Our last two posts have narrowly focused on sharing apps that streamline grading in Desire2Learn:  the Desire2Learn Assignment Grader app and the Turnitin app.  In this post, we’d like to share an app that helps students stay organized and learn your content.  It’s called Binder.  If you’re feeling a bit grouchy because our last two app discussions have dangled the promise of efficiency and streamlined processes  just within your reach only to crush your dreams with the revelation that the dream-team of grading apps are exclusively for Apple fan boys and girls, hopefully a smile is about to spread across your face.  The Binder app comes in three flavors:  Apple iOS, Android, and web.  Three cheers for platform neutrality!  Hip hip hooray!  So whatever device or platform you use, if you can navigate to a webpage (in particular, this web page:  http://binder.desire2learn.com/), you can use Binder.

“But what does it do?” you ask.

Well, Desire2Learn boldly claims that it provides, “A better way to LEARN.”  Basically, it’s a slick document reader.  Here’s how it works its mojo:

1. It pulls Desire2Learn content down to your device for offline viewing.
2. It will fetch content to add to your Binder from Dropbox, OneDrive, or your Photos
3. You can organize your content through tagging and favorites
4. You can also annotate content with the following:
   1. hand drawn annotations
   2. highlights
   3. underline
   4. typed notes
5. Finally, you can send content back to Dropbox, OneDrive, or Photos or email and share it through other means

Here’s a promotional video for the Binder app.

http://youtu.be/TwU3b-ua-xY

This app isn’t so much for you, the instructor, as it is for your students.  But now that you know what Binder can do, consider recommending it to your students.