Kirrawee High School in Sydney hosted an Adobe Day on Thursday 16th March. The first Adobe Day for NSW in 2023.

The day started with a delightful group of about 40 SRC (School Representative Council) students from all years levels. I showed them how they could use Adobe Express to make posters, video stories and web pages to help promote the various actives they will be running throughout the year. For most of them, it was an introduction to Adobe Express and they loved the ease and usefulness of the application.

The rest of the day was spent with a range of media and art classes with a focus on Photoshop, Premiere Pro and InDesign.

After school, I had the privilege of presenting to the whole staff and sharing with them the value of Adobe Express for any curriculum area. They loved the ease of the tools and how students & teachers can create great looking content so quickly.

Many of the teachers and students wished they had known about Adobe Express earlier. Here are some quotes from the students …

• Within the timeframe of 1 hour, I have learnt more about photoshopping than YouTube has taught me my whole life – thank you Dr Kitchen. – Norah
• The workshop was very educational as it taught us crucial skills in technology and online resources that I will not only be able to use in all aspects of school, but in my later life. – Tiana
• The session provoked creativity and taught us how to communicate our ideas effectively and in an engaging manner. – William  
• This course has enabled us to create our own projects and taught us a variety of things which encourage creative thinking not only in a school environment, but also throughout our lives. – Lola

On Wednesday 15th March, it was delightful to have a number of NSW teachers visit the Adobe Sydney for a professional learning session focused on Adobe Express for all curriculum areas.

For a number of the teachers, it was their first experience with Adobe Express.

Feedback comments:

• A highlight was learning the quick actions in Adobe Express
• I enjoyed working on skills specifically relevant to being a Dept. of Education Adobe Champion
• A highlight was seeing how quickly you could create a video
• I can apply this at work!

The resources I shared for this event can be found via this link.

Stay tuned for a similar event to this that we are planning in mid May.

About 1,400 secondary students from schools round Sydney attended Day 1 and 2 of the Big Day In at UTS (University Technology Sydney) on 14th & 15th March.

Big Day In events are run by the Australian Computer Society Foundation around Australia to help engage student with IT professionals and encourge them to consider a career in a STEM related area.

I was asked to be the first keynote for each day of the Sydney event and my presentation was based on the most important skills to thrive in the future.

Day one was opened by The Hon.Victor Dominello, MP, Minster for Customer Service & Digital Government, Minister for Fair Trading & Minister for Small Business in the NSW Government.

Day 2 was opened by The Hon Ms Zali Steggall OAM, MP, Federal Independent Member for Warringah in NSW.

I had the pleasure of spending some time at Swinburne University and RMIT in Melbourne during Orientation Week. Both of these amazing education institutions are an Adobe Creative Campus which means every student and teacher gets access to the about 50 apps and resources that make up the Adobe Creative Cloud.

It was great to hear a number of students say they chose the university because they get Adobe software for free. It was also wonderful to see the joy on the faces of the students who were told that they now had access to about $1000 worth of software just by being enrolled.

Congratulations to Abigail Nelson for all the work she did on this her first week at Adobe to make these events such a success.

For the beginning of the 2023 school year, the ANZ Adobe Education Team introduced a new series of Adobe in 15 min vodcasts on the Adobe for Education YouTube channel based on getting to know how to use Adobe Express and other popular Adobe applications in the classroom.

Short for “video podcast,” a vodcast is a type of digital media that combines the elements of a podcast with video.

Each Adobe in 15 minute vodcast is also linked to a live Adobe in 30 min webcast where teachers are welcome to join in a hands on workshop experience, interact with the presenter and ask questions.

The first episode was based on the making of infographics with Adobe Express. An infographic is a visual representation of information or data, usually in the form of a chart, graph, or other visual elements, that is designed to communicate complex information in a simple and easily understandable way. They typically include a combination of text and images which is why the graphic design side of Adobe Express is such a great tool to use to help create infographics.

Here is the first episode of Adobe in 15 min that was dropped on YouTube on Tuesday 7th Feb, 2023 …

Here is a recording of the first of the Adobe in 30 min live webinars based on making infographics …

The next episode of Adobe in 15 min with be focused on making digital portfolios with Adobe Express and will be dropped on the Adobe for Education YouTube channel on Tuesday 14th February at 8 am (AEDT).

Mt Beauty Secondary College is located at the base of the stunning Victoria’s Alps and it was the location of an Adobe Day on Wed 14th December, 2022.

The main focus of this day was getting to know the value of Adobe Express in the teaching and learning process.

Being the last week of school for 2022, there was considerable flexibility in the timetable. Some staff and students spent most of the day with me, others came in for an hour or so.

We made, posters, video stories and web pages all based around what we are passionate about. I was also able to introduce Character Animator and Adobe Premiere Rush to a number of students and teachers.

I would like to thank Hannah Little, Mt Beauty’s Visual Communication Design, Digital Tech and Technologies teacher for organising this event.

Click here to get to know more about Adobe Express

Yarra Valley Grammar is one of Melbourne’s most successful independent schools and I was invited to work with their Year 5 & 6 teaching team on Monday 12th December.

We started with a session titled The importance of creativity in teaching and learning. During this session, we touched on research from the World Economic Forum, Dr Ellis Paul Torrance, Professor Ellen Jane Langer, Dr Tim Patston, Professor Seymour Papert & Sir Ken Robinson.

I encouraged the teachers to look at the interviews we did with Sir Ken about 10 years ago, now available on a dedicated playlist within the Adobe for Education YouTube Channel.

The rest of the time together was based in learning how to use Adobe Express to build animated posters, short videos and webpages.

All the teachers were quick to learn and came up with lots of ideas related to the way they will be using Adobe Express throughout 2023 with their students.

A special thanks goes to Phil Callil, the Yarra Valley Grammar Director of IT and Digital Learning, for organising this event.

On Thursday 24th November, Adobe Senior Solution Consultant Brian Chau and I had the pleasure of working with 12 staff members from one of Victoria’s largest government schools McKinnon Secondary College.

We went through a range of Adobe applications and how they can be used in any classroom such as

• Character Animator
• Photoshop on the Web
• Photoshop
• InDesign
• Aero &
• Adobe Express

We also had the opportunity to share the Adobe section on Arc to a large number of other staff members. Arc is the Victorian Department of Education and Training’s main communication portal for their teachers that relates to a vast array of software that is provided to their schools.

I’d like to thank Peter Eglezos from McKinnon for all his support in organisin this opportunity for his colleagues.

Click here to discover more opportunities to skill up with Adobe.

On Friday 11th November my beautiful daughter Talana married the love of her life Campbell Bonello at Albert Park Baptist Church. It was perfect day and a wonderful celebration of love, commitment and creativity.

Warrnambool College, in the stunning south-west of Victoria, hosted an Adobe Day on Tuesday 1st November for students in a range of year levels and subject areas.

Part of the day was focused on working with Adobe Express on a mix of iPads and laptops to produce creative infographics and short video stories.

The Year 10 & 11 Visual Communication & Design students also spent some time getting to know Adobe Photoshop better and further developing their image composition skills.

A number of Warrnambool College teachers and teachers from surroundings schools took part in an after school professional learning event where the use of Character Animator, Adobe Express and Premiere Rush was introduced and connected to a number of curriculum areas.

I’d like to thank Anthea Rafferty (Head of Art) and Amos Mills (I.T. Manager) for helping to organise this event.