It's easy to be jaded when there's buzz about a new social network. Who has time to keep up with them all? And how many will explode on the scene with a bang, the hottest new thing, and then fizzle like Friendster? But I have to say that the eye-candy on the visual social bookmarking site Pinterest has caught my attention.

The striking, clean visuals and the bulletin board model are sure to appeal to educators, and it certainly has value as a curation tool -- a digital way to save and organize all those little bits of goodness you find online. Intrigued? This week, we're launching the official Edutopia Pinterest account. Whether you're an avid pinner or just a beginner, follow us! Get started by watching the videos below for some ideas about what Pinterest is and how educators are using it.

Video Playlist: Pinterest in Education

Keep watching the player below to see the entire playlist, or view it on YouTube.

1. Pinterest for Teachers (05:10)

   A nice basic overview from Nicole DesJardins, a personable middle school teacher who offers this up as a short summer professional development lesson. Follow Nicole's education pinboard "I'm a Teacher."

2. What is Pinterest? An animated video. (01:39)

   This cute video shows us how keeping track of wonderful things with Pinterest is a vast improvement over paper scrapbooking or carrying things around on floppy discs.

3. How to Make Your Online Teaching & Training PINTERESTing? (05:28)

   Host Marina Kotina shares ten creative ideas for how online educators can use Pinterest to engage students, share resources, and even differentiate instruction.

4. A Marketer's Guide to Pinterest (02:44)

   Regular readers may know I'm a sucker for well-animated explainer videos. Although this one is geared toward marketers, it paints a fascinating portrait of the demographics of the Pinterest community.

5. Edudemic Uses Pinterest (05:32)

   I've featured this screencast video once before, but I think it's one of the best overviews out there on Pinterest for educators, from Lisi Gopin forEdudemic. Lisi offers all the basics and then some suggestions for classroom use.

6. T4LT - Pinterest (02:14)

   Technology for Learners & Teachers is an informational video podcast that explores various ed tech topics. This short episode gives ideas for how to use Pinterest as part of an assignment.

7. The Fall of Pinterest (02:57)

   I figured you're about ready for a bit of humor at this point. For better or worse, Pinterest has gained the reputation of being a haven for women on the Web, with its proliferation of recipes and wedding inspiration images. In this animated parody, the women of Pinterest defend their fortress. Not all the language is safe for school!

8. Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter ... Oh My! (01:30)

   Teacher Kim Fernandes shares her idea for how to use Pinterest to make the home-school connection, to get parents involved and keep them up-to-date on school projects.

9. CNET How To: Must-Have Pinterest Tips and Tricks (03:18)

   This short is not specifically geared to educators, but offers up a useful list of basic tricks for the next level of pinning -- collaborative boards, tagging other users, hashtags, and more.

10. Pinterest iPhone App - Coolest Apps (03:20)

    Ready to go mobile with your pinning? This video reviews the mobile app developed by Pinterest and gives some tips for how to use it. Free app available for iPhones and iPads, with an app for Android devices in development.

11. Basic Pinterest (14:48)

    Charity Preston from the Organized Classroom blog gives an overview of how she uses Pinterest. This one is nearly fifteen minutes long, so watch this if you want to go more in-depth on the topic. Then follow her on Pinterest!

More on Pinterest in the Classroom

It may not be long before you find yourself addicted to pinning. The articles below explore why the environment at Pinterest is so appealing to teachers. True, there's been some murmur around Pinterest and copyright issues, resulting in some folks fleeing. But good attribution practices go a long way on the Web, and there are ways to protect yourself. Read on for more information about Pinterest.

• All pins tagged "Education" on Pinterest
• "What Makes Education So Pinteresting?" by Corey Murray, Ed Tech Magazine
• Infographic: 16 Ways Educators Use Pinterest by Online Universities
• "Grockit Launches Learnist, a Pinterest for Education," by Audrey Watters
• "25 Great Educators To Follow On Pinterest," from Edudemic
• "Teachers Pin With Their Students," by Kris Holt, from Mashable
• "How Educators Are Using Pinterest for Showcasing, Curation," by A. Adam Glenn, from PBS MediaShift
• "Pinterest addresses copyright concerns," by Hayley Tsukayama, The Washington Post

Are you ready to pin? Feel free to add links to your education-related pin-boards or share your Pinterest username in the comments below! I'll start: you can find my brand spankin' new boards at VideoAmy on Pinterest.