Last week I had the chance to attend Adobe MAX, an awesome conference attracting creators from many different industries. Held in Las Vegas, this conference brought together over 12,000 people to connect, share and learn about ways to creatively capture stories. It was wonderful to speak with fellow educators as well as folks from different industries to see how they are leveraging the power of technology.
I’m a huge fan of the Adobe Spark tools since they are free, simple to use and empower storytellers. If you’ve visited my site before you might have seen a blog post on Spark Video, Spark Page or Spark Post, or grabbed one of my graphics organizers for using Spark in the classroom. Of course, there are so many ways Adobe tools can be used to support student storytellers. I’ve compiled a list of my big takeaways from the conference below.
6 Big Takeaways for Educators from Adobe MAX
Earlier this month I shared just how excited I am about the new branding tools from Spark. I wrote this post sharing some of the ways branding can be used to tell school stories and have had conversations with school leaders about ways they might use branding as part of the storytelling strategy. Branding with Spark was front and center at Adobe MAX. It was shared on the main stage during the keynote on accelerating your creativity. With these updates, schools can use the new branding features to help share special events, accomplishments and more.
The power of photography was highlighted at Adobe MAX with two speakers that were particularly noteworthy. Annie Griffiths shared stories from her work at National Geographic and Ripple Effect Images. Her talk demonstrated the power of sharing stories through images to empower women across the world. Former White House official photographer Pete Souza shared images featured in his new book Obama: An Intimate Portrait and stories from his time working in the administration. Students today have access to cameras like never before and are snapping all day long. Both photographers shared examples of how the images they captured tell powerful stories that might otherwise be lost to history.
Potter and designer Jonathan Adler demonstrated how creativity comes in many forms. He shared lots of stories about his work, process and passion as a designer. There are many ways for students to show off what they know. Jonathan Adler reinforced the notion that their are many ways to express yourself through art and design.
Storytelling and AR
There is so much to stay on the look out for with the future of video storytelling. Adobe MAX featured sessions with virtual reality and a conversation with filmmaker Jon Favreau where he discussed virtual reality and his new movies. Video has become an essential medium for storytellers. It’s important to think about how video is evolving and how we can use it to support teaching and learning. The Spark Video tool I mentioned earlier is a simple mobile app and web-browser friendly movie-making tool. It helps students create beautiful final products.
If you’ve heard the buzz about artificial intelligence in education you’ll want to learn more about Adobe Sensei. Multiple presentations at Adobe MAX highlighted how artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Specifically, the presentations focused on how AI can help creative professionals find the perfect image for a project.
Students need to prepare for storytelling in a new world. Although the power of story is timeless, the way in which students can tell stories today has changed drastically. Seeing new product features, hearing from creators in different industries and listening to stories told through different mediums were all part of the Adobe MAX experience.
You can check out some of the recorded content from the event on this page, jump into the Spark tools I mentioned above by clicking here, or learn more about Adobe MAX by visiting the event page.
