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
When I am presenting on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), an education framework routed in offering options to students to help them take control of their own education, teachers often tell me they have been doing it already for years. I ask them to explain.
What follows is often a description of Differentiated Instruction (DI). Like UDL, DI is also an education framework based on providing options to students. However, there are some critical differences that differentiate (pardon the pun!) the two frameworks from one another.
The Dinner Party Analogy
I like to explain the differences by asking teachers think about hosting a dinner party. Let’s say you have invited over thirty guests. Several of these guests have food allergies, another few are gluten-free, some are vegetarian or lactose intolerant, and your brother is exclusively Paleo. You want to be the perfect host, and you want to accommodate everyone.
Scenario 1: You decide to make individual meals for each guest so that each of them has the perfect dish. That is a lot of juggling to do. In the end, you are exhausted from all of the cooking, made a few mistakes because it is nearly impossible to get everyone’s individual meal perfect, and didn’t enjoy yourself. At the same time, you are frustrated that some of your guests preferred other’s meals when you had made a special dish JUST FOR THEM.
What I just described is the dinner party equivalent of DI. DI is presenting options, but those options are directed by the teacher. For example, you may take one group of students aside and ask them to read an extra piece of literature because you can tell they are more advanced than their peers. You ask another student to draw a picture instead of writing an essay since you know writing is challenging for him. You are presenting options, but those options are governed by you and it’s possible you haven’t chosen the right options for the right students. You are burnt out from trying to create so many individualized lessons.
Scenario 2: Let’s go back to the dinner party. Rather than preparing thirty individual meals, why not put out a buffet? Include lots of variety, but let the guests choose what is best for them, what they believe will work with their individual diets, and satisfy them. You don’t witness guests peering at other’s dishes wishing they had been made the same thing. You are relaxed and engaged. You have saved your energy for interacting with your guests, instead of wasting it preparing imperfect options.
UDL offers students a “buffet” of options. The options are offered by the teacher but they aren’t individualized for specific students. Through the UDL framework, students are intended to become self-directed learners and choose the options that work best for them, not the other way around. With UDL, students learn to take responsibility for their learning. They are learn the “why” of learning as we turn on the affective network of the brain by providing multiple means of engagement. They learn the “what” of learning as we ignite the recognition network of the brain by providing multiple means of representation. And they learn the “how” of learning as we turn on the strategic network of the brain through multiple means of action & expression.
If you are feeling exhausted by creating individualized learning plans for each of your students through the DI framework, you are not alone. UDL can help you provide options but allow you to maintain your creativity and energy while developing a classroom full of curious, self-directed learners. It isn’t a framework you can implement overnight, but once you see it working its magic in your classroom, you will become just as hooked as I am.
To learn more about the UDL framework, and read up on concrete examples of how you can implement it in your classroom, feel free to pick up a copy of my book, UDL Now!
The picture above is me on my radical BMX bike circa 1985. I’ll get back to my bike in a minute, but first I want to share a quick story from school this year.
Earlier this year, one of our kindergarten students walked into our school with something taped to her jacket. Upon closer examination, I discovered she was wearing a note from her parent. The note basically explained some bus info and provided her parent-contact info so we could talk things through. Our office team usually gets phone calls and e-mails about bus changes, so the unconventional communication her parent used stood out to me.
The note actually reminded me of a time my mom had pinned a note to me. (This is where my BMX bike comes into play.) I was in 5th or 6th grade and I needed to get to a band lesson across town. My mom wasn’t able to drive me on that particular day, so she pinned a sign to my shirt and sent me on my way along with a dollar so I could stop and buy a Gatorade at a gas station.
Looking back, I’m not even sure how I managed to lug my trumpet across town while riding my bike, but I’m guessing it had something to do with the dollar that was burning a hole in my pocket. We’ll call this mom wisdom. 🙂
I hadn’t given the note too much thought until I walked into the gas station and the clerk started laughing at me. She informed me the note said, “If hit, call my mom at 555-5550.” Now that I’m a lot older and a little wiser, I get why this was funny. At the same time, I also wish my mom would’ve at least listed “911” as the first number for anyone who hit me to call. I totally digress.
Each of the stories above highlights the impact of explicit communication. (You can’t get much more explicit than a banner or sign, right?!)
When it comes to school leadership, I’ve probably fallen short on making our team’s vision and beliefs as explicit as they could be. Obviously, I think about the things that matter most a lot, but I’m still not sure we dialogue about them enough. I need to get better at helping to carry our banner…perhaps I should try pinning it to my shirt?
There’s another layer to this that’s just as important. I also need to get better at learning about the different banners individuals on our team carry; the passions, ideas, and life experiences of the people we serve are just as important as the goals and objectives we have for our organizations.
I understand that most of us will never pin a note or sign to our jacket stating our vision and core beliefs. I also get that if we’re living these core convictions most people would be able to state what we stand for without us having to mention it. However, the people we serve shouldn’t have to guess.
2 Ways Leaders Can Carry the Banner
1. Own it. Carry your banner by talking about why you do what you do when you’re doing it. Be bold in sharing your child-centered beliefs and heart for serving. (And if you’ve done it right, your banner is not yours alone…it’s the product of many people who have invested into the same cause.) Regardless, don’t shy away from positive redundancy. Many of the leaders I respect most share their core beliefs on a regular basis and it never gets old; if anything, it confirms what they’re committed to.
2. Help others. Earnestly seek to understand and advance the banners other people are carrying. Get to know their hearts. This will require you to set your banner and self-interest aside. It will also require you to take time to ask questions and actually care. (But doesn’t anything that’s worth it?)
How do you carry the banner and why is it so hard to do this well?
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.
Below is a post by IMPress author George Couros whose book will be available on amazon on August 14th, 2019! For now, you can check out his first book The Innovator’s Mindset.
Here’s a quick confession: I (John) used to hate the word “innovative.” See those quotation marks right there around the word? Those are actually air quotes that I would use whenever I used the term. “It’s a buzzword,” I would say. “It’s overused,” I would point out.
But the truth is, sometimes a word becomes trendy because it’s tapping into something we all agree is important. Is it misused? Sometimes. Is it overused? Often. But so are the words “love” and “awesome” and “friend,” but I have no intention of ditching any of those words. I think I reacted poorly to the word “innovation” because it had a certain overly glossy, high-tech connotation to it. It made me think of the EPCOT Center and of the Astrodome and of the Flowbee (a true innovation in haircutting that combined a hair trimmer and a vacuum). But that’s not innovation. That’s novelty. That’s disruption.
I have been discussing innovation for probably the past ten years, and I agree with John here, 100%. When people use the word “innovation” to describe something new (usually technology related) than it does become a buzzword. This happens a lot in education where a term becomes “trendy” and is used without thought of what it means, which in turn makes the word a buzzword. It is not saying that the word in itself is terrible, but it is in the way that it is used.
I’m defining innovation as a way of thinking that creates something new and better. Innovation can come from either “invention” (something totally new) or “iteration” (a change of something that already exists), but if it does not meet the idea of “new and better,” it is not innovative. That means that change for the sake of change is never good enough.
The “better” part of the definition is the most crucial. The word “better” is vital when it comes to traditional practice or innovative practice. Some traditional methods work better for our students in learning, and that is crucial to understand. If we gravitate toward the “new” only because it is trendy and lose our students along the way, it is not innovation; it is bad practice.
But what constitutes ‘better’? How do I know when a new way is a better way? For me, better is equivalent to students learning more. Whatever the ‘better’ is assists my students with learning/remembering/retaining more information in a more efficient and/or effective manner. What does ‘better’ mean to you? I think this is a vitally important question to consider and I’m not sure all educators sincerely know what their ‘better’ is.
The question I have bolded is essential, not only for individuals but as schools and organizations. What does “better” actually mean? If you are looking for an answer from me, I won’t give it to you directly. Here is why; what is often measured as “better” in schools is all about higher scores. But understand, this doesn’t mean it is better learning. For example, a lot of studies that discuss “effective practice” totally correlate it to test scores, but in your experience as an educator, have you ever seen students that could ace a test but not truly understand the content? I will admit that I have taught that way in my career because the sole measure of my effectiveness what was if kids did well on a test. We promote the importance of scores in education, yet many organizations that scores are not an accurate indicator of someone’s ability. I am not against students doing well on standardized exams, but I also know that some of our smartest kids in our schools are weak academically. There is more to learning and understanding than we could ever possibly measure on a standardized test.
We also need to understand that people other than the students often define the “better” for our kids. This is why I have often discussed the importance of having students define what “success” looks like for them. Do we genuinely become as passionate or resilient in achieving goals that are solely set by others? I struggle with the thought that sometimes the “scores” are placed at the forefront because it is an easier way to show the success of the adults than it is to show the success of our students.
I believe that as a school if we are talking about “best practices” or “innovation,” or anything else, we have to figure out what “better” means for our students, and from our community. How we assess this “better” will drive practice, not the other way around.
Below is a post by IMPress author John Spencer, author of Empower and author of an upcoming book Vintage Innovation (coming out early 2020).
I used to believe that creativity began in the mind. Ideas popped in and people responded externally by making things. I would get frustrated when students came into class having only used technology to consume rather than create. I would beg them to take risks creatively. Make something different. Be bold. Branch out even if you screw up. Just be bold.
However, things began to change when I had my own kids. I noticed that from a young age, creativity was inherently social. It often began by seeing, hearing, and experiencing first. Often, it included copying something that an adult was doing. As the kids grew older, I noticed a similar pattern. Though they were wildly creative, each one of them went through a process of noticing, exploring, copying and finally finding their own way.
It has me thinking about my own experience with creative work. When I first got into drawing, I copied the styles of other artists. When I first got into poetry, I copied the style of my favorite poet. When I first wrote a novel, it was essentially fan fiction — albeit at a time when no one knew that term. I have noticed similar trends among students. They often go through a phase of copying and mash-ups that occur before creating something truly original. As a middle school teacher, I saw this trend in art class, wood shop, in writer’s workshops, and in STEM labs. Now, at the university level, I see this as a progression that often happens as students learn the art of teaching. They often observe and copy before they move into creating from scratch.
The Importance of Critical Consuming
Like I mentioned earlier, creativity doesn’t always happen with a flash of inspiration. When you look at makers, they are often critical consumers of the same type of work they create. Chefs love great meals. Musicians listen to music. Architects often visit new cities and tour buildings to find inspiration. There’s this ongoing cycle of critical consuming, inspiration, and creative work. As they create more, it leads to a deeper ability to consume critically, where they find more inspiration, and the cycle continues.
This is why I reject the idea that students should be creators rather than consumers. Consuming isn’t inherently bad. However, what we want are for students to be critical consumers so that they can become makers. And often, this requires a journey from awareness through critical consuming and then eventually creation. For this reason, I’d love to share the seven stages from consuming to creating that we featured in the book Empower.
The Seven Stages from Consuming to Creating
I’ve been thinking about stages that I notice as students move from consumers of media to creators of media. I admit that this is not very scientific. There might be a better model out there that explains this phenomenon. However, here are seven stages I see students go through as they shift from consuming to creating:
#1: Awareness
Sometimes this is a passive exposure. You hear a style of music being played in the background and it seems unusual. After a few months of it, you find yourself thinking, “I kind-of like this.” Next thing you know, you’re choosing to listen to indie-fused techno-polka. Or maybe not. Other times, it’s more direct. You watch a particular movie or you see a production or you read a book and suddenly you’re hooked. Note that this is why I will never fully embrace completely choice-driven learning. Sometimes students need to be exposed to new media, topics, themes, and skills. And, the things that initially seem odd become intriguing and that when you move into the second stage.
#2: Active Consuming
In this phase, you are more likely to seek out the works that you are consuming (whether it is art, music, food, poetry). You aren’t yet a fan, but you start developing a taste for a particular style and you find yourself thinking more deeply about whatever work you are consuming. Notice that the term “consuming” is pretty loose here. A student might “consume” by playing suddenly getting into a new game they learned in P.E.
Sometimes this phase is more focused on the aesthetics and sometimes it is more focused on practical utility. A student might think, “Wow, that’s actually pretty fun” or she might think, “That’s actually kind of useful.” Either way, they are actively seeking out and consuming in this phase.
#3: Critical Consuming
Here, you start becoming an expert. You see the nuances in both form and functionality. It’s in this phase that your taste becomes more refined. You begin to appreciate the craft involved in making what you are consuming. You are able to distinguish between good and bad quality. When they are consuming media, this is a phase when they are truly becoming adept at how to find accurate and useful information.
#4: Curating
After becoming an expert, you start picking out the best and commenting on it. You collect things, organize things, and share your reviews with others. In this phase of curation, you are both a fan and a critic. curation goes beyond simply collecting items online. The best curators know how to find what is best by immersing themselves in a niche area while also making surprising connections between ideas in seemingly unrelated worlds. Curators find specific excerpts that are relevant at the moment but also timeless. They can explain the purpose, the context, and the necessity of what they are citing.
#5: Copying
This is the part that drives me crazy as a teacher. After developing a level of expertise on a particular work (or artist or style) students will literally copy it. So, a student who is an amazing artist insists in drawing, line-for-line, a manga work. A student who geeks out on bridges decides she wants to make an exact replica of another bridge. A student gets into food and never deviates from the recipe. Until . . . suddenly something changes. A student branches out and modifies the copycat work. There’s this spark of creativity that happens as they start to think, “Maybe I could try something a little different.”
This, in turn, leads to the next stage.
#6: Mash-Ups
Sometimes this looks like collage art. Kids combine elements from various favorite works that they have curated and make something new. Sometimes this looks like fan fiction. Other times, it might mean taking an idea from one area and applying it to a new context — which can often look incredibly creative. So that kid who is copying manga begins to experiment with a few styles and adopt a visual style from multiple sources. That writer whose work seems derivative starts to borrow structures from multiple authors in unique ways. Over time, students begin to find their own unique voice and it leads up to #7.
#7: Creating From Scratch
This is the stage where students start taking the biggest risks and making things that are truly original. While the ideas are often inspired by the previous six stages, this is where a student finds his own voice. It’s the stage where a student grows in confidence to the extent that she is able to take meaningful risks.
The Journey Varies from Person to Person
So what does this look like in a classroom? When I taught middle school, I had students explore and critically consume video games. They debated which games were the best and why. From there, they moved to copying examples of games on Scratch, then doing modifications and mash-ups of games. Finally, they moved to a place where they created something new on their own.
I admit that these aren’t lockstep stages. For example, when he was younger, my middle son got really into Pokemon, and went from the second stage (active consuming) into the third, fourth and fifth stage simultaneously. It wasn’t incremental. It was more of an “all at once” thing. Similarly, people sometimes begin at the second stage by intentionally seeking out a new form of art to consume (second stage) with a critical eye (third stage).
Other times, people skip stages. Someone might go from falling in love with a novel (second stage) to creating fan fiction (sixth stage) without ever copying anything (the fifth stage). On the other hand, I have almost always skipped the mash-up stage, preferring to move from copying a particular style to jumping out and finding my own voice.
This isn’t a formula so much as a general framework that I have used to help me remember that the jump from consuming to creating is more often a journey than a jump. However, the key takeaway is that students need time and opportunities to consume critically and walk through these phases on their own.
Listen to the Podcast
If you enjoy this blog but you’d like to listen to it on the go, just click on the audio below or subscribe via iTunes/Apple Podcasts (ideal for iOS users) or Google Play and Stitcher (ideal for Android users).
