Specifically, students from this year’s intake are pinpointing the provision of suitable libraries and technology as the main areas needing improvement, with two-thirds (63%) saying they expected to have access to more support facilities and services than they are actually getting.

Despite the fact that 96% of students said the number one reason they chose to go to university was to increase their chances of getting a job when they graduate, only a third (33%) think their university will help them do this now.

As a result, we are calling on Vice Chancellors to review their ICT strategies to help live up to their student’s digital demands.  Click on the infographic below to view all the key findings in detail:

For more information on how Adobe can help institutions live up to student demands visit www.adobe.com/uk/education.

This week’s announcement that computer science will be granted EBacc status in the Government’s planned GCSE reforms is a positive step in the right direction, however it does not go far enough.

Whilst the move to include Computer Science in the mooted English Baccalaureate will no doubt help equip future generations of 14 to 16-year olds with some technology skills that higher education institutions and businesses may be looking for, it does not address the fundamental problem of omitting design and the wider arts as a core subject in the proposals. As it stands, a gaping hole remains in the Government’s planned reforms with the continued omission of arts subjects in the.

Therefore, I’m pleased to announce that today Adobe has joined the #IncludeDesign campaign, as part of our ongoing commitment to supporting creativity in education in the UK.

The creative industries constitute one of the fastest-growing sectors in the UK and the creative skills needed to be successful should be fully supported & embedded in both primary & secondary education. Our own research tells us that 77% of UK employers and University lecturers place a high value on creativity in school leavers, with 78% of people in the UK in agreement that creativity is key to driving economic growth.

The UK is renowned for its creativity thanks to its successes in fashion, art, design, film and music, so providing all students with access to creative subjects is essential to our future economic success.

A programme of study devoid of any arts or design tuition threatens to stifle creativity, which is why today we are joining some of the creative industry’s best known names and most high-profile agencies in backing #IncludeDesign. You can find out more by checking out this article on Digital Arts.

Liz Wilkins, Senior Education Marketing Manager, Adobe

78%** of people in the UK agree that creativity is key to driving economic growth. And although 61%** feel that creativity is ‘stifled’ by the current education system, they do agree that more needs to be done to foster it. My fear for an education system devoid of any arts tuition, is that creativity will be stifled even further.

The key will be technology, which when used effectively, will need to play an increasingly central role in helping schools to drive creativity and support arts subjects. We work with schools, such as Chalfonts Community College, who have created Digital Art courses that blend virtual and reusable learning resources. This involved rewriting the traditional art specification to include digital media – from digital imaging, film, animation, graphics and game making – to help students learn creative skills which influence their approach across the curriculum.
The UK is renowned for its creativity thanks to its successes in fashion, art, design, film, food and music, so creative schooling is incredibly important. We have the best creative higher education system of any country in the world, but cutting arts from secondary education I fear will create a skills gap between school and higher education or the workplace in years to come.”

Liz Wilkins, Senior Leader, Adobe Education UK 

*Taken from Adobe’s ‘Creativity in the Classroom’ report, 2010
**Taken from Adobe’s ‘State of Create’ report, 2012

Lydia Odai (18) signed up to expand her digital skills before she started her University degree in September. She had no previous games design experience, yet produced a stunning game called ‘Falling from the Sky’ after just nine hours of teaching time – it just goes to show what can be achieved even in a short amount of time. Over 1,000 students took part in the pilot, but Lydia’s game outshone them all.

Here’s what Lydia had to say about Adobe Generation…
“I’ve always been interested in gaming, so was excited to sign up to the Adobe Generation Games Design course and learn more about the creative skills I’d need to succeed in the industry. I didn’t have any games design experience when I signed up, but the courses were easy to follow so before I knew it, I was learning complex skills such as coding. Being taught by people from industry really helped, as they gave us a firsthand perspective on what it’s like to work in gaming. I’ve just started a BA in Computer Visualisation & Animation at Bournemouth University so hope to build on the skills I acquired through Adobe Generation. Plus the course convinced me that my decision to go in the creative industries was the right one. I’d recommend that anyone interested in learning new digital skills, signs up.”
You can play Lydia’s game for yourselves by clicking here. Plus there’s still time for you and your students to sign up to the current Adobe Generation courses we’re running in Games Design, Photo Imaging and Animation – visit www.adobegeneration.com for more info!

To support institutions in meeting this demand, we’ve launched a new three year license agreement, the Eduserv Adobe ELA Framework Agreement. It means that both Further Education and Higher Education institutions will be able to provide access to Adobe’s latest Creative Suite software across the whole campus for the first time. Plus staff get it too!

We’re working with loads of leading institutions to help them deliver a strong digital offering. Here’s what a few have to say about the Eduserv Adobe ELA Framework Agreement:

 Kirk Laws-Chapman, Resources Manager, Norwich University College of the Arts:

“The new Eduserv Adobe ELA Framework Agreement has provided Norwich University College of the Arts with an affordable way to give our students access to latest industry standard software across the campus. Meeting expectations against a background of rising tuition fees is a challenge, and this is a great way for us to add value to the student experience here.”

Phil Purves – Senior Lecturer, Bath Spa University:

“I’m confident that a lot of current and future students will benefit the new Eduserv Adobe ELA Framework Agreement. In addition to saving the University money, it is giving us software consistency everywhere with the latest CS6 suite available on whatever machine is capable of running it. All our creative areas have been keen to support this new agreement. It’s going to make a huge difference.”

Steve Harvey, Arts University College at Bournemouth:

“The Arts University College at Bournemouth (AUCB) feels extremely privileged to be signed up to the Eduserv Adobe ELA Framework Agreement. It enables us to offer more access to industry standard software at a good price, but also helps with the strategic development of software maintenance to align Education and Business application deployment.”

 For more information on how to sign up to the agreement, check outwww.eduserv.org.uk/ela. To be included in the next entry point in November 2012, institutions must complete all paperwork by 24^th October.

In a nutshell, the forum enables members to share ideas so they can keep up to date with the latest tools and innovations. There are more than a dozen different forum topics including teaching & learning and educational technology, so members can discover as well as contribute new ideas that will help others spark creativity in the classroom.

It’s really simple to start a new discussion – all you need to do is click on the collaborate tab on the top level navigation bar and fire away your questions or top tips. With more than 50,000 members, there is bound to be a member out there who shares your interests! Current discussions include everything from how to incorporate HTML5 into the classroom to the best ways to teach students how to use Photoshop.

So what are you waiting for? Check out the Adobe Education Exchange website for more information and start sharing today!

In a nutshell, AAMEE is a straightforward and customisable way to wrap CS6 applications as MSI or PKG packages for silent deployment across your campus. It means you can automatically enter and validate volume serial numbers over the internet prior to installation, choose which applications are installed, disable automatic updates, and turn off manual registration.

Take a look at this onDemand eSeminar to find out more. You can also download free guides and toolkits by clicking here.