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Digital Skills

Faculty Resources

Adobe Creative Cloud (CC) in the Classroom

As an Adobe Creative Campus, Sheridan has committed to empowering students in all disciplines to learn essential digital skills to succeed in the classroom and beyond. Current students have full access to Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Express to help them learn to communicate effectively in different media, to build their personal brand, and to prepare for an increasingly digital workplace.

In this section, we'll share some ideas on how faculty can enhance their classroom with Adobe products and create an equitable learning environment where students can experiment with new tools and explore new ways to communicate.

Sheridan faculty and staff can download Adobe Creative Cloud licenses too!

Check Service Sheridan to learn how to claim your license and download Adobe Creative Cloud (CC).

Digital Project Ideas

One key approach in the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework involves supporting learners by providing flexible options for assessment—this can include providing multiple means of action and expression to help students demonstrate their learning. For example, a UDL classroom might give students more choices to communicate information (e.g., allowing students to create a podcast, video, or infographic) as opposed to only assigning long-form, written essays.

Adobe Express allows students to create slide decks, infographics, videos, social media posts, and more using drag-and-drop functionality that's great for both designers and non-designers alike. Students can learn how to communicate across multiple media forms and have equitable access to the tools required to do so.

Click on the drop-down boxes below to learn more about different media options and assignment ideas for your classroom:

Posters are a dynamic visual medium to convey ideas, promote events, or share important information in eye-catching and informative ways. Typically, posters combine images, graphics, and concise text to communicate a message effectively.

Poster-based activities could be used in wide variety of assignments. For example, a simple assignment could allow students to get creative during online introduction in their first week of class and create posters that share special interests, fun facts, or other personal trivia. A more complex assignment could involve creating a research poster to present at a local program showcase to celebrate the completion of a capstone project.

The Adobe Express custom poster maker offers a range of templates and layouts to help students find inspiration and create professional-quality posters. Students can drag and drop icons, graphics, and animate effects while also experimenting with fonts.

Adobe lesson plans

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An infographic is a visual representation of information that typically combines images, charts, and minimal text to convey information in an easy-to-digest way. Examples include timelines, data visualizations, pros and cons comparisons, and flowcharts.

An infographic is one of the common tools to communicate research findings. It can be a stand-alone resource or as part of another resource.

Adobe Express provides infographic templates to choose from, and these templates can help guide information organization, provide a starting point for creativity, and create professional-looking infographics. Adobe Illustrator, a professional tool, allows students to craft highly customizable, professional-quality designs.

Adobe lesson plans

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Video presentations are a wonderful option for students to demonstrate their knowledge and learning while supporting students with different learning styles. Videos may serve different purposes such as providing information, offering critique, sharing self-reflection, and demonstrating creativity.

Videos, which tend to be shorter, encourage students to be concise and selective about which content to include.

Adobe Express helps beginners create engaging and polished videos without the complexity of professional-grade software. Students may choose from templates, add stock images, footage, and music as well as include narration in their videos. Premiere Pro, a video editing software, provides powerful tools to edit videos, animate titles, add effects, mix sound, and more.

Adobe lesson plans

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Websites allow students to practice sharing information on a topic in a modular and organized way. The structure of a website encourages students to consider how their audience will interact with the information, what information to prioritize, which sub-topics to include in sections/pages, when to link to other resources, where to add visuals, and more.

Adobe Express works similarly to Google Sites, where coding skills aren’t necessary. Students can create single-page webpages for portfolios, resumes, presentations, blog posts, photo galleries, and more.

Adobe lesson plans

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A pitch deck is a presentation that communicates and promotes a business plan, proposal, product idea, or creative/strategic vision. It is commonly used by entrepreneurs and companies with investors, partners and stakeholders. Pitch decks are typically presentation slides or videos and include a brief problem statement and how the proposed plan, product or service can solve the identified problem.

Adobe Express helps students to create and collaborate on presentation slides and videos. Its brand kit feature allows them to build their own brand colours, fonts, and themes and maintain visual consistency in their slides or videos. Students can share a file easily through email, with a public link, or as a downloaded file.

Adobe lesson plans

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Digital portfolios are an excellent tool for students to reach potential employers. They can showcase their academic and professional growth and achievements in digital portfolios in a visually compelling way. A digital portfolio often includes a list of skills and competencies, information about relevant work and co-op experience, sample exemplary work (e.g., from coursework), and career interests. Stories of self-reflection can also be included to illustrate personal growth and what a student can offer to a potential employer or client.

Adobe Express’ Webpage tool can help students practice building their digital presence and design a unique portfolio that integrates text, images, videos, and/or audio clips. Digital portfolios created in Adobe Express are responsive to different desktop and mobile applications.

Adobe lesson plans

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  • Digital Portfolios with Adobe Express course (30 minutes): Self-paced course to help educators and their students showcase their skills and experience. Create digital portfolios tailored to any subject area, and get access to free resources for the classroom.

Learn More!

Check out the links below to learn how to work with Adobe in the classroom:

Digital Accessibility

Interested in learning more about teaching students about the importance of digital accessibility? Check out the resources below to get started:

Add Academic Skills Hub Modules on SLATE

Give your students access to Academic Skills Hub modules in a few simple clicks!

Check the boxes below to learn how to add a module to your SLATE course:

  1. Log in to SLATE.
  2. Click on the course where you'll add the widget.
  3. Click on the Course Admin tab at the top of your homepage.
  4. Under Site Setup > click Widgets.
  5. Click the Create Widget button.
  6. Under Properties > write the Name of your widget (e.g., “Additional Resources”).
  7. Click on the Content tab.
  8. In the Widget Content box, write out any notes you’d like students to read. You should also add the HTML links to any Academic Skills Hub modules here.
    • Use the faculty-specific version of the link from the Faculty Link box below.
    • If you’re unsure which faculty link you should pick, e-mail Christine at christine.moffatt@sheridancollege.ca
  9. Click on the Save and Close button at the bottom of the Widget Content screen—you’ll automatically return to the Custom Widget List page.
  10. From the Custom Widget List page > click on the Homepages tab near the top of the page.
  11. Click on the title of your course.
  12. Scroll down to the bottom of the new page—you’ll find a blueprint of your course’s homepage.
    • There are 2 Add Widget buttons here—you can choose to have your widget appear on the right side of your homepage, or in the centre of your homepage.
  13. Click Add Widget > Click Custom Widget > Click on the widget you made that includes links to the Academic Skills Hub module(s) > Click the Add button > Click the Save and Close button at the bottom of the screen.
  14. Go back to your course’s homepage, and the new widget will appear there!
  1. Log in to SLATE.
  2. Click on the course where you'll embed the module.
  3. Click on Content.
  4. Either pick a module or create a new module in your SLATE course—you’ll embed the Academic Skills Hub module here.
  5. Click on Existing Activities > External Learning Tools.
  6. Scroll down through the list and click on Research Guides.
    • Don’t change the LibGuides site drop-down bar.
    • Under Content Type, select Full LibGuide from the drop-down bar.
    • Under Guide, type in the name of the Academic Skills Hub module.
      • Use the faculty-specific version of the link from the Faculty Link box below.
      • If you’re unsure which faculty link you should pick, e-mail Christine at christine.moffatt@sheridancollege.ca
    • Don’t change the Guide Page drop-down bar—it will default to the home page of the module.
    • Click the Embed Content button.
  7. You’ll get confirmation that you successfully embedded the module.
  8. Click on the Research Guides title in the upper left-hand corner of the page > Change the name to the name of the Academic Skills Hub module you embedded (e.g., “Time Management Module”).
  9. Now, students can access the content from their SLATE course!

Facilitated Workshop

Contact Christine Moffatt (Academic Initiatives Librarian) if you would like to have this workshop facilitated for your class.