LiveBinder is the invention we have all been waiting for. It takes "the binder concept and [is] continually improving it to be a leader in the next generation of content sharing". Essentially, LiveBinder is taking all of those stacks of papers on your desk and in student's backpacks and compiling them into a digital binder that the user can organize anyway they need. Days of franticly searching your computer can be over! With LifeBinder, you have the capability to connect files stored in clouds, links, and more in one simple and organized location. While this program has been well received and heavily used by people in all different fields, educators and administrators have really taken it and ran with it. While researching standards to use for my literacy infused unit, I found that many school districts had compiled LiveBinders for different grades that provide a copious amount of resources for teachers to use that support their teaching.I was first drawn to LiveBinder when I noticed my cooperating teacher relied heavily on it. Their's is obviously private and only they have access to it, but I have created a binder similar to what they have. He explained to me that their fifth grade team decided to try it out this year to share materials and professional development resources. He explained to me that they all found it easy to use and convenient to have. In the past they used an online drive where they all submitted information. It got a bit disorganized and hectic because nobody really knew how to work it and anybody who did had a different vision for how it should be organized than the others did. Through LiveBinder, each teacher had their own tab color. If they wanted to add something to the binder, they could upload it and change the tab color so that everybody knew whose resources were whose. During professional learning community (PLC) meetings, they would be able to talk about an online resource they found and it would be connected in their part of the team's LiveBinder. They were able to name each tab in a specific manner and only one object was present under each tab. By doing this, there was no confusion about which resource they should be looking at.
Aside from sharing ideas and new resources with team members, I have heard of teachers using LiveBinder either in place of or in addition to a classroom website. One of my sister's friends is a middle school Pre-Algebra teacher. She supplements her classroom website with a different LiveBinder for each unit they cover. By doing this, her students have access to a resource that has all of their notes and homework assignments as well as additional resources students can use if they need additional support on a certain topic. This teacher used to utilize the "Flipped Classroom" technique. When she did, her videos were connected to the LiveBinder so the students would always know where the videos were located. They also did not have to completely scroll through weeks worth of posts on a blog or class page to locate what they needed.
Creating a Binder can be bit confusing at first, but once you create your first few tabs, it gets much easier. First, you need to make an account. I am operating off of the free account, which gives you the basic features, such as creating tabs and inserting content like documents, links, images, and videos. On a free account, you are limited to creating five binders. However, if you have 1,000 people view your binder, then you can get five more for free! You have storage of up to 100 MB on each binder and the maximum upload file size is 5 MB. There are three more levels of memberships that cost from $25 per year to $100 per year. These upgraded memberships allow you to create an unlimited number of binders and give you more storage and upload capabilities. These are very reasonable prices for a great service and I can see myself investing in a basic membership so I can utilize this resource in my classroom.
Once you have created an account, you are ready to make your first binder. You can do this by
clicking the "New Binder" button on the home page once you have logged in. After you have done this, you are able to name and describe your binder, tag it with relevant terms to be included in the worldwide pool of binders, and make it either public or private. If you decide to make your binder private, you can set an access key so that only certain people can access your binder. This would be great to use if you were having students create a LiveBinder of their own to organize materials for a project. Now that you have your binder created, you can start adding tabs. This function is located in the top left corner. Once you have a tab created, you can edit it to fit your needs. You can organize the tabs by assigning them different colors, naming them different things, and uploading a variety of materials. The website offers a helpful tutorial that assists you with learning how to create and organize your first binder. It automatically appears when you open your first binder. If it weren't for this brief ten-step walk through, I probably would have lost patience with the program. 
Another way I can see myself or other teachers using LiveBinder is by having students create digital portfolios of their learning. This is a great resource to be able to pull up during parent teacher conferences to discuss student progress. By having a portfolio full of work in a medium that won't take up an abundance of space, the teacher can reference pieces of a student's work in this format. The portfolio could also be accessed by the parents at home. This would be a good time to utilize the private option, as the only people who have access to a student's portfolio should be the student, the teacher, and the parents or guardians. It would also be a great resource if a student moved and relocated to another school. Their new teacher could see the kind of work they were submitting and figure out what their strengths and weaknesses are by getting to know the students and reviewing their portfolio. It is an excellent tool to show students how much they have grown and learned throughout the year.
LiveBinder can also be used for student projects. For example, if students were asked to create a multi-genre project or a research project with a lot of aspects to it, they could use a LiveBinder to organize their materials. For example, in this binder, the students created a yearbook on characters from ancient mythology. They include pages for characters such as Helios, Odysseus, and Poseidon. Each character has their activities, superlative, favorite song, and favorite book listen on their page. The answers are accurate to the character's depiction in ancient myths. In this example, the student was required to create and plan a trip to India. The student separated the criteria she needed to include into tabs. She included sections for the flight, hotel, and activity costs as well as itineraries for each day she was there.
LiveBinder is one of my new favorite technology discoveries. It is a great way to organize and share information in an easy to navigate and condensed manner. I look forward to using this program in professional learning community, personal, and classroom settings, as it is a tool that is convenient and fitting for all.
Resources:
LiveBinder. Retrieved November 2, 2016, from http://www.livebinders.com/welcome/about
LiveBinder Logo. (2009). Retrieved November 2, 2016, from https://edshelf.com/wp-content/uploads/icon-livebinders.png
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