Presentation given at Emerging Learning Design Conference on June 7, 2013 at Montclair State University

1. Visualizing
American Literature
with Pinterest
Emerging Learning Design Conference
Montclair State University
Mary Balkun, Professor, English Department Chairperson
Mary Zedeck, Instructional Designer
Seton Hall University

2. Background and Purpose
O Class presentations
O Second Life
O Pinterest
O Content connections

5. Pinterest and Course Support
O Professors, Peers, & Pinterest
O Class training
O Pinstamatic

6. Fall 2012
O Major American Romantics
O Pinterest project requirements
O Examples
O http://pinterest.com/engl3320/
O Education
O Race
O Politics/Jacksonian America

7. What Worked, What Didn’t
O Student feedback from Fall 2012
O Changes for Spring 2013 project
“The creative freedom in the Pinterest
Project has personally helped me look at
my topic from different media, and
stretched my knowledge to blanket possible
ideas, influences, and sub-topics.”
“I enjoyed the Pinterest Project. I think it
was fun to be able to do something other
than the common classroom activities. It is
modern and new and I think with the recent
expansion of Pinterest, more students will
want to get involved and be willing to do
this project.”
“I think topics should maybe be a little
easier to find images and articles for. I
think it was kind of hard given the time
period to find things related to the topic.
Also, a shorter time span would probably be
better just to keep people focused and
more involved.”

8. Spring 2013
O Representations of the Body in Early America
O Difference between courses
O Examples
O http://pinterest.com/mcbalkun/
O The Body and Color
O Death and the Body
O Body as Illusion
O The Body in Motion
O Student feedback
O Reflection
O Project evaluation

9. Student Reflection
Spring 2013
“After looking at my other classmates’
Pinterest boards, I can really see how many
different views there are on the body. Once
we put something on our body, such as a
tattoo or piercing, it changes the way people
look at us.
… The way we change our bodies and even
how we move them can allow others to see
us differently.”
“When selecting which images to pin, I used
those where the body was well hidden within
something; where I had to not only look at the
picture, but stare at it, and to stare at it long
enough that it suddenly seemed to speak. …I
realized how much the body is an illusion - a
bare form painted on with the refracted bits of
information given by others. I see body now in all
I do.”
“When first seeing a person with vitiligo, one might think
that the skin is flawed, but in reality most of us have these
types of imperfections on our skin that is just considered
“normal”. I wanted to show my revelation by finding
pictures of people with stretch marks and freckles; the
reality of these marks being a change in color that
accented the natural skin tone. Whereas presently people
feel bare if they do not have a tattoo or tons of makeup,
there is still that satisfaction in seeing the reality of a clean
canvas with age marks that can define a person more than
a tattoo.”

10. Project Evaluation
Quantitative - Spring 2013
Evaluation Question % Strongly Agree + Agree
The project provided me with alternative perspectives
on the literature we read
83%
This project helped me think about the period we
studied in a different way
75%
I preferred this project to a traditional classroom
presentation
100%
This project gave me a new set of tools/skills that I
could apply in the future
71%
I found Pinterest easy to use 100%
This project did not provide any educational value in
this course
0%

11. Project Evaluation
Qualitative - Spring 2013
“I did mine on a time period that was not really
discussed much in the class but I liked that
because it differed from the material we learned
about in class and let me see how it compared to
the time periods we learned about and how
many of the same things that were talked about
back then pertaining to the body are still
discussed now.”
“This project allowed me to think about the body
in a way that I never have before, which allowed
me to engage in the class in a different way. I
prefer this project to traditional presentations, as
I am very shy and do not like to speak in front of
a classroom of people. This project allowed me
to be creative without having to feel shy or
second guess myself because I did not want to
be embarrassed.”
“The only thing I would suggest is having the
class present their pinterest project. Why they
chose their topic, what they expected to find,
what they did not expect to find, and maybe write
a short essay on another student’s pinterest
project.”
“The Pinterest project was a nice way to
incorporate a creative aspect to the course. It
allowed students to express themselves in a
non-traditional manner. The project was both
educational and fun which is a rare
combination in University learning.”

12. Next Steps
O Fall 2013 – Senior Seminar
O Boards based on texts
O Student-led discussion
O Peer review
O Continued assessment and analysis
O Publish

14. Questions?
mary.balkun@shu.edu
mary.zedeck@shu.edu