Internationally recognized for her work in the development and promotion of educational materials and programs to promote the Olympic Movement and fair play. She has presented her work at conferences and workshops throughout Canada and the world, has been a guest lecturer and consultant at the International Olympic Academy in Olympia, Greece, and has consulted on education and youth programs for the Olympic Games in Barcelona (1992), Albertville (1992), Lillehammer (1994), Sydney (2000), and Beijing 2008.

She is the lead writer of Be A Champion in Life: An International Teacher’s Handbook, produced in Athens prior to the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Her ethics manual, Fair Play for Kids, which is distributed throughout Canada by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, was a recipient of a UNESCO award. From 2001 until 2005 Deanna was the Director of the Institute for Olympic Education at the University of Alberta.

As an educator for 20 years, Dr. Binder specialized in innovative program design. She was a high school English teacher and Department Head for the Calgary Board of Education when the Calgary 1988 Olympic Games Organizing Committee involved her in a project to develop Olympic programs for schools. Come Together: The Olympics and You, a binder of Olympic-related activities for schools, became one enduring legacy of the Calgary Winter Games.

Her research interests focus on exploring how educational initiatives based on the Olympic values - joy of effort in physical endeavour, fair play, respect for others and pursuit of excellence - can enhance the physical and moral development of children and youth in schools and in sport. This research involves complex cross-cultural and ethical factors.