Here is a great new resource for partners. It is the ‘one-stop-shop’ for Adobe partners that need to know:
With Education now part of the Channel team, there is plenty of information for Education partners as well. Check out:
Announcing: The winners and their innovative teaching materials
Congratulations to the winners of The 2012 Educators’ Choice Awards, and thanks to all the Adobe Education Exchange members who voted, as well as the distinguished judges who selected the finalists. Check out the winning work from this year’s contest, and gain inspiration for using Adobe software in your teaching.
The Adobe® Educators’ Choice Awards celebrate teaching and learning resources that unleash students’ creativity. View the best projects, lesson plans, curricula, and tutorials from the 2012 Awards:
Grand Prize Winner
Tagature, or Literary Graffiti, Randy Scherer
Runners-up
Powerhouse Poster Project, DAAD/Adam Schlosser
Digital Voices, Jamie Leduc
Grand Prize Winner
TYPE FACES: Beginning Graphic Design/Typography Project, Michael Cole
Runners-up
Crossover Project. William Morris Publication, Mark Deyoung
History and Philosophy of American Mass Communications: History Jeopardy, Kara Andrew
Grand Prize Winner
Photoshop for Kids: Vignette My Video, Nicole Dalesio
Runners-up
Digital Publishing to the iPad using InDesign CS6, Jeff Larson
Create a Tilt and Roll Game using the Accelerometer Template in Flash CS6, Kristine Kopelke
Check out all the winning work, including Honorable Mention and Activity Challenge winners – View now
The Adobe Education Exchnage has innovative ways to use CS6 software and focus on creative and engaging graphic design projects.
Resources
Creating a Style Guide with the Fireworks CS6 CSS Extractor Panel
Use this project example with basic step-by-step instructions to learn how to use the CSS Extractor panel. Create a style guide that one person or a team could use to keep track of colors, fonts, and other properties that need to go into the site’s CSS.
Learn more >
Graphic Design Scavenger Hunt
Check out this engaging activity where students find “graphic design things” in the world around them to help them see that graphic design is found in more places than they may think.
Learn more >
Adobe Edge Preview 6: Welcome Screen and Lessons Panel
Watch this video to learn about the new enhanced welcome screen and new Lessons Panel in Adobe Edge Preview 6.
Learn more >
Adobe Education Leaders
Mark Shufflebottom
Check out Mark’s wealth of tutorials and presentations and use them to teach your students how to use essential Photoshop and InDesign skills, as well as how to create and export HTML5 using Adobe Flash.
Learn more >
Rhonda Rhodes
Use Rhonda’s creative lesson plans to help your students learn about how music and images can illicit emotion and interpretation while teaching design principles, Photoshop skills, and how to construct digital portfolios.
Learn more >
Workshops and Training
Adobe CS6 Summer Virtual Workshop Series
Starting on June 5th (tomorrow!), join Adobe for a series of free CS6 summer workshops to prepare you for the new school year. You can attend any or all of the workshops and receive a professional development credit for each hour attended.
Register now >
Adobe & Your Voice
Point your students to a new Adobe TV show focused on helping students unleash their creativity and present their work in a way that helps them be seen, be heard, and stand out. Learn how to create a personal brand and package their work into portfolios for PDF, the web, print, and the iPad.
Start watching >
Community
I’m excited to announce that yesterday afternoon we launched a new show on Adobe TV focused on helping students create their personal brand and go beyond the resume by using Adobe software to package their work in engaging portfolios for PDF, the web, print, and the iPad.
This topic of a personal brand is a theme we heard from students through our ELA pilot program research at UC Berkeley and Academy of Art.
Check out the new show here: http://tv.adobe.com/show/adobe-and-your-voice/
A few highlights about these resources:
If you haven’t come across the Adobe Education Exchange yet, it is well worth taking a look. You will need to register, but it provides a wealth of resources and a unique insight into the use of Adobe technologies by Educators. Here are the latest topics talking about what’s new from Adobe:
http://edexchange.adobe.com/pages/home
This month, we’re featuring what’s new from Adobe. We have four new tutorials to help you learn how to use the brand new, still-in-preview product, Adobe Edge. We know you’re dying to find out what’s coming in Photoshop, so check out new sneak peek videos to find out. Submit a hidden gem tutorial to enter for a chance to be the Next Photoshop Evangelist and garner international acclaim. And, as we do every month, we highlight some of the innovative resources and educators that make the Adobe Education Exchange so special.
Resources:
Music to Image
Use this inspiring lesson where students create an image, in Adobe Photoshop, based on a song or several songs. In the process they go through a variety of tutorials, work in groups, and learn to interpret their feelings and or memories into an image that is personal.
Learn more >
Adobe Edge Preview 4 tutorials
If you haven’t heard about Adobe Edge yet, now is the time to check out this new web motion and interaction design tool. View four new tutorials on using the latest Adobe Edge Preview to use web fonts and symbols, create playback actions, and embed a composition.
Learn more >
Using Flash in the Science Classroom – “Animate to Educate”
Check out this project example that uses Adobe Flash as an integration tool in the science classroom. While learning Flash skills these students produced animations as part of a project that showcases their knowledge of a variety of science concepts.
Learn more >
Featured Members
Nicole Dalesio
Working with elementary students? Look no further than Nicole’s wealth of engaging and creative lessons and tutorials that integrate technology across the K-6 curriculum while using technology for creative purposes.
Learn more >
Eva LaMar
Check out Eva’s posts to help you make the most out of digital media projects. She offers fun ways to teach Adobe Photoshop, copyright citation best practices, as well as digital assets for projects.
Learn more >
What’s New?
Photoshop Sneak Peeks
Check out a new series of videos with sneak peeks of what’s coming in Photoshop.
Learn more >
Next Photoshop Evangelist Contest
We’re on the hunt for the Next Photoshop Evangelist! We’ve asked fans to submit a 2-minute video showcasing their favorite “Hidden Gem” in Photoshop CS5. The winner will receive a trip to Photoshop World, the opportunity to showcase their Hidden Gem live at the show, time with the product team, Creative Suite 5.5 Design Standard & more. The deadline for entries is March 5.
Learn more >
The Adobe Education Exchange is rich with new content our members have contributed over the last two months. This month, learn how to create an Android™ application with Flash Professional CS5.5, get up to speed on HTML5, and much more.
Digital Photographic Novels
Use this lesson and have your students produce their own photographic novel while teaching them about the importance of plot and story development.
Learn more >
Equivalent Fractions
Use this visual presentation, created with Flash Professional, to help your students visualize equivalent fractions.
Learn more >
Mobile App #1: Setting up an Android file in Flash Professional CS5.5
Jump into mobile application design and development with the first episode in a 5-part series teaching how to use Flash CS5.5 for Android development.
Learn more >
Colin Maxwell
Need fun and engaging projects to teach your students Flash Professional? Then check out Colin’s simple Flash-based game tutorials.
Learn more >
Sheri German
With web development changing at warp speed, use Sheri’s HTML5 CSS Starter Page series to help you teach the latest web design technologies to your students.
Learn more >
New curriculum for Adobe Premiere Pro
The new Adobe Premiere Pro Official Training Curriculum offers students entering the industry or seasoned professionals the necessary skillset to use Adobe Premiere Pro for their editing needs. The 101 course is designed for entry-level training, while the 250 course is geared toward video editors making the switch from another non-linear video editing software, such as Apple Final Cut Pro.
Learn more >
Major Upgrade to Creative Suite Product Family Delivers Breakthroughs in HTML5 Authoring and Mobile App Development
SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the immediate availability of the Adobe® Creative Suite® 5.5 product family. Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 delivers important advances in HTML5 and Flash authoring, enabling designers and developers to create compelling content and applications. Creative Suite 5.5 products also feature significant innovation in the areas of video production and editing. Finally, Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 delivers exciting new capabilities in the exploding area of digital publishing. With Creative Suite 5.5 content authors worldwide can deliver high-impact work to multiple platforms, operating systems, Web browsers, smartphones and tablets – including Android, BlackBerry Tablet OS, and Apple iOS devices.
“For Atlantic Records, having a presence that fans can experience across multiple devices is key to our digital strategy. We’re thrilled by the new capabilities we’re getting in Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 and the ability to bring our artists to the widest possible audience.”
Mobile App Development and New HTML5 Capabilities Anchor CS5.5 For Web Designers and Developers
Focused on the latest wave of mobile devices, this release of Creative Suite gives Web designers and developers a complete software solution that allows them to produce stunning HTML5 content in the browser and deliver high-impact mobile applications through sweeping advances in Flash tooling.
Creative Suite 5.5 Kick-starts New Era in Digital Publishing
Over the last year Adobe and leading publishers, including Condé Nast and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, have worked to develop new digital publishing workflows based on Creative Suite and Adobe InDesign®. Creative Suite 5.5 will enable print publishers to create beautiful interactive publications on the latest tablet platforms.
In addition to advances in mobile authoring and digital publishing, Creative Suite 5.5 Production Premium Suite delivers video and audio professionals breakthrough performance, workflow improvements, creative innovations and powerful new audio editing capabilities that build upon the huge customer momentum Production Premium is experiencing with broadcasters, filmmakers and video professionals worldwide.
Introducing the Complete Creative Suite 5.5 Product Family
The new Creative Suite product lineup is headlined by Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Master Collection, which includes, in a single package, all of Adobe’s industry-defining creative tools, such as Photoshop®, Illustrator®, InDesign, Acrobat®, Flash Builder Premium, Flash Catalyst®, Flash Professional, Dreamweaver®, Adobe Premiere® Pro and After Effects®. These products are available separately or as components of one or more of the five Creative Suite editions. The complete Creative Suite 5 lineup includes Creative Suite 5.5 Master Collection, Creative Suite 5.5 Design Premium, Creative Suite 5.5 Web Premium, Creative Suite 5.5 Production Premium and Creative Suite 5.5 Design Standard.
Quotes
David Wadhwani, senior vice president and general manager, Creative and Interactive Solutions, Adobe
Jesse Redniss, vice president, Digital, NBC Universal/USA Network
Eric Snowden, vice president of Creative & Technology, Atlantic Records
Helpful Links
Videos on Adobe TV
Overall
Web Premium
Flash Builder 4.5 and Flex 4.5 for Mobile Application Development
Design Premium and Standard
Production Premium
We’re grateful to Saiqa Liaqat from Highlands School for this great blog post on creativity – http://adobe.ly/k09Je8
The timing of Adobe’s report last year was absolutely perfect as it brought creativity to the fore and showed it’s such as important skill for students to have as they make their way in the world. As a teacher, it’s the responsibility of people like myself and my colleagues to help the students we’re teaching to think creatively.
At my school, we strongly believe the answer lies in digital technologies. In fact, I’d go as far as to say ICT is essential to driving creativity in schools. Firstly, practically every workplace uses technology in some form. But secondly – and crucially – because technology is something that young people are passionate about and it’s a world they understand.
We’re using it across the curriculum to bring to life topics students can often feel disengaged in – so for Religious Studies we’re creating animations depicting the life of a Buddha, in History we’re using augmented reality to create story books about the Battle of Hastings, and in Media Studies we’re making professional films.
The engagement levels for each of these projects have just been mind blowing, with some of my weakest students really excelling and raising their attainment levels. The creative skills these technologies help open up is also invaluable – and something they can take with them as they approach employers and universities in the future.
Injecting this creative approach to learning doesn’t have to be time consuming or difficult – there are really simple ways it can be done. Check out these resources for some useful hints and tips!
Call to Action
In the UK the Disability Discrimination Act defis the equivalent of the Section 508 standards. Every education tender or procurement has to consider accessibility and so the information below is an invaluable guide to accessibility resources available within Adobe.
In recent years, the Education community has focused increasingly on making all web content accessible to individual individuals with disabilities. Adobe® is an industry leader in accessibility and supports the creation of outstanding web experiences by encouraging web developers to produce rich, engaging content that is accessible to all. Adobe has also been focusing on this important task by improving and facilitating accessible content creation and consumption with its powerful design applications and productivity tools.
The information below references resources on our website that can help educators and authors understand the need for creating accessible content for an increasing diversity of users and screens. Not only will content creators learn more about how to optimize their workflows and effectively design a document that not only looks good, but they can also improve the experience as all users on a variety of screens and devices.
Accessibility involves two key issues: first, how users with disabilities access electronic information, and second, how web content designers and developers enable web pages to function with assistive devices used by individuals with disabilities.
For the user with a disability, the challenge is to identify tools that provide the most convenient access to web-based and other electronic information. For the web content designer/developer, the challenge is to remove the obstacles that prevent accessibility tools from functioning effectively. In many cases, these challenges are relatively simple to overcome, but sometimes the solutions require some additional thought and effort.
For more information on Accessibility visit: http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/gettingstarted/accessibility.html
Accessibility policies vary from country to country, but most countries, including those in the European Union, have adopted standards based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). In the United States, Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act mandates that web content maintained by the federal government be made accessible to people with disabilities. This law is based on W3C Priority One checkpoints. Find more information at: http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/508standards.html
A great start to find out the latest information on Accessibility at Adobe is http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/. There you will find links and resources to examples compliance news, blogs, case studies, tips and tricks and more.
Yes, unlike other PDF tools, Adobe® Acrobat® 9 and Reader® 9 software continue the tradition of providing strong accessibility support for Adobe PDF documents and forms. Acrobat 9 features a number of built-in accommodations for people with disabilities as well as support for users of assistive technologies.
Yes, visit the Adobe accessibility blog and join the discussion at: http://blogs.adobe.com/accessibility/
Adobe seeks to provide products that support and encourage authors and developers in the production of accessible content. The latest information on these products can be found by clicking on these links.
For information on additional applications please visit the Adobe Accessibility website at: http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/
