LiveBinders

Researched by Teddi Johnson

I was introduced to LiveBinders last year while attending the Arkansas Teacher Leadership
Academy. Our technology facilitator would send information on the Professional Learning
Network (PLN) blog site about Web 2.0 tools to experiment with. As I scrolled through the list I
was drawn to this site because at the time our leadership team was researching e-portfolio sites
for the students at our school to use. LiveBinders looked like the perfect fit for what we wanted.
After experimenting with it, I liked it! In fact, upon returning from the academy, I presented the
software to the leadership team as a tool to store our actions and documentation for the school
year. The team has used the binder to save documents from all the school improvements and
collaboration meetings. I have created a personal binder for all of my graduate school documents
and a binder for my thesis portfolio. For this group project, I also created a binder for our group
to test. I hope the information in this report will convince many of the members in this class to
catch on to this environmental wonder.
LiveBinders is a Web 2.0 tool for sharing and collaboration that is basically an online 3-
ring binder. It allows users to store information, such as website URLs, PDFs, Word
documents, and images in an online digital binder. In addition, by using LiveBinders, the user
can share the web-binders with anyone he or she likes, and the user can search for other public
binders that have already been created (Plano, 2012). LiveBinders is easy to access, its free, and
it does not require a download. The user only has to go to the site at LiveBinders.com, set up a
user name and password, and go to work. The instructions are as follows: sign up to create an
account so you can store your livebinders right away. Add the LiveBinder It bookmark tool to
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your browser toolbar. Start browsing the web. Find a link you want to save then click on the
LiveBinder It to automatically add the link to a new binder. Edit your LiveBinder with the edit
tool to re-title tabs and upload files to the tabs (LiveBinders, 2011).
Some of the perks of the LiveBinder software, other than the ease of logging on and
setting up an account, are how easy it is to navigate and build the binder. The following screen
shot shows what the home page looks like:


I included the text boxes to show the link to sign up, and the link to log on after you have signed
up. Each one of the tabs serves as guides to lead the user to an information page that explains
that particular facet of the site. For example, this particular tab Featured Binders opens the
page with public binders that can be viewed to show how documents are stored in the software.
The links on the right are more binders that can be accessed for viewing and use.
Collaborating with LiveBinders

Although LiveBinders is traditionally considered an educational tool for teachers and
students, it can also be used for business collaboration. I found the following letter that
introduces this new addition to the software:
Use this link
to log In
after signing
up
Use this link to
sign up. Just
create a user
name and
password.
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Happy New Year everyone!
In response to many requests, we are very excited to announce the
addition of collaboration features to LiveBinders. You can use collaboration for
activities such as:
1. Students working on group projects in your class or with a
school across the country
2. Teachers collaborating on lesson plans
3. Teachers and students working in the same binder
4. Districts or schools collecting shared resources
5. Collaborative classrooms
6. Curriculum Alignment planning
Dawn Wall, Technology Coordinator from Kansas State University, was
one of our early testers of the collaboration feature. Here is how she is using it:

This collaboration functionality is really awesome. For example,
we have created a private binder to share information regarding a
complicated program transition. This allows us to have select staff
update the binder in a timely manner while all interested parties
have access to view the binder and have up-to-date information. I
also think it has great potential for K-12 and post-secondary
education project collaboration.
Please see this binder to find out more about how to use the collaboration
features: LiveBinders Collaboration
Thank you to the LiveBinders users who reported bugs and requested
features. Please continue to let us know how to make LiveBinders better for you.
Sincerely,
Tina and Barbara
http://www.livebinders.com(Collaborating with LiveBinders)

The letter serves as a worthy review of the collaboration tool from an outside source. There is
also an overview of how to collaborate with LiveBinders. The abbreviated overview lists the
following steps:
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First, make sure that all parties have LiveBinders accounts. Only one person will
be the binder owner and the rest will be collaborators. The binder owner needs to
do the following:
1. Have email addresses for all the collaborators
2. Create the binder that will be shared
3. Edit the properties so that they reflect the desired name, category, access, etc.
NOTE: the binder owner will be the only one who can change the binder properties.

There is additional information as to how to add and/or remove collaborators and how to give
them access to the notebook by emailing them the URL using the standard email system. It will
also be possible to find shared binders if the user is designated as a collaborator.
Various types of collaboration this software can facilitate is listed in the binder examples below
(Collaborating with LiveBinders):
Collaborize Classroom
Planning/teaching log
Livebinders Collaboration
Collaborative Sheets
Collaborative Forms (Texas)
Collaborative Handouts & Sheets (MN)
Power Tools Recharged
Toni Buzzeo Books
Data-Driven Practice: Toni Buzzeo
School Library Monthly
Information Skills Toolkit
Improve Academic Achievement
Collaborative Units that Work
Library Research with Emergent Readers
CollaborativeComprehension
Destination Collaboration
PBL (Grades 9-12)
Smart Schools
Harmony Curriculum Mapping examples
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A Walk-Through of a LiveBinder

To give the other groups who may not be familiar with the software an idea of how
LiveBinders works, I have compiled a tutorial of sorts to allow the groups to take a walk-through
of an actual binder. During the walk-through, I will also be giving directions as to how to
navigate the software.
First, after logging on to the site, the user should click on the desired binder that he or she
wants to see as in the next screenshot. For this walkthrough I chose a business binder to show
that the software is not limited to education uses only. I chose to use the binder called Product
Presentation as is indicated by the arrow in the screenshot below.


Clicking on the desired binder will open the binders cover page. The tabs at the top of the page
are the documents that can be read for study or collaboration discussion.

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.
Clicking on the tabI chose Using Mind Mappingwill open the document to be read.

This screenshot gives a glimpse of the tabbed document. Any time you wish to see a different
document just click on the tab to open that document.
Features
One of the features that I love about this software is how easy it is to use. Other features
that others have evaluated are these:
Users can
Curate and present their resources quickly and simply
Take control of information
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View links like pages in a book instead of URLs on a page
Combine uploaded PDFs and Word docs with links in one binder
Save Time
Update information conveniently without having to resend links
Avoid layout issues all documents are organized by tabs and subtabs
Edit LiveBinders anytime, any place
Make an Impression
For environmentalists, the site allows users to go paperless one LiveBinder at a time
Share all your documents in an easy presentable format
Use LiveBinders for Smartboard and laptop presentations
Build a library of binders and become a valuable resource for others (Awesome
Education Technology, 2011).

Testimonials about the features come from these two teachers:

By Kristen Paino
June 8, 2012
Livebinders allows you to store websites, PDFs, word documents, and images in a convenient
digital binder that is stored online. Best of all, you can share these web-binders, with anyone you
like, and you can search for other public binders that have already been created. Putting a
LiveBinder together is pretty easy. It is a great way to share information online in an easy and
organized way. The possibilities to teachers are pretty amazing!

By Kelly Little
April 28, 2012

Collaborate, collect, create units of instruction with multimedia functionality. Present to class
from the binder, or embed to your class site as resource!
My favorite way to organize, yellow folders are often chaos!
How do you use this tool? Cancel comment
We'd love to know! Please log in or create an account to share your wisdom (Plano, 2012).

Two other LiveBinders features of merit are that there is a privacy clause. It can be read
at the link http://www.livebinders.com/welcome/privacy. There is also an upcoming option for
professional users and organizations who need more to apply for a Subscription Service. It will
include greater storage capacity, larger file upload sizes, and other premium features. More
information about the subscription service can be found at the same link as above, only instead
of privacy, you will need to type upgrade (LiveBinders, 2011).
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As shown in the screenshot below, Livebinders can be used with 37 collections. They are
all listed and categorized for ease of use (LiveBinders, 2011).







Overall Evaluation

My overall evaluation of the software is that it is a great option offered by Web 2.0. It is free, it
is easy to use, and it is accessible to users for collaboration or for personal use. After comparing
LiveBinders with the other software our group investigated, I would say it is one of the easiest to
use. There are not as many steps to get to the main workstations or as much to navigate in order
to complete a task.
LiveBinders is a valuable tool for any collaborator to have in his or her virtual toolbox.


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Works Cited
Awesome Education Technology. (2011, January 4). Retrieved June 7, 2012, from Wordpress.
Collaborating with LiveBinders. (n.d.). Retrieved June 6, 2012, from LiveBinders.com.
LiveBinders. (2011). Retrieved June 5, 2012, from LiveBinders.com.
Plano, K. a. (2012, April 28). EdShelf. Retrieved June 6, 2012