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Pinterest: Pinning the Gap Between SoTL and SLCE in Higher Education

This is an evaluation of an SLCE (service learning/community engagement) assignment that uses Pinterest in a collaborative reflection and learning experience among students in a Methods for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Course at a United States University. Technology is ever changing, and social media provides a unique platform for collaboration. It only makes sense that as innovative instructors, we look for ways to improve in class collaboration using these methods from the ‘real world.' Social media platforms such as Pinterest have yet to be used by students as processors in higher education service learning classes, despite the collaborative nature of this tool. Third- and fourth-year students in an ELL certification program taught small groups of English Language Learners and received mentorship from primary teachers at a local elementary school. They were assigned in class and peer to teacher reflection and collaboration opportunities. After instructor review, it was decided that these possibilities did not provide for the kind of dialogue necessary to aid students in their knowledge of the course content or how it applied to the service site. Therefore, the instructor introduced Pinterest as an educational platform for outside collaboration on activities that connected course content to the objectives laid out for them at the service site. Students pinned, explained, and commented on one another's pins to further student learning on the two topics. Improvement in student grades suggests the benefit for enhancing understanding of course objectives as they related to service. Communication between students illustrates an example of interactive social media use that could be replicated in other service learning courses in higher education yet has been untouched for this purpose.