(Editor’s Note: Please enjoy this guest post from NCCE 2020 Featured Speaker Tanya Avrith, Adobe Education Evangelist. We’re thrilled to welcome her for five excellent sessions next week in Seattle!)

Learning in the 21st century: For the last decade, educators have stressed the importance of the 4 Cs of learning: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. These components are embedded in standards and must come to the forefront as we shape student skills and learning environments for success in the digital age.

Classrooms without technology are no longer an option–nor is tech simply a fancy but meaningless addition to student work. Teachers are currently seeking ways to effectively integrate technology directly into instructional design and learning. A crucial component of technology-infused learning is multimedia, or content that uses a variety of forms, such as text, audio, video, images, and animation, to provide a more holistic and individualized approach to communication. Students must also consider a target audience and the medium they use to best communicate their message.

Enter Adobe’s Creative Cloud Suite, with 22 industry-standard apps that enhance learning and turn students into creators.

Screenshot depicting the variety of Adobe EDU products

Screenshot showing the various Adobe Creative Cloud Apps

My co-author Holly Clark and I have come up with this simple framework to help teachers utilize technology–and multimedia–in meaningful and relevant ways for student learning. Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite is perfect for this. Classroom tech should help to:

Make thinking visible- This could look as simple as having a student screenshot their written work or using an audio recording feature to explain their understanding of an idea or process.
Cultivate student voice- In 2020, if we are not hearing from each learner in our classrooms and allowing them to have voice and choice in their learning, we are doing something wrong. With today’s tech, learners can choose appropriate media that best shares their learning. Since not every student prefers using written language to express understanding, they personalize their communication by adding graphics or video to convey their understanding. They can even add music or voiceover narration! Giving each student a voice levels the field and equips them with ownership of their learning.
Enable students to share work- We know that grades alone are not a great motivator. Fortunately, learners today can go beyond the traditional digital turn-in protocols that include only their teacher, with a grade as the ultimate goal. But choosing an audience for a message inspires learners to put their heart and soul into their work. Taking a page from the blogger and social media influencer playbook, students can now utilize the platform to best communicate their message. Tech that supports this goal provides choices like graphics, video and audio to enhance the message.

Multimedia is the key that unlocks the door to the thinking process. Students have a choice in how they demonstrate their learning. Adobe empowers learners to harness the tools that cultivate the 4 Cs, become creators–and share their ideas with the world.

Stay Tuned! Join the waitlist for the community at bit.ly/adobecreativeeducator and follow on Twitter #AdobeEduCreative for more helpful blog posts, videos and monthly challenges.