Exploring How and Why Educators Use Pinterest

• In Event: Poster Session 6
  In Poster Session: Insights on Technologies + Pedagogies (K–12, Higher Education, Massive Open Online Courses)

Abstract

This paper reports on a study of educators’ uses Pinterest. We conducted semi-structured interviews with eight educators in order to explore how and why they utilized Pinterest for professional purposes. We present findings from our thematic analysis of the interviews. Seven major themes were identified: Pinterest as content curation tool, Pinterest’s visual nature, Pinterest’s integration with blogs, Pinterest’s connection to lesson marketplaces, Pinterest as personalized professional learning, creating collaborative Pinterest boards, and the variable quality of Pinterest content. These themes reveal both opportunities and challenges associated with professional uses of Pinterest. We consider implications for the work of educators and teacher educators in a digital age and the future of research on educators’ professional uses of social media.

Authors

• Jeffrey Paul Carpenter, Elon University

• Amanda Cassaday, Elon University

• Stefania Monti, Elon University