My first encounter with Livebinders (LB's) occurred while helping my colleagues prepare for a beginning teacher workshop. The topic focused on how to utilize technology in the classroom to stay organized and on top of changes. During the workshop, the beginning teachers visited several different mini-sessions highlighting technology tools for students, organizational tools for teachers, and hands-on practice in the computer lab (we hadn't even heard of iPad carts yet!).
When I arrived to help in the computer lab, I was amazed to find what looked like an online 3-ring binder already loaded and ready to go on every computer. This technology tool---this ingenious, but very simple tool---was Dr. J's choice to organize (and showcase) her collection of favorite technology applications. I thought the tools were helpful and interesting, but what I really loved was the LB itself!
Okay, enough suspense....Livebinders are just what they sound like---online, living, breathing organizational tools to curate resources for just about anything. You can set up tabs and subtabs in each binder and add websites, presentations, documents, pictures, videos, and just about anything else you can find on the Internet to one easily organized central location. So do you want to know why I like them so much? What's so great about an online binder? Well, let me tell you......
I love top 10 lists (ala David Letterman---but a lot cleaner)! So, here we go!
Livebinders Top 10 Favorite Things
10. Since Livebinders is a cloud-based platform, you can either link a specific Livebinder or even embed it in a website to share with others. Anytime you update your binder, the link is automatically updated.
9. Create as many LB's as you want. (I have over 40 of my own--eek! A little obsessed?)
8. Easily collaborate with others by adding them as collaborators by using the email account they used to sign up for LB to invite them.
7. Make your LB public to share your ideas or keep them private for yourself. Here's one created by Mrs. B that houses Web 2.0 Tools.
6. Add explanations beside the linked tabs to either remind yourself of the resource's use or as a way to communicate with your collaborators. Click on some tabs in this Livebinder to see an example.
5. Customize the tabs, subtabs, backgrounds, etc. with colors, patterns, and graphics.
4. Create shelves of binders that go together. Here's a website created by one of my students that has her LB shelf embedded.
3. Have students create their own LB's to collect resources for a research project.
2. You can even have a binder of Livebinders! Since LB's are identified by links, you can actually create a LB of all your favorite LB's. Check out this one I made in only 10 minutes of Web 2.0 Resources.
And my #1 Favorite Thing about LB's is...............(drumroll please!)......
1. You can add the Livebinder It tool to your web browser and add resources directly to a specific Livebinder without having the Livebinder site open! This makes it so convenient to search and save.
Livebinders in My Classroom
Ever since that first encounter, I have used LB's in my professional life in a myriad of ways. That might be a subject for another post, but I will focus the rest of this post on how I use them specifically in my courses as assignments. I teach courses in the department of education in elementary social sciences methods, content area literacy, middle school literacy, and technology for educators, among others. Below you will find two examples of how I introduce this wonderful tool to my pre-service teachers.
In Teaching Social Sciences I, students create a State History LB to house resources associated with the teaching of Missouri History (or other state if they choose). They collect resources in the following categories: Historical Events, Famous People, The Arts, People of Different Ethnic Backgrounds, Books, and Songs and Poetry. Students also add ways to teach with these resources as comments throughout the tabs. Here's a fantastic example from one of my students.
In Teaching Social Sciences II, students create nine Month Resource LB's to collect ideas for each month of the school year pertaining to holidays, special occasions, and other interesting finds they want to keep. Each LB contains Lesson Plan Ideas, Bulletin Board Ideas, Arts Activities, Kitchen Fun, and Children's Books. Here's an example of a whole Month Resource LB's shelf from one of my students.
I have never heard such positive feedback from an assignment as I have after students have created these LB's. At first, they seem daunting, but several students have shared their intent to continue using them throughout their teaching career. That's one of my favorite things about teaching future teachers---my ability to introduce them to new methods of teaching, new technology tools, and other resources, so they can impact their own students some day.
So my challenge to you is this........think about your work and the assignments in your courses right now. Is Livebinders something that you could utilize either personally, professionally, or for an assignment for your students? Introduce them to this fantastic resource and watch the ideas start flowing!
Leave a comment to tell me how you plan to use Livebinders!
Jennifer
I love top 10 lists (ala David Letterman---but a lot cleaner)! So, here we go!
Livebinders Top 10 Favorite Things
10. Since Livebinders is a cloud-based platform, you can either link a specific Livebinder or even embed it in a website to share with others. Anytime you update your binder, the link is automatically updated.
9. Create as many LB's as you want. (I have over 40 of my own--eek! A little obsessed?)
8. Easily collaborate with others by adding them as collaborators by using the email account they used to sign up for LB to invite them.
7. Make your LB public to share your ideas or keep them private for yourself. Here's one created by Mrs. B that houses Web 2.0 Tools.
6. Add explanations beside the linked tabs to either remind yourself of the resource's use or as a way to communicate with your collaborators. Click on some tabs in this Livebinder to see an example.
5. Customize the tabs, subtabs, backgrounds, etc. with colors, patterns, and graphics.
4. Create shelves of binders that go together. Here's a website created by one of my students that has her LB shelf embedded.
3. Have students create their own LB's to collect resources for a research project.
2. You can even have a binder of Livebinders! Since LB's are identified by links, you can actually create a LB of all your favorite LB's. Check out this one I made in only 10 minutes of Web 2.0 Resources.
And my #1 Favorite Thing about LB's is...............(drumroll please!)......
1. You can add the Livebinder It tool to your web browser and add resources directly to a specific Livebinder without having the Livebinder site open! This makes it so convenient to search and save.
Livebinders in My Classroom
Ever since that first encounter, I have used LB's in my professional life in a myriad of ways. That might be a subject for another post, but I will focus the rest of this post on how I use them specifically in my courses as assignments. I teach courses in the department of education in elementary social sciences methods, content area literacy, middle school literacy, and technology for educators, among others. Below you will find two examples of how I introduce this wonderful tool to my pre-service teachers.
In Teaching Social Sciences I, students create a State History LB to house resources associated with the teaching of Missouri History (or other state if they choose). They collect resources in the following categories: Historical Events, Famous People, The Arts, People of Different Ethnic Backgrounds, Books, and Songs and Poetry. Students also add ways to teach with these resources as comments throughout the tabs. Here's a fantastic example from one of my students.
In Teaching Social Sciences II, students create nine Month Resource LB's to collect ideas for each month of the school year pertaining to holidays, special occasions, and other interesting finds they want to keep. Each LB contains Lesson Plan Ideas, Bulletin Board Ideas, Arts Activities, Kitchen Fun, and Children's Books. Here's an example of a whole Month Resource LB's shelf from one of my students.
I have never heard such positive feedback from an assignment as I have after students have created these LB's. At first, they seem daunting, but several students have shared their intent to continue using them throughout their teaching career. That's one of my favorite things about teaching future teachers---my ability to introduce them to new methods of teaching, new technology tools, and other resources, so they can impact their own students some day.
So my challenge to you is this........think about your work and the assignments in your courses right now. Is Livebinders something that you could utilize either personally, professionally, or for an assignment for your students? Introduce them to this fantastic resource and watch the ideas start flowing!
Leave a comment to tell me how you plan to use Livebinders!
Jennifer
