Pinterest is a social media that focuses on visual content. In the college system, several institutions and organizations including the CDC (Centre de documentation collégiale) have begun to use it. And, Pinterest also has great potential for teachers who could find it of interest in their courses.

Social Media that Focuses on the Visual

In the cégeps, there are some who use Pinterest to publicize student achievements in the arts and in crafts, to present course curriculum or to show the beauties of their campus. Other practical applications include making suggestions for further reading or providing a "toolbox" for students.

What is it? Is it a virtual bulletin board? Is it no cost social media for sharing? It's Pinterest!

For teachers, Pinterest has a number of interesting applications.

• A vehicle for a learning portfolio
• A platform for collaborative work
• A showcase for a photo exhibition
• A dynamic way to create a list of required or recommended reading for your course and, for that matter, as a bulletin board to share your online discoveries with your colleagues when you work together on a project.

Pinterest is different from other social media because it is designed to show instead of tell or describe. Indeed, it allows you to organize, share and comment on images and their related URLs, according to different topics.

Pinterest at the CDC

At the CDC (Centre de documentation collégiale), we use Pinterest to present our digital books, particularly those on the theme of Moodle. In doing so, we offer an additional access to resources grouped by subject, and we create an opportunity to comment on them and share their URL with colleagues.

An overview of the Pinterest board that the CDC has created on the theme of Moodle.

Once registered with Pinterest, you can subscribe to this board where you will be notified of additions to this collection. In addition, you will have the opportunity to contribute by sharing your successes using Moodle. To learn more about this innovative use of Pinterest at the CDC, see our website information page about digital documents dealing with Moodle.

Pinterest - A Simple Versatile Tool

In brief, using Pinterest requires opening an account and then creating boards where you "pin" web content or any other information with an image, a photo or illustration that you want to share. Another Pinterest feature is the ability to view content of other user boards with similar topics and to subscribe to them to stay informed about new developments.

Pinterest has generated a lot of interest since its launch in 2010, most notably in education. It's usefulness in the classroom is easy to imagine :

• Presentations
• Computer Graphics
• Analysis
• Other Possible Uses

Moreover, the examples listed at the beginning of the text are drawn from Pinterest at Marianopolis College (and its library), Cégep Limoilou (and its library), the library of Cégep Lévis-Lauzon and the Cégep de St-Hyacinthe.

Consider this article an invitation to discover Pinterest! As a first encounter, subscribe to the CDC Pinterest Boards. Consider sharing information that you have found on the web about Moodle.