Ubiquitous Access to Adobe Software Applications and Training

Submission

Adobe: Reinventing Education and Fostering Success

The workplace of the 21^st century — what does it look like today? How will it look tomorrow? What skills will entrants to the workforce need — and can they expect to obtain those critical skills from Canadian universities and colleges?

These are questions that educators are grappling with today against the larger backdrop of a resource–rich Canadian society that's pondering where Canada';s wealth and success will come from in future decades.

At the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, for example, the school's Martin Prosperity Institute was asked by the government to study the very issue of future success by examining our rapidly changing economy and workforce and to project future trends. Their task was to advise on "how to ensure our economy and people remain globally competitive and prosperous." Their conclusion, in two simple words?

Creativity and innovation. "We can build a shared prosperity by drawing more broadly on the creative skills of our people and workforce, … and harnessing the creative potential of current and future generations to become a model for generating prosperity in the creative age."

Author Daniel Pink, in his book A Whole New Mind, urges us to prepare for a world that's evolving at light speed from an information age to a conceptual age, where the people and societies that prosper are those that best combine creativity and design skills to drive future innovation.

A recent study by the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills notes that creativity will be a key to success in the future workplace: nearly three–quarters of survey participants put "creativity and innovation" among the five leading applied skills future graduates will need to succeed."

Adobe complements the drive to creativity and innovation

So where exactly does Adobe fit into the ongoing dialogue concerning creativity, innovation, change and success in the future?

You most likely know Adobe from the long list of industry standard software tools we've been publishing for over 25 years, brands like Photoshop and Acrobat PDF. When you stop to consider the impact our creative and communication technologies have had on the world around us, you realize that we've revolutionized the way people create, communicate, collaborate, innovate and engage each other with ideas and information.

I often think of Adobe as "Everywhere You Look", because literally everything created — from idea to design to production — including consumer products, packaged goods, print media, web pages, films, videos… is touched by at least one of Adobe's 40+ creative / design technologies. And the sum of the millions of engaging digital experiences these technologies help create, equate to Adobe being one of the largest, most successful, and most critically relevant technology companies in the world today.

Our impact transcends business, creative and leisure pursuits to include education, a world in which students — and educators — are continually leveraging digital technologies for teaching and learning across all curricular areas.

Adobe has clearly evolved from a tool provider to a strategic partner in education and today is helping institutions to engage students in ways that motivate learning and unlock creativity. Our conversations with universities and colleges are focused on partnering to bring deep levels of student engagement onto the campus. And students turn to Adobe to help prepare and differentiate themselves for the workplace; to develop digital skills that give them a competitive edge.

Regardless of what students have declared as their major area of study — from economics, medicine, culinary arts, computer science, engineering, to business, liberal arts… they all share one common thread: they are digital natives, and as such, seek out digital tools and mediums to communicate, create, innovate, and differentiate.

Our student success influence is just one part of the picture. What you might not realize is that more and more educators and institutions around the world are also turning to Adobe to solve critical business issues and complement their efforts to realize future objectives.

For example, by deepening the education experience and extending the classroom's reach through web collaboration, the virtual classroom and conferencing solutions, Adobe is helping students, educators, and administrators to meet and collaborate anytime, anywhere. Adobe is recognized as a global leader in eLearning and web collaboration solutions for education.

Adobe is also helping institutions with administrative tools that, for example, increasingly automate traditional paper–based processes to save on time and costs while protecting valuable information.

Adobe, then, is dedicated to helping reshape the future of education in many relevant ways. But what will the future look like for Canada';s education institution's and students? It's a formidable question and one that Adobe is spending much time and effort to address.

Fostering success both within the classroom and beyond

A respected educator once told me: "Give a student a typewriter and they'll type something. Give them a paintbrush and they'll paint. Give them access to Adobe's library of software and there's no telling what creative possibilities might unfold."

Imagine for a moment a school whose students, faculty and staff are equally and ubiquitously empowered with home and school access to al the tools they need to communicate, collaborate, and present their ideas in creative and engaging ways. Now couple this with a rich collection of free curriculum resources that support teaching and learning, along with access to online training access and optional skills certification.

What happens when students have access to such an exceptionally rich set of tools and resources? Two things happen — creativity and innovation. And as we are being told, it's creativity and innovation that will drive prosperity in the days and years ahead.

The tools and resources offered today by Adobe are designed to generate success in and beyond the classroom, equipping students to make a successful transition into the workplace in ways that distinguish their skills and talents.

Adobe is making it possible today for all students and educators to unleash their creativity, by starting with our easy to use family of tools geared towards beginners. For example, with our Electronic Portfolio tool, students bring to life in vivid detail and color the talent, skills and experience they need to showcase to employers. Armed with an ePortfolio — a digital resume of documents, images, video and more, all compiled for personal presentation or delivered via disc or emailed PDF, students embark on new careers with unprecedented differentiation from globally competing students. Put simply, Adobe's ePortfolio tool has been designed to easily let students drag and drop their way to impressing a prospective employer. Pedagogically, I'm sure you can envision a dozen other ways an ePortfolio tool could be used to facilitate teaching and learning across Canadian campuses.

Proposal: Adobe invites you to experience a new business model for education

While the experts point to developing student's capacity for creativity and innovation as the foundation for future success, Canadian schools have been increasingly consuming more and more Adobe technology across the campus. So much so, that today schools are installing twice as many licenses as they did just three years ago. In parallel, students are visiting their campus computer stores or going online to purchase Adobe tools at an unprecedented rate.

Clearly, Adobe solutions are relevant to the education community. But schools are considerably challenged with funding, particularly at this time of budget cutbacks. At the same time, IT departments are challenged with software licensing management and compliancy.

I believe the current model — of k–12 and higher education institutions independently annually spending a considerable amount of a constrained budget to yield but a fraction of the tools and licenses needed — can be greatly improved on.

So the question is, how can Adobe improve on its current licensing model to better serve the needs of schools and students? How can Adobe partner with the government to deliver unlimited access of Adobe technologies Canadian schools and its stakeholders demand and require to engage in 21^st century teaching, learning, and skills development?

When the estimated retail value of our library of creative/communication/presentation tools is $3,500 per license / per person, the answer to the question seems out of reach in the context of the Canadian teacher and student population. But if Adobe and the Canadian government were to enter into partnership and negotiate toward discounts in the range of 99% off, the possibilities for a digitally literate Canada with access to industry standard and tier 1 products & training are endless.

In summary, a centralized investment from the government would yield incredible economies of scale at unprecedented pricing levels, enabling unlimited access of Adobe';s library of tools to Canada';s education institutions, teachers, faculty, staff, and students.

I hope this proposal will serve as a springboard for discussion on how we can work more closely to help address your strategic goals within the context of the digital economy. I am interested in hearing your ideas, and finding the right model of doing business to better suit the needs of Canadians.

For more information please contact me directly, and in the meantime many thanks and best wishes with this project!

Avy Oaknine, B.Ed, BBA
Education Director
Adobe Canada
Telephone: 416–481–1482