You can develop the skills to meet the needs of learners in any learning environment.
This approachable, in-depth guide unites the adaptability of Universal Design for Learning with the flexibility of blended learning, equipping educators with the tools they need to create relevant, authentic, and meaningful learning pathways to meet students where they’re at, no matter the time and place or their pace and path. With step-by-step guidance and clear strategies, authors Katie Novak and Catlin Tucker empower teachers to implement these frameworks in the classroom, with a focus on cultivating community, building equity, and increasing accessibility for all learners.
As we face increasing uncertainty and frequent disruption to traditional ways of living and learning, UDL and Blended Learning offers bold, innovative, inclusive solutions for navigating a range of learning landscapes, from the home to the classroom and all points in between, no matter what obstacles may lie ahead.
Endorsements (3)
“Whether you are new to the world of blended learning with UDL or could teach a course on both, this book is sure to set you ablaze with new ideas to reach and teach with equity in mind for all learners.”
—Andratesha Fritzgerald, author of Anti-Racism and Universal Design for Learning
“If you care about giving students more flexibility to personalize their learning through a blend of in-person and online environments, you’ll want this book.”
—Jay McTighe, educational consultant and coauthor of the Understanding by Design® framework
“Throughout this book, you will learn strategies that will help you remove barriers to learning, create more personalized learning experiences, and teach students how to become expert learners. This is something every teacher needs to read, discuss, and think about how to put into action.”
—Katie Martin, PhD, chief impact officer at Altitude Learning and author of Learner-Centered Innovation
Did you know that IMPress author George Couros puts out a podcast once a week? Below is the blog post that accompanies the podcast (link to the podcast in the post) about ways you can influence change!
No matter your position in education, you can influence change. If we are waiting for “someone else” to create meaningful change, it might not happen.
You can check out the full podcast on Apple iTunes, Soundcloud, or Spotify. You can also read the slightly “updated” post below.
“At the end of the day, what qualifies people to be called ‘leaders’ is their capacity to influence others to change their behavior in order
to achieve important results.” Joseph Grenny
In a time where the only constant in education is “change,” people involved with education need to become “change agents” more now than ever. You can understand pedagogy inside out, but if you are unable to define “why” someone should do something different in their practice, all of that knowledge can be ultimately wasted. People will take a “known good” over an “unknown better” in most cases; the challenge is to help make the “unknown” visible and show why it is better for kids.
Simply sharing new ideas is not enough. It has to go deeper. Ultimately, you want people to feel and value that any change is better than they were kids, and that are current students will be better served by creating a better experience. Innately, educators want what is best for kids.
Tap into that, and people are more likely to move forward. As Dan Pink states,
“To sell well is to convince someone else to part with resources—not to deprive that person, but to leave him better off in the end.”
So how does this happen? Below are some things that I have seen effective leaders (from any position) to help people not only accept change but embrace it as an opportunity to do something better for kids.
1. Model the change that they want to see.
Although this might seem extremely “cliche,” it is the most crucial step for any leader in leading the “change effort.” Many organizations talk about the idea that people need to be “risk-takers,” yet they are not willing to model it themselves. Until that happens, people will not feel comfortable doing something different. It is also the difference between talking from a “theoretical” to “practical” viewpoint.
People will feel more comfortable taking a journey to an unknown place if they know that the first steps have been made by someone else. Although I believe in the idea of distributed leadership, the idea of “leaders” is that they are also ahead; they have done things that have not been done before. Chris Kennedy has shared the belief that leaders need to be “elbow deep in learning” with others, not only to show they are willing to embrace the change that they speak about but also to be able to talk from a place of experience.
2. Show that you understand the value that already exists.
The word “change” is terrifying to some because it makes them feel that everything that they are doing is irrelevant. Rarely is that the case. I have seen speakers talk to an audience for an hour, and people walk out feeling like they were just scolded for 90 minutes on how everything that they are doing is wrong. It is great to share new ideas, but you have to tap into what exists already that is powerful.
When you show people that you value them and their ideas (and not in a fake way which is pretty easy to read through), they are more likely to move mountains for you, and for themselves.
Strengths-based leadership is something that should be standard with administrators to teachers, as it should be standard with teachers to kids.
3. Tell stories.
Data should inform what we do and is an essential part of the change process, but it does not necessarily move people forward in a positive direction.
Of course, using evidence to inform practice is important, but stories are what move people forward.
Great organizations know the importance of telling a story to make people “feel” something.
This is something I truly believe:
To inspire meaningful change, you must make a connection to the heart before you make a connection to the mind.
Stories touch the heart. What is the story of your classroom, school, or district? Not only the one you can tell but the one you want to create together?
Think about it…this is a school newsletter. Imagine if I handed out a piece of paper to educators and asked them to read a newsletter from another school. Do you think they would care as much as seeing the kids, their faces, and their emotions?
Don’t let a grade be the only thing that tells a story about the kids in our schools. Let’s empower our students to learn to share their own stories, as well as the stories of the school.
5. Get people excited and then get out of the way.
“Increase your power by reducing it.” Daniel Pink
I have been to schools, watched administrators encourage their teachers to embrace something different in their practice, and they make that change impossible to do.
Answering that “we need to change the policy before you can move forward” not only encourages the detractors, but it kills the enthusiasm in your champions.
When “yeah but” is the most commonly used phrase in your leadership repertoire, you might as well learn to say “no”; it’s essentially the same thing. The most successful people in the world rarely follow a script, but write a different one altogether. Are teachers doing something better “because of you” or “despite you”? If you want to inspire change, be prepared to “clear the path” and get out of the way so that change can happen.
The change process is a tough one, but merely being knowledgeable is not enough. Some people that actually “know less” but “influence more” create more change than some of the smartest people we might know.
Education is not about “stuff” but about “people.” Tap into that, and you are more likely to see the change that you are hoping to see.
I was reading the article, Five Teens Who Changed the World, and it reminded me of one of the sections within my book, Take the L.E.A.P.: Ignite a Culture of Innovation. Malala is one of the five teens mentioned in the article, who I also share about in my book while speaking on risk taking. Malala, an activist for female education, took significant risks because of the passion and determination she felt for her cause. Now, here in 2019, we have Greta Thunberg turning heads and making waves as an environmental activist. Regardless of if you agree with her stance or not, I think we can all agree that her passion is palpable- and she’s an influential leader at just 16 years of age. The Global Goals for Sustainable Development are also amplifying the voices of our youth through the 17 goals in connection with the United Nations. There are so many children who feel compelled to speak up and stand up for what they believe in. Watch this video to learn more and feel the passion children exude for finding solutions to existing problems.
#KidsToday
Although this level of leadership from our youth is incredibly unique, I notice other children from around the world making an impact, too. If you visit the hashtag of, #KidsToday, used regularly by Tom Murray, you’ll see many examples. Murray shared with me that he began using the hashtag, “to change the narrative of how we talk about this amazing generation of kids.” From an eighth grader who created a school closet to provide needy classmates with clothes and necessities, to a ten year old boy inventing a genius device to stop children in hot cars after his neighbor’s death, our kids really are doing some incredible things!
The hashtag of #KidsToday is a reminder that our kids are pretty spectacular. They are capable of great work and are more driven when they have ownership, in addition to feeling invested in something personal and meaningful. It makes me wonder what it would be like if all children had the opportunity to explore their interests, develop their strengths and passions, and had the support along the way. We need to ensure we are laying a foundation that supports all learners to thrive and that doesn’t mean just being successful with learning content. Every individual who steps out of their comfort zone to help others, raise awareness or take action on their ‘big idea,’ has the potential to make an impact. Isn’t that an opportunity we want to foster for all?
As educators, are we creating space for learners to identify their interests and develop passions?
Are we fostering a culture that supports thoughtful risk taking and celebrating efforts to persevere through challenges or failure, just as much as we celebrate accomplishments?
This is Your Moment, Step Out
Many of our learners may have their own big ideas while others haven’t even begun to consider what it is they’re passionate about. However, we can create opportunities for exploration and empower students through authentic and meaningful learning experiences. Makerspace, project and problem based learning are excellent for this purpose. We can approach this work through various avenues. My hope is that together, we will inspire our youth to identify what deeply matters to them so that they can engage in purposeful work that they’re passionate about- becoming world changers and innovators.
Making shifts can feel uncomfortable. Anytime we step beyond our comfort zone, we may feel unsteady about where we’re headed as the outcome may be uncertain. Especially if it means that we are turning more ownership over to learners. But, until we decide to take those thoughtful risks, we won’t know. If we ensure that we have structures in place such as daily routines, protocols for learning, processes for reflection, feedback and revision, etc., our students develop an understanding of what’s expected. Often, we blossom through the process. To demonstrate this in my book, I share about the filming of The Greatest Showman.
The hit movie The Greatest Showman is packed with emotionally charged songs full of passion and inspiration. One song, “This is Me,” sung by Keala Settle, has become incredibly popular. A YouTube video of the live behind-the-scenes recording of this anthem reveals the immense synergy felt amongst individuals who collaborated to bring this musical masterpiece to life. In an interview with director Michael Gracey and Settle, they share that the recording captured the very first time Settle sang, “This is Me,” as no one had heard her sing it before that moment. To this day it fascinates me to learn from the interview that Settle didn’t even want to come out from behind the music stand to sing in front of others. Having watched the movie and listened to the soundtrack numerous times, I initially struggled to look at Settle through a different lens. How could someone who possesses extraordinary talent and appears so confident feel uncomfortable and even scared to step out in front of others in the studio to shine?
I encourage you to take a moment and watch the video to gain the full context. Watch until the end to grasp the magnitude of their synergy and feel their emotion:
The answer to creating innovative teaching and learning opportunities lies within you.
Every educator faces constraints—from budget restrictions to predetermined curriculum to “one-size-fits-all” mandatory assessments. The question is, how can you, as a teacher or administrator, ensure that regulations and limitations don’t impede authentic learning?
In Innovate Inside the Box,George Couros and Katie Novak provide informed insight on creating purposeful learning opportunities for all students. By combining the power of the Innovator’s Mindset and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), they empower educators to create opportunities that will benefit every learner. Couros and Novak show you how to . . .
Leverage the Core of Innovative Teaching and Learning with a focus on developing meaningful relationships.
Develop the 8 Characteristics of the Innovator’s Mindset in your students—and yourself.
Use UDL to proactively design learning experiences that foster voice and choice while addressing barriers that impede learning.
Create learner-driven, evidence-informed learning experiences that provide all students with options and choices to maximize success.
“No one articulates a more compelling, a more urgent, or a more motivating vision of education—for both teachers and their students—than George Couros. No one articulates how that vision can be reached—for every student and teacher—more daringly, more practically, and more inclusively, than Katie Novak. Having them together in one book not only helps us reimagine the goals and practices of education, it reminds us of why we ever wanted to be teachers at all.”
—David Rose, PhD. CAST’s cofounder and chief education officer, emeritus
“An incredible book! Innovate Inside the Box speaks to educators who are the change agents in their sphere of influence.”
—Sarah Thomas, PhD, founder of EduMatch
“George and Katie’s combined talents as spectacular storytellers drive this book. You will feel like you are flying through it and then realize how deeply you are learning.”
—Loui Lord Nelson, PhD, author of Design and Deliver, and podcast host of UDL in 15 Minutes
With the constant innovation occurring within EdTech, it can leave educators scratching their heads on which way to turn. Some educators opt to utilize technology as a substitution for paper and pencil tasks while others are seeking tech tools that engage and empower learning to transform experiences. Many educators use a combination of approaches to infuse technology in a meaningful demeanor. There’s not a right or wrong way to leverage technology per se, but what we need to be cognizant of is how it’s being used to create deeper or transformational learning. Technology can deeply engage, leading to empowered learning that fosters competencies in our learners in combination with honing in on developing skills.
As Eric Sheninger shares on IGTV, “Competencies are a dynamic combination of abilities, attributes, and behavior, as well as knowledge that is fundamental to use the skill aligned to learner outcomes.” We need to be intentional at helping learners become competent in the skills we’re fostering.
Let’s reflect on our current practice. When integrating technology into the classroom, where is our primary focus?
Is it on drilling a skill, moving students through a scripted “personalized” online program, or are we encouraging our learners to engage as active communicators, goal setters, creators and problem solvers, increasing student agency?
Students may appear engaged while using tech tools to practice math or reading skills. This isn’t necessarily wrong to do on occasion, but if it’s primarily how students are using technology in the classroom, we’re missing the boat. When I see this in action, I like to take a minute and approach students to gain their perspective. I ask them, “do you enjoy what they’re working on?” And, if they do, I’m always curious to find out what it is that they like about it. In all transparency, kids tend to look at me like I’m crazy when I ask this question, particularly if they’re not accustomed to being asked to share their voice. Most often I find that students who appear to be engaged using technology as an electronic worksheet are simply being compliant.
We need to create meaningful learning experiences and empower learners to do so for themselves, too.
Take the L.E.A.P.: Ignite a Culture of Innovation
#LEAPeffect
Technology continues to evolve, making our lives better or easier in some regard. It has the capacity to open doors to new opportunities as we redefine learning, creating limitless possibilities in the classroom. However, that doesn’t mean that everything we do in the classroom has to involve technology. As educators, we benefit from beginning with the end in mind and working backwards. Ultimately, we need to consider what the learning outcomes are and then how we will get there, while also thinking of the competencies we are seeking to foster. It’s important to create ample opportunities for students to explore, create, and collaborate through authentic problem solving within learning.
The SAMR model can be extremely useful when we want to transform learning experiences in our classroom by leveraging technology in a meaningful way to empower learning. Rather than substituting a worksheet with an online platform that basically replicates the work, we can move into augmentation, modification and redefinition. Opportunities to foster competencies increase as students utilize technology that incorporates the desired skill while empowering them to work in teams toward learning targets. Let’s explore.
Looking at the continuum, where do your students spend the most time?
There are numerous tools that can be leveraged to move through the continuum toward redefinition. When I’m seeking to transform the experience, I also consider how I can infuse the 6Cs of Reimagining Learning.
In my book, Take the L.E.A.P.: Ignite a Culture of Innovation, I provide L.E.A.P tips on how we can foster each. Now, I realize that we could add many more words that begin with the letter C such as citizenship and culture to name a couple, but I find that these can also fall under the category of connectedness, for example. When we are intentional about fostering the 6Cs of Reimagining Learning, we naturally begin to transform learning. And, for the greatest possible impact, we can embed competencies to deepen learning all around by being cognizant of how we employ the use of technology.
Let’s begin by thinking about how students use technology outside of school. While many passively watch video content of their favorite streamer or YouTuber, they also utilize technology to converse with peers, post pictures or use a combo of media to create Instagram Stories, comment on posts, and create content in connection with their interests. They even like to watch how-to videos that are relevant to them. Many kids have their own YouTube channels, even elementary students. Let me take a pause and express that as a parent, we do need to ensure we’re supporting our children to navigate technology appropriately and that I’m not advocating for young kids to be all over social media or on YouTube, but that’s a completely separate blog post for the future! Anyhow, I see youth using editing software to create their own video content, code robotics, and more outside of school. I cannot recall a time when I’ve seen youth outside of school using technology as a form of an electronic worksheet unless it has been assigned by a teacher. However, not all students have the same access to tech tools as others and as mentioned above, and some are less informed on how to use it appropriately.
In our schools, we have a unique opportunity to help students grasp how they can leverage technology appropriately to foster interpersonal skills, creativity and innovation, self-direction, and how to organize and present information to have an impact on the world… That’s right, the world! Technology allows us to share our voice and connect with experts from around the globe. We can bring elements of how children use technology outside of school, inside of school.
The Power of Video Creation
Integrating video creation in the classroom can be extremely powerful. Using anything from iMovieto WeVideo, students can create video content that curates their learning and then post videos to the class YouTube channel (with teacher permission). If you are uneasy with using YouTube (even despite privacy settings), SeeSaw or Flipgrid can be used as an alternative. The benefits of SeeSaw and Flipgrid are that students can add voice recordings or text sharing feedback with peers.
In our classroom, we used video for newscasts in connection with Project Based Learning and opinion writing, too. Video can also be used for acting out or creating a new ending for a book. Students were empowered to create how-to videos and weekly updates that we posted on our web based newsletter for families. Rather than me doing all of the communication, they became the co-creators of content and as a result, more families tuned in!
Tip: If employing video creation, I highly suggest that students have a graphic organizer handy that connects to their work so that their information is mapped out prior to creating the video. Developing a workflow supports learners to remain focused, helping them to be clear and concise.
I’ve seen first hand how creativity, collaboration, and communication skills skyrocket when video creation is interwoven in learning. Simply adding the option of creating a video while learning math, draws students in more deeply than merely working on a math assignment. Here’s why: when students are empowered to capture their own learning; demonstrating the process, their misconceptions or findings- they unleash creativity and personalize their product due to having ownership.
Video creation requires learners to watch and listen to their product, providing the opportunity to catch errors or identify what they’d like to improve upon. Video also empowers students to share their voice with others around the world. Our goal is to create authentic learning opportunities, and leveraging the power of video creation is limitless!
Harnessing the Capabilities of Apps and Websites
It’s rare that we use apps for anything other than to create our own content to demonstrate or capture learning. As a coach, expose learners to versatile apps that empower them to demonstrate creativity, communicate their thinking, collaborate with others, set goals, and integrate Design Thinking. In our classroom, learners have access to several apps or websites that have similar functionality such as Book Creator, Explain Everything and EduCreations (to name a few). Students select their preferred tool based on what they feel is best and then share their product on SeeSaw or Flipgrid to receive feedback.
[Carving out time for feedback encourages students to respond with empathy, think critically about how others can improve or what they did well, and reflection. The opportunity to refine work allows learners to build upon their learning, rather than viewing it as final.]
Furthermore, learners are empowered to add videos and pictures of their projects that include voice over, text, and graphics which allow them to reflect on their learning journey and unleash creative potential. Within learning environments of empowerment, you’ll observe students moving independently around the room to utilize resources and materials that support and enhance their learning. When integrating technology, leverage tools that are relevant to learners and that are likely to be used outside of school. This includes blogging, shared documents for collaboration, providing feedback to peers through avenues such as Google Classroom (Google Docs) or Office 365 and developing media to enhance presentations or demonstrate learning.
“Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve more and live richer lives.”
-Daniel Pink
Equip Learners to be Confident, Future-Ready Individuals
Technology isn’t a substitute for teaching. Rather, it has the potential to be a powerful tool for deepening the education experience for both learners and teachers. Let’s move beyond scripted online programs that often diminish the drive to learn. Ultimately, we desire students to be intrinsically motivated and driven to grow. Let’s increase intrinsic motivation and foster competencies that are fundamental to skill development by leveraging technology in a meaningful way. Looking at how students are using technology outside of school provides insights on what will feel authentic to them. And, by exposing students to other relevant uses equips them as confident, future-ready learners and unleashes each individual’s potential.
By Katie Novak and Catlin Tucker
