It was a pleasure to be invited back to Canley Vale High School in Western Sydney on Wed 26th July to work with a large range of students and teachers, see some of the amazing work they are doing with Adobe tools and help enhance their digital creativity skills.

Industrial Arts and STEM Teacher Krissa Diamante organised a day filled with learning opportunities. She was very proud to share some of the creative work her students are doing as they make the most of their access to a range of Adobe applications.

After school, I worked with a number of teachers and guided them through the Adobe for Education level 1 micro-credential program.

Earlier in the year, we produced this video story …

On Tuesday 25th July, I had the pleasure of spending some time with students and staff from the amazing Lindfield Learning Village (LLV) in Sydney.

An innovative and forward-thinking public school, LLV was founded on the principles of personalised learning and community engagement. It offers a unique and dynamic approach to education focused on problem based learning. It boasts state-of-the-art facilities and a vibrant learning environment that nurtures creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration among its students. With a strong emphasis on individualised learning plans, students at LLV are encouraged to explore their passions and interests while receiving personalised support from dedicated educators.

Art and multimedia teacher Jessica Peade invited me to work with a number of students with a focus on enriching their multimedia skills with Adobe Character Animator, Premiere Rush and Adobe Express.

At the end of the day, I conducted an Adobe Creative Educator Level 1 course for a number of LLV teachers. It was preaching to the converted when we discussed the research relating to the importance of creativity in education but they appreciated the Adobe related components and discovering more about the digital creativity apps they can use with their students.

I’d like to thank Jessica Peade for organising this Adobe Day at Lindfield Learning Village and I looking forward to returning soon.

On Tues 25th July, 2023 I spoke to the Year 10s at Cumberland High School in north-western Sydney at their Careers Conference.

This was a special day where the students dressed in business attire and met with people from a range of industries to conduct mock interviews.

It was a pleasure to share with them some of the research from the World Economic Forum that outlines key skills to thrive and success in the future. I also gave them a number of practical tips on how to make the most of their free access to Adobe Creative Cloud applications to help brand themselves and build amazing looking resumes.

I would like to thank and congratulate Careers/Transition Adviser Nivanthi Ratnayake for inviting me and organising this wonderful event for her students.

On Thursday 13th July, about 500 secondary school students from around Melbourne visited RMIT’s spectacular The Capital theatre for the 2023 Melbourne Big Day In event.

Big Day In events are run by the Australian Computer Society Foundation and involves representatives from large and small IT related organisations sharing the value of a career in STEM.

I had the honour of being the opening keynote presenter and shared a presentation about the most important skills to thrive in the STEM (and virtually any other industry). One of the most important of these skills is creativity.

I encouraged each student to make the most of the access to Adobe tools that is provided to them by their school so that they can develop their digital creativity skills.

One of the Adobe applications that I showcased was Character Animator, a great tool for making creative animated presentations just by tracking facial movements via a normal web-cam.

Another app/resource I showcased was Adobe’s new generative AI solution FireFly as we discussed the impact AI is having on a range of industries.

My colleague Abigail Nelson and I met with most of the students at the Adobe booth throughout the day and encouraged them to take part in a special competition aimed at sharing their future dream job and the skills required to get there.

For the past 4 years, I have had the pleasure of running online workshops with the Pacific Links Foundation, an organisation focused on providing life skills for Vietnamese students at risk of being trafficked.

I ran 4 workshops over the weekend for about 150 students who were encouraged to use Adobe Express to build a poster about their passions.

Most of the students didn’t speak English, so a translator was provided at each session to help with the instructions.

Adobe Express is a free browser and app-based design tool which ideal for making posters, webpages and video stories. The students were using a mix of laptops and Android tablets/phones to connect and create. It was a challenge for me to teach the browser version & the app version all while being translated, but somehow it worked because the student were very appreciative and produced some wonderful posters.