When I first started using Pinterest in high school, it was mostly for finding fashion inspiration, new recipes to try, and college prep/college transition resources; I wasn’t exactly using Pinterest for studying anything in school. While I still use Pinterest to browse these types of content, my favorite way to use Pinterest is as a study tool for my college classes in both undergrad and graduate school classes, as the visual search engine and wide variety of creators help me to find inspiration for my own school projects and engage in further research. Here is how I use Pinterest for studying in my college classes and tips for finding and organizing educational content on Pinterest.
Why I use my iPad for Pinterest
I prefer to browse Pinterest on my iPad using the iPadOS/iOS application because I can position the tablet at a more comfortable viewing angle than my computer, and I don’t have to be at my desk to use it. In addition, the Pinterest app has less visual clutter than the desktop app, as it displays fewer pins in a row and makes the graphics larger, along with the option to use pinch-to-zoom to enlarge them further. Plus, it supports Dynamic Text so pin titles can be displayed in a bold large print size.
Another benefit of using the Pinterest app is that I can use gestures like long-pressing on an image and swiping to pin or hide it or selecting icons to open additional features. This is more challenging to accomplish with a mouse in the web browser, especially since Pinterest doesn’t offer many keyboard shortcuts.
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- Mainstream Technology and Low Vision: Tablets
- How To Make iPad Accessible for Low Vision
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- Questions To Ask When Choosing A Laptop For College
Should I create secret boards?
Secret boards on Pinterest are hidden from a user’s home feed and search tools, and aren’t visible to anyone else using Pinterest. Users can still get recommendations for pins to add to their secret board, but no one else will be able to see it unless they are added as a collaborator. This is different than public boards on Pinterest, which can be viewed by anyone and are visible on a user’s profile.
Personally, it is up to the user whether they want to create a secret board or not, though if they are planning on adding notes or uploading their own content that they don’t want anyone else to locate, then a secret board may be the best option. I personally don’t use secret boards very often, unless I am working on a case study project and have to keep information confidential.
For users that have a private Pinterest account, all boards are automatically configured as secret boards, and no one will know what they have pinned unless they have been approved to follow the account.
Related links
- Free Digital Bookmarking Tools For Low Vision
- Online Safety For Visually Impaired Users: Safer Internet Day
Create Pinterest boards for each class
I create Pinterest boards for each of my classes as soon as I sign up for them or know that I will be taking them, instead of waiting until the first day of the semester or until I get my syllabus. This way, I can gradually introduce myself to the topic and get recommendations for resources or ideas that might come in handy for future assignments or projects. For example, I knew that I would be taking a class on independent living and home accessibility in graduate school, so I created a board for these topics so I could save ideas that might be useful in the future, and I often refer back to this board for ideas when I’m working on a project.
Related links
- The Best Study Tips For Low Vision Students
- How Amazon Alexa Can Help You Study For Exams
- How Amazon Alexa Can Help With Online Learning
Search for educational topics and ideas
In another example, I knew that one of the units for a class would involve learning about anatomy and physiology, something I wasn’t well-versed in prior to the course and knew I would need to study further. Pinterest is filled with lots of useful resources for this topic, and I found things like videos, recommendations for apps/study websites, blog posts from teachers and students alike, mnemonics and memory strategies, and high-resolution graphics that I could add to my notes. By pinning (saving) my favorite resources to an Anatomy board, I could get further recommendations for high quality pins on the topic I’m interested in, and use them for current or future projects.
Related links
- How To Modify Accessible Anatomy Graphics For Low Vision
- Free Braille Art and Tactile Image Libraries: World Braille Day 2024
Use the Smart Feed to get smarter
Pinterest’s Smart Feed is a combination of pins from accounts that the user follows and recommendations based on pins or other types of content they have been browsing on Pinterest. For example, if I view or interact with 3-5 pins about learning calculus, my Smart Feed will refresh to include several more pins on this topic that I can use for further reading or add to my own boards. There are also options for users to view recommendations based on a specific board from their profile, which can help with finding subject-specific resources as well.
When I was working on a project before going to bed for the night, I interacted with a few pins that connected with my topic and that I was interested in getting further recommendations for. When I woke up the next morning, my Smart Feed was filled with more ideas that I could use for my project so I could pick up where I left off.
Another way that I have made the Smart Feed work for me is by turning off recommendations for pins or specific boards that provide low-quality results or that I don’t want to get distracted by. This can be done by configuring the Tune Feed menu to remove recommendations for specific pins or boards. Another option is to select the Hide Pin option immediately after viewing a non-relevant pin, which will keep the user from getting more recommendations for it in the future. Alternatively, users can indicate that they love a pin by selecting the star icon on a pin details page to add it as a favorite, or add a heart reaction.
Learn from other professions and experts
My academic background is in data science and assistive technology, and a lot of my studies intersect with other professions and academic areas including (but not limited to) computer science, information technology, occupational therapy, general education/special education, pre-med, nursing, visual design, and so much more. One of the beautiful things about Pinterest is that I can use the search tool to find study resources for these topics or read blogs/interact with content creators from these areas so that I can get a new perspective or find keywords that I can use to further my research in other places.
For example, my data visualization and assessment courses both involved learning about typography and visual design, a topic that I had no idea where to even start with learning. By browsing infographics and posts on Pinterest, I learned the basics of typography vocabulary and examples of how to implement effective typographic design, so I could further apply this to my research on improving readability and accessibility of text.
Related links
- A to Z of Assistive Technology for Reading Digital Text
- How To Create Accessible Classroom Posters For Students With Visual Impairments
Follow boards and creators that share educational content
Find a board or creator that posts a ton of informative content? Follow them to get additional recommendations and related accounts to learn even more! However, I avoid following inactive accounts that haven’t been used for years since these aren’t likely to give me recommendations for new or updated content, though I’ll still pin their content so I can get additional recommendations in my Smart Feed.
Get a new perspective on a confusing topic
One day in class, my math professor explained a topic in a very visual way, sharing a low resolution diagram and saying things like “as you can see here” or “it connects to this” without providing a whole lot of detail, which was confusing as a student with a visual impairment who had no idea what I was looking at. After class, I searched the topic we were learning about on Pinterest for studying further, and instantly found several other educational resources and explanations, including a high-resolution version of the diagram they had shared in class and two posts from Perkins School for the Blind on how to teach this topic to someone with low vision. These were perfect for helping me fill in the blanks of my notes, and organized information in a visual way that I could actually see. This would have been a great strategy to use in high school as well, since there are even more resources for K-12 educational resources from teachers.
Related links
- How To Create High Resolution Images For Low Vision
- How To Create Accessible Diagrams For Low Vision
- Science And Math Archives | Veronica With Four Eyes (veroniiiica.com)
- How To Run Effective Web Searches
Read reviews of products and applications
In my M.Ed. program, I’m expected to spend time learning about several different products and applications that could be useful for students or people with disabilities in general. I love using Pinterest for studying new products and applications that can be helpful for me or for a potential student/client, and I can often find multiple perspectives for a given app or product to see how others are using it. For example, I was looking at a notetaking app for students, and was able to find ten different posts from others on how they use it, including screenshots and their favorite features. In this specific example, I realized this app wasn’t going to be useful for me or my target audience and saved $20, but there have been other times where I found something that would be perfect for a project or something I could experiment with further to see if it would be helpful in the future.
Related links
- Five Apps I Use In The Science Classroom As A Low Vision Student
- App Accessibility Checklist for Low Vision
- Websites And Apps Archives | Veronica With Four Eyes (veroniiiica.com)
Create separate boards for projects
When I was working on a semester-long project for one of my classes, I created a separate board so I could get recommendations tailored specifically to that course, without affecting the other board I had for the main class. This project focused on developing child-friendly activities for a city park that incorporated principles of universal design, so I was pinning a lot of things on crafts, ideas from homeschooling or nature education blogs, design inspiration, and outdoor activities/games that I could adapt, but that didn’t connect to the other topics of my class that I was working on. Plus, this also gave me the option to invite my group members as collaborators so they could add content, without giving them access to the rest of the board.
One of the benefits of using Pinterest for studying with this project is that I could get recommendations for related keywords or topics to my project. In this case, I had never heard of the term “forest school”, but after finding several ideas on Pinterest with that topic, I learned it was a helpful keyword for finding nature-oriented activities that young children would enjoy. I could also find ideas for art projects that would work well for my target audience and that used low-cost materials.
Related links
- Art Classes and Low Vision
- How I Write Research Papers On Accessibility Topics
- How Students Can Celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day
More tips on how I use Pinterest for studying
- Follow me on Pinterest to learn more about low vision and assistive technology! @Veron4ica | Veronica With Four Eyes on Pinterest
- Want to see an example of a board that I originally created for a class? Check out DIY Assistive Technology | @Veron4ica on Pinterest
- If I’m organizing sources for a project, I’ll often copy a link to my Pinterest board or a specific pin into another digital bookmarking tool like Wakelet. Learn more in Wakelet Accessibility Features For Low Vision and Free Digital Bookmarking Tools For Low Vision
- Looking for more study resources and college tips? Browse additional post categories at Veronica With Four Eyes Categories (veroniiiica.com)
Published January 23, 2024. Updated May 2024