About 30 educators from South Australia traveled to the spectacular Adelaide Botanic High School for the Adelaide Adobe Content Creation Seminar on Tue 30th September.

Lachlan Mooney from the SA Department for Education set the scene by sharing some of the work they have been doing to link digital technologies to pedagogy. This aligned nicely with Molly Turner’s introduction about the value of working with Adobe Express in K-12 & in the TAFE sector.

The new Adobe Express classrooms features was highlighted within an overall tour of Adobe Express and the teachers were encouraged to explore some of the various features that were most relevant to them.

Molly ran a session on Express Classrooms and I ran a session on animation & video with Adobe Express. The the teachers were given time to apply this new knowledge and create some resources that they could use in the classroom next term and throughout 2026.

The teachers all worked through the requirements of achieving the Adobe Creative Educator s(ACE) Level 1 & 2 micro-credential.

Feedback highlights

• Getting some more in depth instruction for creating videos and adding layers.
• Learning about all of the new tools within Adobe Express. The way that we can animate characters, create more powerful presentations, it was all brilliant!
• Being able to create a video and use the animate tools
• Seeing the practical applications of systems was the biggest highlight.
• Presenters were helpful
• Obtaining my ACE level 2 Badge
• Getting to actually work on the video while we learned
• Making my own projects that I can see being useful in my work and for personal interest. Getting an accreditation was a bonus too.
• Overall content was great . Especially the website for presentations will use this in my role.
• All activities were great and useful.
• Wonderful seminar
• Getting to know the hidden features

Other feedback comments

• Thank you for coming to Adelaide! It was great to be able to attend a session in person and to learn about all of the new amazing updates and offerings from Adobe Express.
• I really appreciate that the program was not necessarily targeted towards people with no prior knowledge of Adobe systems.
• Bring Dr Tim Kitchen back to Adelaide for another F2F session for TAFE SA lecturers.
• Thank you for your expertise.
• Want more!
• Great day, thanks so much for your time and efforts. Would love to see more like this in the future.
• I used Adobe education products a while ago (maybe 5 years ago) … this has renewed my interest in the Adobe education suite again. Thanks.
• I really enjoyed the session and having time to play with the different features.
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Special thank you to the staff at Adelaide Botanic High for kindly offering the use of their facilities.

On Friday 26th September, 2025 a fabulous group of teachers (TAFE & K-12) from around the Brisbane area took part in Adobe’s first ever Content Creation Seminar hosted at TAFE QLD, Southbank. This was part of the 2025 Adobe Educators’ Conference.

This was an opportunity for teachers to join a hands-on day of creativity with Adobe Express and build curriculum-aligned, multi-modal content that fuels digital literacy and fluency – setting students up for success in learning and life.

Molly Turner from the Adobe Edu Team set the scene at the start of the session linking Adobe Express solutions to the Australian Curriculum as well as TAFE priorities.

With expert guidance from ACE-Leaders/Innovators Erin Raethke, Nalin Naidoo as well as Adobe Edu team members Al Briggs, Molly Turner and myself, the teachers were shown how to use Adobe Express to create curriculum-aligned resources that spark curiosity, build digital literacy and fluency, and set students up for lifelong success.

Erin’s webpage summary (Thank you Erin)

Feedback highlights

• Use of websites for assignments
• Being able to adapt to my current projects
• I really enjoyed the videos element.
• Being able to easily add an Auslan interpreter and captions to a video. It was much simply than other platforms that I’ve tried.
• I really liked learning about classrooms and the guided activities
• It was great getting a refresher of the tools learned in the ACE Level 2 training.
• Seeing Adobe Express
• Discovering the new updates every time I get into Adobe Express.
• Time to explore and people more knowledgeable than me to ask!!
• Appreciated the time to immerse into Adobe Express
• Improving knowledge of tools
• Just the support- I did not feel inadequate or stupid – I am confident to take this back to my classroom.
• The handson aspect of the workshop – experiential learning is everything! Jumping into Adobe express and trying this out.
• Having already done the Adobe Educator Level 1 training, it was great to extend my skills. Top highlight: adding captions to videos and importing existing presentations to make them better in Adobe Express
• Working through the guided activities with help.

Other feedback comments

• Thank you for a great day.
• Great holiday opportunity
• Looking forward to next learning opportunity
• Great work all
• Please do a presentation at the Queensland Art Teachers Association conference in July 2026 in Brisbane.
• Thanks so much team!
• The templates provided by Molly and video examples were great examples I could incorporate in classroom activities.

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On Tue 16th September, I had my first experience of an It Takes a Spark STEM Conference. This was at Fredrick Irwin Anglican School in Mandurah, Western Australia, about 1 hr drive south of Perth.

These conferences provide a valuable opportunity for teachers and students to collaborate while developing a wide range of STEM skills. According to the organisers …

The It Takes a Spark! STEM Conference inspires and engages forward thinking students, teachers and leaders in STEAM.

Established in 2017 by engineer, education consultant and author Dr. Adrian Bertolini, together with event specialist Rachel Manneke-Jones, the conference has since made a direct and positive impact on more than 8,220 educators and students. In 2025, events will be hosted in Queensland, Western Australia, and Victoria.

At the WA conference, I was invited to deliver an Adobe Express workshop. Looking ahead, I am honoured to have been asked to present the keynote address at the Victorian event on Thursday, 23 October.

The Queensland Education Department (QED) hosts an annual ICT in Education conference called i-Educate at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. Adobe was delighted to collaborate with Data#3 for this event. This year, the conference took place on the 8th and 9th of September. Under the leadership of Michael O’Leary (Assistant Director-General, Department of Education) and the Information and Technologies Branch, QED stands out as the only K-12 education system in Australia that organises such an event.

This year’s conference involved about 500 school leaders, teachers, IT professionals, administrators, and support staff from across the state and about 100 presenters & industry vendors from around Australia for two full days of inspiration, learning, and collaboration.

I was particularly impressed with the sessions ran by Adobe Creative Education Leaders Mel Muller from Mountain Creek State High School and Melanie Craig from Cairns School of Distance Education who presented the following two 1.5hr workshop sessions.

• Mel Muller – Adobe Express Across the Middle School
• Melanie Craig – Innovating Learning and Assessment with Adobe Express

Most of the teachers who took part in these sessions also earned the Adobe Creative Educator Level 1 micro-credential.

Adobe Express has become very popular in QED schools ever since it was linked their single-sign-on system allowing very simple free access to every student & teacher.

Another highlight was when Brett Salakas (HP’s Education Ambassador), David Waine (Data#3 National Practice Manager – Education Sector) and I were introduced to the QLD Minister of Education The Hon John-Paul Langbroek MP by Michael O’Leary.

I would like to congratulate Amy Whitehouse for all the work she (and her team) put into make this event such a success. I’m looking forward to i-Educate 2026.

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Every time I have the opportunity to work with John Penn II, I am inspired and proud of the contributions Adobe is making to the field of law enforcement. On Wednesday, 3rd October, I had the pleasure of introducing a group of students from Braybrook College to John at the Adobe Melbourne office during his visit to Australia.

John Penn II serves as Adobe’s Senior Architect for Law Enforcement Technologies. His unique role involves being on call 24/7 to assist law enforcement agencies worldwide in solving crimes using Adobe’s technologies, such as Photoshop and Audition. Before taking on this role, John was a developer on the Photoshop team and previously worked for Apple.

Since John began this role, over 40,000 children have been rescued from abduction and other crimes, thanks to the power of Adobe’s software. You can find out more in a recent webinar I recorded with him here.

This particular session with Braybrook College was organised by the Australian Business Community Network (ABCN) who have partnered with Adobe for several years to provide students from economically disadvantaged areas with opportunities to engage with industry mentors.

The students had some very insightful questions for John, and we were also joined by Cristina Fletcher from Adobe’s PR & Communications team on the panel.

John shared some examples of how Adobe’s tools help solve a range of crimes. The students were all learning how to use Photoshop at school so they were very please to meet someone who actually helped build Photoshop. Later, the student were introduced to the power and flexibility of Adobe Express as a creativity tool.

On Monday 1st September, I was invited to the launch of the Coral Lab at Strathcona Girls Grammar in Melbourne along with a number of EdTech legends such as Brett Salakas (HP) and Dan Bowen (Microsoft), Rob McTaggart (Intel) as well as Jess Wilson (Shadow Minister for Education in Victoria) and former student of mine.

In a LinkedIn post, Strathcona describesd their new Coral Lab with the following quote:

More than just a classroom, Strathcona’s Coral Lab is a strategic investment in the future of girls’ education, equipping our students with the digital literacy, innovation mindset and future-focused skills essential for thriving in a rapidly changing digital world.

The Coral Lab Strathcona is a space where students gain technical skills in areas such as coding, robotics, digital design, AI applications, VR and driver simulators, while also developing the critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving abilities that will prepare them for future study and work. The lab is also used for students to learn how to use AI responsibly and ethically, understanding both the potential and limitations of technology.

As quoted in Dan Bowen’s Linked in post about the event:

… this is a much-needed focus on driving equity and AI for young women the workforce tomorrow and facing the future with innovation but also care, kindness and empathy.

Have a look at this clip

The keynote speaker for this launch was the amazing Mark Cameron, CEO and director of Alyve, an Australian IT company aimed at shaping the future with safe, ethical, & impactful AI.

Mark shared some great insights such as:

• Australia is rated at number 12 in the world in terms of GDP, number 16 in total exports and number nine in GDP per capita but we are ranked 105 globally on the economic complexity index, below Yemen, Senegal, and Botswana and a fallen 42 places on this index in the last 30 years. We need schools and universities to take AI very seriously and help prepare Australian young people for the future..
• According to the world economic forum, artificial intelligence is likely to contribute approximately $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030.
• Gen AI is rapidly shaping workplaces. Organisations that get it right see significant returns, but many don’t because they treated as a Technology problem and a way of saving costs. The cost reduction lens is the worst possible way to view AI.
• according to Microsoft work trend index annual report, 66% of business leaders would not hire someone without AI skills
• according to Harvard business school, generative AI can improve a highly skilled workers performance by nearly 40% compared with workers who don’t use it.
• the OECD says that 23% of jobs will change by 2027, and 34% of tasks are automated now firms expect 42% automation by 2027.
• AI isn’t a tech upgrade. It’s a human potential upgrade and is reshaping the world of work. The decisions we make now will shape the nature of work for the next generation so initiatives like the coral lab that are being made in schools are essential to help prepare young people for the future.

Strathcona Girls Grammar holds a special place in my heart. I had the privilege of teaching there for 13 years, from 2000 to 2013 holding various senior positions including Year 10 Coordinator and Director of Education Technologies. My daughter, Talana (now a teacher), attended the school for her secondary education and served as the Deputy School Captain in 2019. Additionally, my sister Lisa (also a teacher), along with several of my cousins and friends, are proud alumni of Strathcona.