Adobe Education Leaders

Adobe Connect is still a solution in a major snow storm.  Rio and Judy can still collaborative even in a major snow event.  Safety, saving fuel, and the ability to re-watch a lesson are real advantages to Adobe Connect.  The ability to make some hot coco, put another log on the fire, and watch my son learn graphic arts while the snow falls out of a gray sky is a real blessing.  The next magical application is Adobe Photoshop Touch.  We are planning to download it this coming weekend for the iPad 2.  Rio is extremely excited to practice lessons on the go from Judy via Adobe Connect using this new kinetic application.  The next blog entry will be about Rio discovering Adobe Photoshop Touch.

Dave Forrester

Rio has been working on making jellyfish for the past couple of months.  He is beginning to master creating layers in Photoshop.  His latest creation, he calls, “Swarm of Jellyfish” was created with a new art tool,  Procreate for the iPad 2.  The program only cost 4.99, just as much as a jellyfish sticker book, but a lot more robust.   Rio works really fast.  This is what I really like about Procreate.  Procreate can keep up with Rio.  He uses a Bamboo Stylus at  blazing speeds.  He can modify the brush sizes, opacity, and type of brush in a matter of seconds.  All of his digital art lesson have been thanks to the use of Adobe Connect.  Judy Durkin continues to teach him via Adobe Connect through the internet.  Rio has been transferring what he is learning in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator and now is applying his art skills to new programs like Procreate.  I like that Procreate can load new artwork in HD (1920 X 1408) format, send out through email in PNG file format, and be Gmailed out to a whole group.  I have setup a family email group for Rio, so each time he finishes a project he can email the artwork to the whole family in a few minutes.  We are going to explore how to use the PNG file format out of Procreate and play with filters in Photoshop next.

Dave Forrester

I wanted to give everyone an update on how learning Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are going using Adobe Connect.  I am so excited now!  Judy Durkin and Rio are spending twenty minutes a week together learning about gradients, layers, grouping, and scale using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.  The magic of this arrangement is how I created an Adobe Connect Meeting Room called, “Judy and Rio’s Art Room” opened it up and started the recording for them both.  Rio and Judy have learned how to share their screen, request control of the working space together.  I just start the recording and walk away as Judy teaches Rio thirty miles away.  Rio has gone back to the recording several times during the week to go back over what he learned from Judy.  Rio has been working on gradients, creating Jelly Fish with a blend of red and orange.  He has learned the different between rasterizing and grouping.   I can’t believe how a fourth grader can pick up on Photoshop and Illustrator so quickly.  We may have to start a self portrait of Rio soon, another great idea from Adobe Education Leader Mike Skocko.  I would challenge any parent out there who wants to help their son or daughter learn graphic art from home, webbing in some great art teacher.  Maybe you can have your own web fairy art mother or father for your son or daughter?   Adobe Connect is the tool of the future for education!

Dave Forrester

Adobe Education Leader, Connect Shaman

Two kids, two jobs, home, cat, soccer practice, piano, and everything in between.  I was sitting around in the living room with my kids one night.  I was trying to figure out how I was going to pack in another activity for my son.  My daughter is a singer, my son an artist.  We started singing lessons for my daughter and my wife and I wanted to keep activities somewhat balanced between the kids.  I could not figure out how I was going to fit in art lessons for my son.  Every night of the week was already packed with family commitments, then lighting struck me, well not really, but a bright light came on in my head.  One word echoed in my brain, “Connect!, Connect!, Connect!”  Yes, Adobe Connect Profession came through again because  I did not have another hour to drive around, gas tank to fill,  snack bag to pack, but I had my Connect Pro Account, Phone Conference Bridge, Computer, Wacom Tablet, and the CS5 Creative Suite.  I called my friend Judy Durkin who lives thirty miles from me and I asked her to be Rio’s fairy art-mother.  She agreed to work with Rio twenty minutes a week.  Yes, you are starting to clue in on what I figured out with Judy, no driving, no gas bills with my large truck, no meeting place, no cleaning the house before Judy arrives, well I did have to clean up behind the webcam. Yes!,  art lessons from the comfort of Judy and Rio’s home each week.  I setup the webcam, Judy and Rio arrived in the Connect Pro Meeting Room, we shared our screen and Judy asked for control of the space with Rio.  I started the recording so Rio could re- watch the lesson several times before the next session with Judy.  Adobe Connect Profession was my new parenting tool for the 21st Century.  I will update everyone on how the new adventure is progressing with my next blog.

Dave Forrester, Connect Shaman

We have been living with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind Act) since May 23, 2001 and now the Obama Administration is supporting Race to the Top to bring about education reform and improvement to our overall education system.  I believe the Department of Education needs to reach out to more companies like Adobe Systems Incorporated to find innovative, creative and sustainable solutions to help all students to become successful.  I think many of these educational reform policies have been focusing on only half the child, their left brains.  I am tired of watching our education system repackage interventions through an academic scope.  I hear we need great teachers by developing growth models and stronger evaluation systems, increase our academic standards, strengthen our math and science programs, develop better ways to test kids, and develop longitudinal data systems.  I have been in education for about fifteen years now.  I have worked in both a Career and Technical Center and a Comprehensive High School.  There are millions of kids out there that don’t respond to their education system by only using half their brain.  Adobe has created a toolset for teachers  and students to help kids who like learning with the other half of their brain, the creative and intuitive side.   I want to thank Adobe Systems Incorporated by developing tools, building professional learning communities, creating educational programs, and taking leadership by supporting all educators.  I believe we need more electives for students in music, art, media productions, computer science, and photography.  We should not be taking these away for more math and science.  I think we need more Career and Technical Programs and CTE Teachers for kids.  The Adobe Education Leadership Program has many of the best in the country and around the world.  I believe we need to develop funding sources and education policies which build Career and Technical Education across the country.  I think developing Media Productions, Commercial Graphic Design, and Web Development Programs as equal to developing STEM programs in middle and high school.  I believe we should be working together (education and industry)  to help support the whole child.  Adobe Systems Incorporated and a group of CTE teachers and students can provide more solutions to close the achievement gap, curb the dropout problem and reduce emotional/mental health issues with students who are forced to use their left brain most of their time at school.

Dave Forrester

One of my friends at Adobe showed me this cool idea on how you can create an Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional bookmark.  The bookmark can be used in your Connect Pro Meeting Room.  It is very simple to create by using Microsoft Powerpoint.  Basically, you create a set of Powerpoint slides with a set of embedded links to different resources you want available on the bookmark.  The trick is to create a thin slide layout, maybe 200 pixels wide to create the illusion of a bookmark once it is loaded from the Content Library.  Once you have created the thin Powerpoint slides, then you basically load the bookmark from your Content Library into your Connect Pro Meeting Room.  Have fun!

Bookmark Example: URL for Viewing: http://connectshaman.na5.acrobat.com/connectlinks/

Dave Forrester, Adobe Education Leader

I have heard of the term Adobe Software Evangelist in the past.  I would not consider myself an Adobe Connect Evangelist, but a Connect Shaman.  I am currently a School Counselor at the high school level. I am always intrigue and drawn to Adobe Connect because this tool is centered around communication.  I believe if anyone wants to boost their ability to communicate with others in the 21st century then Adobe Connect is the tool of choice.  There are so many different dimensions to this application around connecting with others.  I enjoy the fact you can communicate and collaborate with your neighbor down the street or someone across the world.  The ability to do live, synchronous communication, or make a recording so others can connect with you at their own timing is truly powerful.  Adobe Connect 8 is the new version which was released this fall, 2010.  I have begun to play and experience this new version and I am excited and impressed.  The new version has a simplified interface, the pods have been enhanced, the audio and video performance has been improved, there is an greater ability to connect to Adobe Connect by using the Desktop Adobe AIR technology, plus there has been an increase in security and enterprise support options for the end-user.  Lately, I have been uploading short video clips of my kids up into the ‘Content Library’ of Adobe Connect.  The videos have been streaming smoothly back to me.  I would recommend you signing up for the free thirty day trial and experience your own infinite possibilities to connect with others…

Pricing Options

Connect Pro Review

Dave Forrester

Adobe Education Leader, Connect Shaman

Adobe has a new all-in-one content creation and publishing tool parked in a cloud.  Project ROME is revolutionary and a true paradigm shift for content creation and publishing applications.   ROME can be run as an Adobe Air application or accessed directly from a light-weight internet cloud (browser-based web application).  The application is light-weight, but incredibility rich and diverse as a creation tool.  Adobe has extracted some of the best tools from various Adobe applications like Flash, Premiere, InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator and suspended them into a one-stop creative experience for the end-user.  Join the new and growing cultural revolution for creative educators!   Project ROME can be run from a simple Netbook laptop to a high performance desktop computer, the choice is yours.  Project ROME is available through Adobe Labs probably for a limited time.  I would encourage all educators to sign-in and reach for the stars, pushing the boundaries of the creative process.

Project ROME for Education - http://rome.adobe.com/education (For educator evaluation only)

Project Rome For Education Pilot Program – Institutions interested in a pilot, apply today

Project ROME - http://rome.adobe.com

Dave Forrester

Adobe Education Leader

Our Special Education Department has been trying to solve a communication challenge with the school counselors in our building.  The process of building a unique schedule for each new student coming into our high school.  The school counselors are responsible for building the schedule, plus making sure each student is being placed in the correct classes for graduation.  The building of this draft schedule involves case managers, school psychologists, and school counselors.  I decided to build a communication device in Adobe LiveCycle, a PDF form (draft schedule form)  so each party could fill in their piece of a student’s schedule using a electronic process.   The goal is to move away from random sticky notes, and pieces of paper and emails from case managers and school psychologist to a digital way to collect, transfer and store information on a student’s drafted schedule.  The reason why I use LiveCycle sometimes to build a PDF form is because I like the look and feel of the application.   It feels like I am in Adobe InDesign CS5 and/or Adobe Illustrator CS5 as I am designing the PDF form.  I have built many forms using Adobe Acrobat, but sometimes I like to work in a fluid environment like Adobe LiveCycle.  At the same time, I discovered I could “Copy” and  “Paste” fields in a productive way.  Adobe LiveCycle would create a unique field name for me, even if I was cloning the same “Text Field” over and over again.  I think this is totally awesome!  In the past, I would have needed to go back and created unique names for each field, taking a great amount of time to complete a project.  Also, I discovered “Tab Order.”  I loved the ability to create all of my fields and then have Adobe LiveCycle re-order my fields automatically in sequential order for easy tabbing through a PDF document.  I would recommend Adobe LiveCycle ES2 the next time you create a PDF form.  I am having a great time learning and using this powerful and productive application.  Thanks again Adobe for creating such useful software for K12/Higher Education!

Dave Forrester, Adobe Education Leader

Adobe Connect User Community
I would like to invite any K12 educator and/or any Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional enthusiast to The Connect Pro K12 User Group. We try to meet once a month to learn about how to use Adobe Connect Pro to: build a help desk system, host online meetings with telephone integration and recording capabilities, conduct long-distance interviewing for new positions for the district office or school buildings, build online professional development programs, develop online trainings, construct a framework for live recordings of teacher lectures posted to the web for students who are sick or need extra help, create a digital newsletter, design a web presentation, develop software trainings and simulations, collaboration and sharing of expertise beyond school district boundaries. The possibilities are endless when using the Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional toolset. Please come join us online once a month to create some space together for building partnerships, collaboration and learning.