This release, plus supporting educational resources, are designed to help K-12 and higher education institutions enhance teaching, learning, and career preparation using Adobe’s creative products. The education initiative coincides with the company’s announcement of Creative Suite 6 and the Creative Cloud subscription service, which Adobe views as the ticket to enhanced creative workflow and software.
While there were always academic versions of Creative Suite products, this is the first time Adobe is also delivering cloud connectivity, and it is now casting that net into the academic community for all of its core creative offerings. While CS6 and Creative Cloud were announced today, they will not be available immediately. Both will ship within the next 30 days, according to Adobe.
Similar in concept to Adobe offering Creative Cloud as a creative hub for professionals, it also views Creative Cloud as a hub for students and educators. The company envisions students and teachers exploring, sharing, and delivering creative content with any number and combination of Creative Suite 6 desktop tools, as well as its new tools for HTML 5 such as
Adobe Muse and
Adobe Edge Preview. And just like their professional counterparts, students would also use the
Adobe Touch apps to create mobile workflows on the iPad and Android devices.
More than 100 education institutions worldwide participated in the beta program for CS6 and Creative Cloud, including Lake City High School, The Academy of Art, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Carnegie Mellon University, Adobe said.
Student learning and career planning
With the new CS6 set of applications paired with Creative Cloud services, Adobe sees the academic community accelerating expertise in content creation.
For example, students could sharpen their skills in photography, video, animation, and 3D with the new updates to Photoshop, Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Audition. With Photoshop CS6 Extended, for example, students can experiment with the program’s new 3D and video editing tools for media captured with multiple devices.
Adobe’s new Creative Cloud Connection desktop software enables syncing, sharing, and storing of files from Adobe Touch apps for download and use with CS6 desktop products. Thus, teachers and students can work with a file in Photoshop Touch on an iPad and then use Creative Cloud Connection to sync and share that file on the desktop for further work in Photoshop CS6 or Dreamweaver.
Students can use InDesign to create multimedia-based portfolios, websites, and applications. InDesign can also help streamline the creation of multiple layouts from the same content for interactive campus publications for iPad, Kindle Fire, and Android devices, for example. Dreamweaver lets students to create professional looking school or personal websites.
Teaching aids
Adobe also sees the new CS6 as a way for teachers and students to jointly visualize, comprehend, and communicate information in creative ways across print, Web, video, and mobile devices.
For example, the programs can be used for digital content creation from storytelling for history and languages; gaming and animations for math; or data visualization in science to create engaging learning experiences. Interactive presentations can be used explore the boundaries of creativity and critical thinking.
The new cloud-based services also serve to expand the delivery of educational content via multi-screen publishing across multiple platforms and devices using HTML 5 and up-to-date standards for Web, mobile, eBooks, and tablet content delivery.
Technology in education
Adobe is releasing three updated year-long, project-based curriculums—aligned with the International Society for Technology in Education—for graphic design and print production, Web design and development, and video production. These curricula are available via the Adobe Education Exchange, along with additional resources from the education community.
With the release of CS6, Adobe and CertiPort are offering new, updated curricula and certification. Teachers and students can get certified for both entry-level skills as an Adobe Certified Associate (ACA) and professional-level skills as an Adobe Certified Expert (ACE). More than 300,000 students worldwide have been certified through the Adobe Certified Associate examination, according to Adobe.
Pricing and availability
Adobe Creative Suite 6 and Creative Cloud will be available to use within 30 days. The Student and Teacher Edition of Adobe Creative Cloud is available for $30 per month. Volume licensing for Creative Cloud is available via the Adobe Transactional Licensing Program. More information on Adobe licensing is available on Adobe’s website.
Point products also come at a discount for the academic market with InCopy at $89, Fireworks at $99, Audition at $149, Dreamweaver, InDesign and Illustrator at $199, Flash Pro at $249, and Premiere Pro and After Effects at $349.
Adobe is initiating a new Adobe K-12 Enterprise Agreement for school districts in the United States and Canada. More product information is available on Adobe’s website. More detailed information about educational upgrade policies and pricing and the full portfolio of suites is also available on Adobe’s website. More information on Adobe education products and licensing is also located on Adobe’s Website.
Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended
Read our full Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended review