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.

It was a an honour to be one of a number of presenters at the 2025 Teacher’s Guild of NSW Research Conference at University of Technology Sydney (UTS) on 22nd & 23rd of August.

The aim of this conference was about exploring innovative research partnerships between schools and universities. Lead by Dr Fred Osman and Dr Keith Heggart the highlights of this event for me included hearing from the followng educators and hearing about their research:

• Brett Salakas, HP Education Ambassador
• Laureate Professor Jenny Gore, University of Newcastle
• Associate Professor Penny Van Bergen, SFHEA, Macquarie University
• Professor Michele Simons, University of Western Sydney
• Dr Nicole Archard, Loreto Kirribilli
• Ros Moore, University of Technology Sydney
• Nadene O’Neill, Trinity Grammar Preparatory School
• Karen Yager, The Hills Grammar School
• Dr Bronwen Wade-Leeuwen, Macquarie University / Boston University Sydney

On Thursday 21st Aug, a group of Year 11 & 12 students from Mercy Catholic College visited the Adobe Sydney office for an Industry Study Tour.

The students had lots of questions about Adobe as a company with a big focus on equality and sustainability.

They toured a couple of office levels and where very impressed with the ergonomic design of desk areas and the views of Darling Harbour.

I introduced these students to Adobe Express. Many of them worked with Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Premiere Pro but Express was new.

A special thank you to Multimedia teacher Mrs Jenifer Davidson for organising this session.

It was great to be back at the Gold Coast Big Day In event at Griffith University with about 300 high school students on Thursday 14th August.

The event was opened by Mr Rob Molhoek MP, State Member for Southport, QLD. He shared insights about his journey into politics and encouraged the students to actively seek out opportunities, develop a diverse set of skills, and work diligently to achieve success.

This link explains more about Big Day In events –

It was a pleasure to complement Mr Molhoek by sharing an analysis of the most common top skills required to thrive according to the World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Reports since 2016.

On Thursday 7th August, I ran a digital creativity workshop at the History Teachers’ Association of Victoria Conference in Melbourne.

For all the teachers involved, it was their first time using Adobe Express. It was a pleasure to see these teachers light up with a sense of what is possible with Adobe Express to engage students in History lessons and help inspire life-long love of historic discoveries.

I showed them how simple it is to create a great looking history video documentary with Adobe Express using animation and lots of relevant stock images, videos and audio files. I also showed them a number of History activities and curriculum resources built into the Adobe Express for Education application.

Due to popularity of this workshop, the HTAV have supported a free webinar version of this workshop that we are planning for 11th Sept at 4 pm (AEST). Click here to register.

On Tuesday 5^th August, I was invited to meet with all teaching staff at Maroochydore State High School to share the value of Adobe Express as a digital creativity tool for every subject area.

I also had the opportunity to work with a number of Year 7 and Year 10 students doing a workshop with the Animation features of Adobe Express and introducing Adobe Podcast.

It was great to see a whole school, from the Principal (David Samaha) down, interested in finding out more about Adobe Express as a tool to help teaching and learning.

The Big Day In event on the Sunshine Coast was held on Tuesday 5^th August with about 360 QLD students. It was originally to be held in March but due to Cyclone Alfred, it was postponed.

This link explains more about Big Day In events –

Mayor Rosanna Natoli, the Mayor of the Sunshine Coast, opened the event by encouraging the students to take onboard all the sessions, ask lots of questions and make the most of this unique opportunity to engage with a range of experts from various IT focused industries.

On Monday 4th August, 2025 I was invited to run some Adobe workshops at Mountain Creek State High School on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

The focus for the students Adobe Express and Adobe Podcast as a tool for making creative presentations. The focus for the teaching staff was the Adobe Creative Educator (ACE) Level 1 micro-credential.

Almost 100 km north of Brisbane and just 4 km from surf beaches at Mooloolaba, Mountain Creek State High School was established in 1994 on the former Mooloolaba Airport site to serve a growing coastal community, it has grown into one of the largest high schools in Queensland, with around 2,200 students enrolled from Years 7 to 12.

Newly appointed Adobe Creative Educator (ACE) – Leader Mel Muller organised for over 20 teachers from a range of faculty areas completed the ACE micro-credential.

More information about the Adobe Creative Educator program can be found here.