At Adobe, we believe creativity is a key to educational success for today’s youth. For this reason, I’m honored to be involved in our Adobe Youth Voices (AYV) program and thrilled to announce the winners of our second annual AYV Aspire Awards competition, an online challenge that invites youth from all around the world to tap into their creativity and share their vision for change in local communities

The winning projects, now featured on the AYV website, are prime examples of how powerfully young people are able to express themselves when provided with the right resources. Following are a just few of the remarkable entries.

Life’s a Fight

Created by four talented youth from the Appalachian Media Institute, “Life’s a Fight” documents the issue of teenage bullying and explores how the social landscape now extends beyond the schoolyard, to the internet. In this short documentary film we hear stories from teachers, parents, and victims, and learn from a group of local teens who saw an opportunity to take a stand.

It Makes a Big Difference

Produced by Jeanviêr Janga, who leads a media team at the Bonaire Youth Outreach Foundation, this project addresses the ability of youth to change their communities one act of kindness at a time. Jeanviêr used Adobe tools to create a fun and creative animation which promotes the idea that each small act of kindness is a step toward a better world. Jeanviêr joined the AYV program in 2011 and won an Audience Choice award in last year’s Aspire Awards competition.

Bowing Down to the Earth

This piece, created by Agata Mroczek, a Polish student with a passion for photography and environmental protection, celebrates “Earth Hour” as an opportunity to unite and give the Earth an hour of rest. “Earth Hour,” an event started by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), has been nine years in the making and takes place annually in Poland. Agata’s photos portray his event through the eyes of a young person.

This year, participation in the competition exceeded our expectations with an astounding 1,100 participants from 51 countries. In addition, entries received more than 830,000 votes from fans who selected their favorites to win the Audience Choice award. By utilizing a mix of storytelling formats, participants, like those shared above, address complex social and environmental topics, including bullying and climate change. While their entries represent a diverse range of ideas, they’re unified by a focus on finding solutions to the issues addressed.

Each Aspire Award participant gained important creative skills including media making, self-expression, ideation and collaboration. We believe this creativity skill set will help youth become more deeply engaged in their education in the short term and better prepared to succeed in an always evolving global economy in the long term. I encourage you to visit the AYV website and explore our digital gallery featuring each of this year’s extraordinary winners. I also invite you to learn more about our broader AYV program and explore opportunities to get involved. At Adobe, we know that by working together we can help build a bright and creative future for the next generation.

Today, the world needs creative thinkers to help solve the big challenges we face — in our global economy, in our environment, and in social issues. And we need people who are fluent in the latest digital tools that fuel creativity and self-expression. To inspire young women and help them develop skills they will need to become future problem solvers and innovators, Adobe Education hosted a special Tech Girls event at Presentation High School in San Jose, CA. A group of girls, ages 11 to 14, came from all over Silicon Valley to learn how to use Adobe tools including Adobe Edge Animate and Adobe Muse in a series of workshops. Mala Sharma, vice president of GTM and strategy for Creative Pro and Education at Adobe, spoke to these young women about her background and encouraged them to consider careers in technology.

The workshops were led by Adobe Education Leaders; Deila Caballero of Presentation High School, Jeff Larson of Balboa High School in San Francisco and Kevin McMahon of Bellarmine College Prep. All of the presenters were impressed by the knowledge and talent of these young women and praised Tech Girls for providing youth with such amazing opportunities:

“Workshops like this one directly impact the future of STEM fields by planting the seeds of technological inspiration in the minds of today’s young women. By encouraging each generation of girls to be fearless and confident technology users we give them a chance to explore educational opportunities which they may not otherwise have in the standard education model. The best part of this event was watching each student explore a new technology with excitement, creativity and success.” Deila Caballero, Presentation High School, San Jose, CA

“Having the chance to teach Adobe Edge to the young ladies involved in the Tech Girls workshop was a delightful reminder of the capacity of young people to rapidly learn and work with technology. The girls were quick to pick up on the general workflow and then quickly move into discovering things about the software I wasn’t even sure we’d have time to cover. I hope my daughter has a chance to participate in something like the Tech Girls program at some point, as the program is a beacon for encouraging girls pursuit of STEM related interests.” Jeff Larson, Balboa High School, San Francisco, CA

“The Tech Girls Workshop was a great experience. When teaching new apps such as Muse and Edge, students usually require some adjustment period. But these bright young girls were almost finishing my sentences by the time we were done. Moreover, their website and animation work was quite impressive. As a father of a daughter, the Tech Girls program gives me great hope for the future.” Kevin McMahon of Bellarmine College Prep, San Jose, CA

This is just one way Adobe is getting involved in helping youth explore new opportunities through technology and innovation. Share with us how your work inspires kids in new and creative ways.

Our economic growth and health as a nation rely on our collective ability to innovate. The most successful innovations – across healthcare, education, and the environment – result from the combination of creative thinking, world-class technology, and cutting-edge design. But today’s education system needs to do a better job of setting our students up for success in today’s global workplace. One area we think is critical is around fostering creative thinking. Creativity can no longer be treated as an elective in education; it must be core to the way we teach and learn. STEAM – adding Art and creativity to the national imperative around Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) – is an important step forward here.

In collaboration with the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), and a broad range of education and industry partners, Adobe is working to drive awareness and impact in this area. Part of this work will take place at the SXSW Education event next week in Austin, Texas, in the panel session called, “STEM to STEAM: Full Circle from Education to Economy.” I am thrilled to join other panelists such as Ainissa Ramirez (Yale University), Rosemarie Truglio (Sesame Workshop), Matt Goldman (Blue School & Blue Man Group) and John Maeda (Rhode Island School of Design) to discuss how art and design methods can be introduced into STEM-centric learning. We’d like to invite you to join us in one of the following ways:

1. Join us at SXSWedu. If you are attending this year’s SXSWedu conference, please join us on March 6 at 1:30 p.m. at the Austin Convention Center Room 16AB. We’re also hosting a STEAM social that night. For more information and to RSVP, go here.
2. Join the conversation. Share your thoughts and comments using the hashtag #SXSWSTEAM. If you are attending the SXSWedu panel please share your takeaways using the above hashtag.
3. Tweet to Give. For every mention of #AdobeSXSW on Twitter and Instagram, we will donate $1 up to $10,000 to STEM to STEAM. Learn more about our conversation for a cause here.

Thanks,

Jon Perera: @jon_perera

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” – Albert Einstein

Einstein understood the importance of the imagination and his words remind us of where human creativity has taken us – and will continue to take us. Creativity is essential to innovation. And innovation gives us the new technologies and products that will drive the global economy forward.

How important is creativity to our future? A recent study conducted by Adobe in the U.S., “Creativity and Education: Why It Matters,” showed that 90 percent of US professionals believe that unlocking creativity is essential to economic growth and that it is valuable to society. The study also highlighted a growing awareness, especially among professionals, that creativity and creative thinking deserve a bigger role in education. In fact, 88 percent of U.S. professionals surveyed believe that creativity should be built into standard curricula. Today, companies are realizing the importance of the creative process in the workplace. They are looking for employees who can do more than specific tasks—they want employees who can also think differently and be innovative. To be successful, students need an education that emphasizes communication, collaboration and creativity.

With the challenges the world is facing today in our global economy, in our environment, and in social issues, the need for creative ideas has never been greater. That is why we are aligning our work to help students and educators realize the power of creativity and self-expression by providing digital tools, vibrant communities, resources, curricula, certifications and platforms that showcase student success. To better prepare our students for the challenges of today, we must graduate thinkers of tomorrow. Here at Adobe we believe creativity is no longer an elective; it’s the future.

Why does creativity matter to you? Join the conversation on twitter (#CreateNowEdu) and be sure to connect with us at @adobeedu.

We are living in fascinating times. Our current education system is being questioned as never before, and many wonder how institutions will evolve to accommodate the changing world of technology. New tools, data systems and communication vehicles have already converged to change how we play, work, learn and interact with one another. Dr. Clayton Christensen (2010) claims that by 2020, over half of the students in the U.S. will be learning online, and schools will reach a tipping point when tax payers will ask, do we still need classrooms? If schools and classrooms are to survive, then how do they need to be transformed to respond to the rapidly changing needs of today’s students?

To adapt to the overwhelming amounts of information, and continual interaction with visual media and game playing, researchers, Carter, R. (2009), Feinstein, S. (2004), Goldstein, (2007), Kandel, E. (2006), and Small, G., & Vorgon, G. (2008), tell us that the newest generation of K-12 students have neurologically changed their brains to try to keep pace. Kids today literally see and learn differently than their parents and grandparents, in that they see and remember visual images in place of text. The television is being replaced by computer screens, mobile devices and game consoles are primary sources of information and entertainment (Prensky, M, 2006). Today’s paper textbooks are about to be replaced by intelligent, colorful, multimedia response programs that fit on mobile devices such as iPads, Kindles, smart phones and other digital gadgets that students are bringing to school. Meanwhile, our schools, our classrooms and our curriculum have remained relatively the same.

Given real world tools like those found in the Adobe Creative Cloud, students can learn to work together seamlessly with both real and virtual partners to create and share novel digital solutions to complex problems. The combined factors of widespread access to technology, increasingly sophisticated tools, online resources such as Adobe Educational Exchange, and advances in understanding of how individuals learn, provide a stunning opportunity to transform classrooms and education worldwide. As we start 2013, this is a challenging opportunity that I, as a 21^st century educator, am looking forward to.

How do you think education should evolve to better prepare students for success? Join the conversation here or let me know what you think via my Twitter account.

After exploring the meaning of creativity and the role it plays in education, we come to the final and perhaps most important question: What’s next? The future depends on cultivating the creativity of students. How do we shape and develop their thinking so they can go into the world and capitalize on the opportunities available to them? Watch this video to find out more.

I hope you enjoyed exploring the different aspects of creativity in education with us. I leave you with this quote from Sir Ken Robinson: “The best applications in the world won’t produce startling results. They need creative minds, adventurous spirits and developed imaginations to do that.”

What is your hope for the future of creativity? Please continue to join our conversation on Twitter using the #createnow hashtag and don’t forget to tag us at @adobeedu!

Way too often, we associate creativity with just the arts, when in reality it is so much more. Coming up with an original idea or solving a particular problem requires creative process—we use creativity in every aspect of our lives. Watch this next installment of our conversation with Sir Ken Robinson to find out why you can be creative at just about anything!

How do you define creativity? Join the conversation with us on Twitter using the #createnow hashtag and be sure to tag us at @adobeedu!

It’s no secret that Adobe thinks creativity needs to be championed so educators can feel increasingly empowered to teach it as a critical competency across all disciplines. We firmly believe creativity is an imperative for students’ success in a global marketplace. 

We’ve partnered with Sir Ken Robinson, an internationally recognized author and creativity expert, to develop an exclusive five-part video series outlining his thoughts on the importance and power of creativity in education. Check out the first video where he explores the meaning and natural path of our creative process. We encourage you to watch the entire series as it unfolds over the next few days–share what resonates with you! We hope you find Sir Ken Robinson as inspiring as we do.

Join the conversation with us on Twitter using the #createnow hashtag and be sure to tag us at @adobeedu!

Congratulations to the winners of the second annual 2012 Educators’ Choice Awards! This award honors Adobe Education Exchange members who submit the most innovative teaching and learning materials. Winning entries, judged by experts in education, technology and design, were based on the learning effectiveness, innovation, creativity and the use of Adobe products. After much deliberation, the winners of the Adobe Education Exchange 2012 Educators’ Choice Awards are:

• Primary/Secondary Education – Randy Scherer, Tagature, or Literary Graffiti. To make reviewing literary texts in preparation for standardized tests more creative, Scherer, a humanities teacher at High Tech High in San Diego, California, had his students create digital graffiti tags taken from quotes in the texts they were studying. Students used Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, and InDesign to create the tags and combine them into a coffee table – style book that the class sold through their own publishing company.
  • Runners-up: Jamie Leduc, Digital Voices, Sisler High School, Canada and Powerhouse Poster Project by DAAD/Adam Schlosser, Live Oaks Career Campus, Cincinnati.

• Higher Education – Michael Cole, TYPE FACES: Beginning Graphic Design /Typography Project. To help students explore and understand the changing character and dynamics of various typefaces and their associated letterforms, Core, Director of Graphic and Interactive Design at De Anza College in Cupertino, California, had his students use Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop to create a series of caricatures using only bits and pieces of different typefaces.
  • Runners-up: Mark Deyoung, Crossover Project. William Morris Publication, Austin Peay State University, Tennessee and History and Philosophy of American Mass Communications: History Jeopardy by Kara Andrew, California State University, Fullerton.

• Creative Suite 6 – Nicole Dalesio, Photoshop for Kids: Vignette My Video. Nicole Dalesio, a 4^th grade teacher from Pleasanton, California, shows viewers how to use the new features in Photoshop CS6 to make basic edits, adjustments, and enhancements to add some creativity to simple videos.
  • Runners-up:  Jeff Larson, Digital Publishing to the iPad using InDesign CS6, Balboa High School/CAST Academy, California and Create a Tilt and Roll Game using the Accelerometer Template in Flash CS6, by Kristine Kopelke, ICT Learning Innovation Centre, Australia.

The grand prize winners received Apple MacBook Pro, one year Adobe Creative Cloud Student and Teacher Edition subscription and classroom set (30 licenses) of Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection. Runner-up winners had a choice of a Canon EOS Rebel or Apple iPad and a one year Adobe Creative Cloud Student and Teacher Edition subscription. Make sure to check out all the winning, runner-up and honorable mention entries from 2012 here.

As a professor at a community college, I continually struggle with how to engage my students to help them learn and prepare for the careers they aspire to. I have long ago come to the conclusion that lectures are “so 90s.” And, by that, I mean 1490s. If you examine the basic education approach, nothing has really changed for centuries. Sure, new technologies (such as chalkboards) have been employed, but the fundamental aspect of having an expert explain some concept to a group of students has not materially changed.

Since we are well into the 21^st century and students still have short attention spans, one approach is to employ the “flipped classroom” technique. Essentially, what it means is that students review the content at home (before class) and then work on problems or projects during class time. In other words, homework is done in class and the class “lecture” (usually in a form of a video) is done at home. Hence the term “flipped classroom.” Check out this fifth grade teacher who further explains the flipped classroom concept and how she employs it in an elementary school.

Why is this important? Essentially, it places the emphasis on learning with the students. They become more independent learners as part of this process. Additionally, they can pause, rewind, and replay a given segment of video many times until they have understood the concept. This is something one can’t typically do in a traditional lecture (unless one has a very patient professor and peers). During class, students have time to focus on solving particular problems and applying what they have learned. Watch this video to further learn about the benefits of a flipped classroom or alternatively, check out a video of what a flipped class is not. My thanks to Professor Kelly Crawford-Jones for locating these videos as part of a joint presentation we did on this topic at a recent conference.

Are there some downsides? For the instructor, absolutely; this approach requires more up front development of materials including, obviously, the videos. Personally, I rely on Adobe Presenter, Adobe Captivate, and Techsmith Camtasia to create most of this content.

One must also develop in-class projects which reinforce what the students have learned through watching the videos. Student may well resist this approach initially. They will have to work harder and devote more effort outside of class to prepare for each class session. It is so much easier to sit back and watch a professor speak for an hour or two; some even have time to doodle. That option tends to disappear when one successfully employs these techniques.

While this is not a “one size fits all” approach or solution, it may well be something you wish to consider to better engage your students and help them hone their critical thinking skills and problem solving abilities. In its simplest form, a “flipped class” is an alternate approach to engaging your students and helping them focus on their learning.

For those who would like to learn more, read the 7 Things you Should Know about Flipped Classrooms article. Of course, feel free to let me know your thoughts by contacting me directly via Twitter or my Weblog.