The journalist purports that this issue is down to an antiquated school system that centres on word processing programs only, leaving teenagers to essentially teach themselves advanced skills the industry is shouting out for, such as coding, in their spare time.

There are some positive noises coming from the Government with education secretary Michael Gove promising an overhaul of the ICT curriculum, and importantly also training for teachers in using these tools. To support this, we ourselves have launched a series of free online courses, Adobe Generation, to help young people aged 14-19 develop the technology skills the industry is calling out for. Their teachers can even join so it’s a great training ground for them too. The courses cover three digital disciplines – Animation, Photo Imaging and Games Design – and give students the technical know-how they’ll need to work in each industry and an insight from professionals into what it’s really like in each field.

This shouldn’t take away from the need to refresh ICT lessons in schools. Traditionally, these classes have run in isolation to the rest of the syllabus. But this no longer meet the expectations of today’s employers as they do not equip young people with skills they will need when they enter the workplace. With the right framework and support from teachers, businesses will benefit as students will develop industry standard skills in preparation for the world of work.

First up is the latest version of our consumer photo and video-editing software, Photoshop Elements 11 and Premiere Elements 11. Elements is a consumer-friendly version of our professional imaging and video products, Photoshop and Premiere Pro. There are tons of new tools, including the option to apply creative filters to photos and Hollywood movie style ‘FilmLooks’ to transform videos. The Student and Teacher bundle is available from £72.27 (ex VAT).

Earlier this month we launched Acrobat XI which you can use in the following ways:

• Create electronic portfolios
• Use Acrobat as a digital assessment tool
• Create lesson plan templates with Acrobat forms
• Streamline administrative productivity through features like Actions, FormCentral, document security, and signature processing

To find out more about you how you can use Acrobat in your school we have created free updated guides for using Adobe Acrobat XI on the Adobe Education Exchange.

For less than 60p a day, you and your students can download and install every Adobe Creative Suite desktop application, access 20GB of cloud-based storage, and get upgrades to new versions and services as soon as they’re released. Create awesome websites, portfolios and projects – share, collaborate and publish – anytime, anywhere, and in any direction your or your student’s imagination takes you.

To find out more about the features and benefits of the Adobe Creative Cloud and this great offer click here. But hurry. You and your students can have it all with an Adobe Creative Cloud membership at just £15.88 a month. But only if you join before 4 November 2012.

It contains a bunch of videos teaching everything from creating a personal brand, to packaging up work into portfolios for PDF, the Web, print and the iPad.

You can check all these out for yourself by clicking here.

Adobe Generation is a series of free online courses (each lasting nine weeks), designed to help UK students (aged 14-19) develop key skills that will help them in a range of creative careers. Teachers wanting to develop their own digital skills are also welcome to join Adobe Generation.

Details of the Adobe Generation courses are as follows:

• Games Design – will run each Monday from 1^st October – 26^th November at 7- 8pm
• Animation- will run each Tuesday from 2^nd October – 27^th November at 7- 8pm
• Photo Imaging – will run each Thursday from 4^th October – 29^th November at 7- 8pm

Sessions for each course will be led by different creative experts so students will hear straight from the horse’s mouth about each field and how they can develop specific skills. We have a whole raft of exciting guest speakers lined up – including the creative geniuses behind A-Ha’s ‘Take On Me’ video and animated favourite Shaun the Sheep!

Each session will be taught online using Adobe Connect and will give attendees the skills they’d need to go on to become a games designer on the next Call of Duty blockbuster or producer of the next big Hollywood blockbuster. Students will also be set weekly challenges, with prizes being given out to the best student work.

So if you want to be part of the Adobe Generation, I strongly recommend you to sign up early at www.adobegeneration.com.

One such initiative which is doing just that is Adobe Youth Voices, a programme by the Adobe Foundation which aims to empower youth from underserved communities with digital media skills so that they can comment on their world, share their ideas and take action on issues that are important to them. More specifically, the programme encourages young people to express themselves through documentary videos, photography, print media, radio diaries, animation, web communications and other media.

The Adobe Foundation recently announced the winners of the first-ever Adobe Youth Voices Aspire Awards. The only global youth competition of its kind, the Aspire Awards showcases the very best of digital media created by teens, aged 13-18, who have demonstrated outstanding creativity and skill using video, print and/or audio to convey perspectives on issues that are significant to them.

There  were more than 800 submissions, with entries accepted in eight categories spanning animation, documentary, music video, narrative video, poetry/experimental video, audio, graphic design and photography.

A global panel of teen peers, youth media professionals, educators and media industry experts, including photographer Neil Bennett, spoken-word poet Sarah Kay and director Robert Kenner were responsible for judging all this fabulous work.

The lucky winners received prize packages containing Adobe software, laptops provided by Dell, HD camcorders donated by Samsung, Flip Mino HD video cameras, and a donation to their charity of choice. In addition, winners will get the opportunity to showcase their projects publicly through art galleries, Digital Arts Magazine, plus partner film festivals and exhibitions worldwide, including the Seattle International Film Festival, the Sarajevo Film Festival and many more. What an incredible opportunity!

I’ve had a look at all the winners and amongst my favourites are Fermin Martinez from Puerta Joven (Mexico City, Mexico) who snapped up a Gold Award for this great video in the Animation category and Christian Ogando from the Urban Arts Partnership (New York, United States) who won a Gold Award for his Propaganda Posters in the Photography category.

This great initiative demonstrates just how effective digital media is at helping people across the globe make their mark and speak out about the issues that are important to them.

Have you expressed yourself in a creative way using digital media? If so, get in touch!

On Tuesday 2^nd October, we will be hosting Create the Web London, a free one-day event where we’ll be demonstrating all the latest web design tools and techniques.

For anyone that attends, it’s a great opportunity to learn all there is to know about how to create content for the Web of 2012, including HTML, CSS, motion graphics, web development and more. We’ll also show you how Adobe is helping to evolve the Web and you’ll get a sneak peak at some of the new technologies and services we’re working on for web designers and developers!

Spaces are filling up fast, so to confirm your attendance and find out more about what’s happening on the day click here .

You can also follow the conversation on Twitter with #CreateTheWeb.

Look forward to seeing you there!

For anyone who hasn’t heard of the Adobe Education Exchange, it’s essentially an online resource where teachers can share learning resources and gain inspiration from one another around the use of digital tools in the classroom.

To make the AEE community even more rewarding, we’ve launched a great new programme which enables members to earn points and build up a reputation on the Adobe Education Exchange. Points can be earned through a variety of activities such as posting a resource, adding a comment, inviting other members to the AEE, and many more. As you earn more points, you’ll gain new levels of status and a brighter flame badge will appear next to your name, establishing yourself as one of the most valued and credible members of the AEE community!

If you want to work your way up from member to trendsetter click here .

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!

Now in its second year, the 2012 Educators’ Choice Awards celebrates Adobe Education Exchange (AEE) members who submit the most innovative teaching and learning resources. Finalists will be selected by our esteemed team of judges on 22^nd October 2012, with the winners voted for by members of the AEE community on 16^th November 2012. Those that impress the most will then get the chance to win some amazing prizes, including laptops, iPads, and Adobe Creative Suite 6 software for themselves and their schools.

The competition is open to educators across the UK, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand and the submission period closes on 5^th October 2012. Each person is eligible to submit entries in the following three categories:

 Primary/Secondary Education

• Higher Education
• Creative Suite 6

 You can find out more here, view last year winners for inspiration and follow @AdobeUKEdu, #AdobeEDUAwards for the latest updates about the awards. Come on guys, let’s do the UK proud!