26 | June | 2016 | Dr Tim Kitchen's Journal

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Tuesday 21st June, 2016 was a special day for a group of Year 9 students from Davidson High in NSW when they visited the Sydney Adobe Office, met their local State Member of Parliament Mr Jonathan O’Dea and were mentioned by him the following day in the Legislative Assembly.

Davison High media teacher Jessica Peade organised this excursion for her Year 9 Multimedia students to take part in this Adobe Day in conjunction with The Bully Project.

The Bully Project

The aim of this day was based around working with the set of Adobe Spark tools to build anti-bullying posters videos & websites that could be feature on the internationally renowned The Bully Mural, which is part of The Bully Project.

Katie Barry from The Bully Project gave the students a background in the project and inspired them with ideas for their own projects.

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The students brought in a range of devices from Laptops, iPads, iPhones and iPods which was fine because Spark tools work on browsers with laptops as well as the full range if iOS devices.

The visit from the local member for Davidson Mr Jonathan O’Dea was a real highlight, especially as it also involved a visit from Paul Robson (Adobe’s President for Asia Pacific) Wayne Weisse (Senior Public Sector Business Manager, Asia Pacific Education & Government Digital Solutions) and Julie Inman Grant (Director of Government Relations, Adobe APAC).

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Mr O’Dea showed great interest in the what the students were making and he encouraged them to keep developing their digital skills.

The following day, during a NSW Parliament session, he made the following statements about his visit to Adobe …

Student learning in New South Wales schools is becoming increasingly reliant on utilising new technologies in creative ways. Yesterday I visited an Adobe digital school workshop session in the Sydney CBD with a group of year 9 students from Davidson High School in my electorate. The students were participating in an Adobe Day workshop, in association with the Bully Project… The workshop was conducted by Adobe Education Specialist Dr Tim Kitchen and Katie Barry, who works for the Bully Project.

The students learned how to become “upstanders” rather than bystanders in the face of bullying. They also learned how to use cutting edge multimedia tools such as Adobe Spark to create videos, posters and web pages that can be added to the international online Bully Project Mural. That mural demonstrates genuine digital solidarity across the world and lets victims of bullying know they are not alone.

Through a statewide agreement overseen by Minister for Education Adrian Piccoli, New South Wales school students can access the latest Adobe Creative Cloud applications. This opportunity enhances their creative potential and helps them to learn twenty-first century communication skills.

The students from Davidson High School told me they enjoy using mobile apps such as Adobe Spark. They are apparently easy to work with and help students to learn in creative ways. However, while technology engages students, what and how they learn using that technology is still dependent on the guidance and skills of their teachers. Davidson High School is a comprehensive, coeducational high school in spacious grounds surrounded by natural bushland on the northern peninsula of Sydney. It is an academic, creative, innovative and sustainable school. Under the leadership of Principal Jann Pattinson, Davidson High School’s educational programs strongly encourage creativity and thinking skills. The New South Wales Government likewise encourages development of those skills. Its relationship with Adobe through the Department of Education highlights that support.

The Adobe sessions are part of a broader contribution the company makes to the educational community. Adobe also conducts regular workshops for educators and students on how to use its creative digital tools. Through the Adobe Education Exchange—a free education portal involving about 300,000 teachers worldwide—it provides more than 10,000 teaching resources and a wide range of professional learning opportunities.

The Adobe Education Exchange – https://edex.adobe.com

Education needs to adapt to a rapidly changing world environment. The New South Wales Government is constantly developing new and innovative ideas about how schools work, how teachers teach and how students learn best.

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Today’s students need research, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills to succeed. They need to work both independently and together in groups in classrooms and other settings that provide flexibility to successfully integrate new technologies. The Department of Education understands these ongoing challenges and is constantly responding.

I enjoyed learning about how innovative technology tools, creativity and learning opportunities help students like those at Davidson High School to create positive social impacts. It was also rewarding to observe the students in action, combining their empathy and understanding of important social issues with their technological skills in order to make a difference at their school and in the broader community. I thank Adobe for inviting me to the workshop and Davidson High School students for allowing me to be part of an exciting learning experience in this new digital age. It is an age that we will need to increasingly embrace and understand in the future.

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