now!

Reference: http://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/technology/37-ways-teachers-can-use-pinterest-in-the-classroom/