P, p, p, pin it!

I've heard through my web there's something new on the scene.

It is called Pinterest, but what does this mean?

A pin board online, to make and to share.

Finding others finds from here and from there.

Pinterest is one of the "new kids on the block" when it comes to social bookmarking, but it has become very popular, very quickly. I find Pinterest appealing because it is so visual. By pinning an image from a site you want to bookmark, you organize pins onto boards based on groups you make.

Here is my Pinterest page:

Due to its visual nature, I think that Pinterest is especially useful as a bookmarking system for students. In this video from Edudemic, Lisi Gopin discusses using Pinterest in the classroom.

Some great ideas from the video include:

• having images for writing prompts
• collections of resources to share with students
• collections of books

Additionally, Gopin points out that the built-in interactivity allows students to discuss things directly on the pins; there is a comment space under each pin.

I am liking many of these ideas for integrating Pinterest into the classroom. Additionally, the ideas for using Pinterest in the library abound. In 20 Ways Libraries are Using Pinterest Right Now, there are 20 great ideas including:

• creating book lists
• showing new aquisitions
• research

Additionally, this blog post gives some more ideas for Pinterest for Librarians, though most are for the librarians use as opposed to student use.

Recently, there has been some concern about Pinterest and copyright, which, as a teacher-librarian, rightfully worries me. Because Pinterest simply pins any images on a website, people are taking copyrighted images that do not belong to them. This article is about a lawyer who has deleted all her Pinterest boards because of this issue. Her personal blog gives more legal background regarding this issue.

So, this really complicates things! I like Pinterest and find the visual appeal would be useful for students. However, I can not, as a teacher-librarian be using this site that is known to be breaking copyright, either personally or professionally.

Au revoir, Pinterest! :(