Some projects live in your head. Some sit in your computer or cloud. And then there are the ones you hold close to your heart ❤️. My 2025 Open Education for a Better World (OE4BW) project belongs to the last category.
Today, on International Day for Universal Access to Information (28th September), I’m thrilled to release to the public my new handbook:
“Keep Calm and STEAM Ahead! A Handbook for Educators.” 🎨🎶🎭📚
Who is it for?
Educators of all stripes: formal or informal. Teachers in classrooms, facilitators in community centers, parents tutoring kids at home, even older siblings helping the younger ones. Basically, any educator between ages 13 to 103!
Access for All
Because access matters:
- 📄 Limited Internet / Devices: If you have very limited connectivity or device access, use the PDF version. Once downloaded (it may take a while as its 80+ pages, 26.2MB), you can open it anytime on your device or print it out. With QR codes (like in NCERT textbooks) and augmented transcripts, you’ll only need the internet access once for downloading and you’re set.
- 🔗 Sporadic Internet: The same PDF version also includes clickable links to external resources, so you can make the most of it whenever you’re online.
- 📝 Editable Format: Prefer to edit or customise? Use the Google Docs version. You can make your own copy, adapt it, or download the handbook in other formats.
- 📖 Reliable Internet: With a stable connection, try the Pressbooks interactive version. It includes embedded videos, annotation tools, and other interactive features.
And yes, it’s free and open under CC BY-NC-SA. Translate it, adapt it, remix it and make it yours!
Why does it matter?
This handbook is about integrating Social Emotional Learning (SEL) into school subjects through the arts: doodling, music, and dramatisation, all while staying rooted in STEAM and equity. It’s a framework and a toolkit for bringing empathy, mindfulness, compassion, and critical inquiry into everyday learning.
The Backstory
A few years ago, I co-created a 3-hour SEL course with some equally passionate educators from fields as diverse as medicine, ed-tech, computer science, and education. We used UNESCO MGIEP’s SEL framework, and although that this course never left our Google Drive, it always felt too good to abandon.
So this year, I brewed it fresh ☕, expanding it into an 80+ page handbook written in simple, conversational English. Less gyan (I promise!) , more reflection questions, examples, templates, and actionable strategies.
I even managed to weave in recommendations from my doctoral research on textbooks design (nerdy delight 😍), and incorporate learnings from my Teach For India Fellowship (on educational equity, contextualised teaching-learning materials and leading with heart!) making this resource rigorous at the same time actionable.
I’m extremely grateful to my mentor and hub coordinator of the OE4BW program, as well as the reviewers and well-wishers, for their investment in this project!❤️
Not the End, but the Start! 🏁
While today marks the release, this is not the finish line. It’s the starting whistle! I invite you to dive in, try out the strategies, share your creations, and pass it along to someone who may need it.
Here’s to making learning joyful, creative, and emotionally empowering, for every learner, everywhere! 🌍
My post on LinkedIn related to the release of the book is here .
Natasha 