Are you looking for new ways to engage your students? Look no further than Adobe Express! As educators, we know the importance of finding new and creative ways to teach our students important content and motivating them to show off their skills. In today’s digital era, it is also so important that we give our students opportunities to get creative. Let’s explore what Adobe Express is all about learn top 5 tips for using Adobe Express to engage your students.

What is Adobe Express?

Adobe Express (formerly Adobe Spark) is a free digital design creation tool. There are premium features available, but many of the ones you will use are available within the free version. Through Adobe Express, you and your students can create graphics, videos, web pages, worksheets, projects, and so much more! Express also makes it easy to share these creations via social media (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, etc.) or you can utilize this creation tool strictly for classroom use. Another benefit of Adobe Express is that it can be accessed via the web or application, and is incredibly intuitive, meaning there is no prior experience of design software needed to utilize this tool! So, how can students and teachers best utilize Adobe Express? 

Teacher vs. Student-Created Content

Through Adobe Express, both students and teachers can create content from scratch or choose from the many pre-made templates available.

Teachers

On the teacher’s side, the goal is for them to develop unique opportunities for their students to show off their language and academic skills as well as finding engagement tools that will excite students of all ages. 

• The templates offered via Adobe Express (for videos or static content) are helpful in creating consistency for students. Rather than needing to reinvent the wheel for each lesson, you can utilize what is available and then make changes to meet the needs of your students. 
• Create videos and other content  for different purposes- you can create videos to teach specific vocabulary, introduce a topic, prompt students with discussion questions, and more!
• Remember that you don’t need to use this tool for every lesson, every student, or even for an entire lesson. Try sprinkling your Adobe Express content into your teaching to provide individualized instruction.

Students

For students, the goal is for them to be able to show what they know in a variety of ways. Adobe Express allows for students to create a range of content across subject areas. Through this ability to use multiple modalities, student engagement will increase!

• Enhance engagement via social media. Students can create their own content to share via a variety of social media platforms.
• Through the media options available on Adobe, students can practice their language and academic skills by recording audio, adding text, or even utilizing various pictures and images depending on their level of proficiency.
• Students can learn by teaching their peers. With Adobe Express, students can share their knowledge with others. This will appeal to students who may not feel comfortable getting up in front of the class and speaking in front of others.

Top tips

Now that we know how Adobe Express can benefit both teachers and students, let’s explore some top tips to get you started! 

1. Enhance visual learning:

Photos and videos are powerful learning tools for many students. These visuals help to make abstract ideas more concrete and can clarify the meaning of unknown words, terms, and concepts. They also help to promote comprehension and retention. Consider making infographics and presentations to stimulate the interest of your students. 

2. Add audio:

By adding audio, you are able to engage your students, while also improving overall pronunciation, comprehension, and vocabulary acquisition. Remember that you can record audio for students to listen to or challenge them to record their own, which helps to foster creative expression. 

3. Personalize learning:

With Adobe Express, you (and your students) can customize content. The previously mentioned ideas of adding photos, videos, and audio go a long way, but you can also add your own text to your projects. This will allow you to create personalized learning tools to teach on a variety of topics and reinforce key concepts. This approach promotes student engagement and motivation, which ultimately leads to a deeper connection with the learning material.

4. Add engaging elements:

The design elements offered through Adobe Express provide opportunities for visuals and text to be clearly organized. Whether it’s backgrounds, shapes, or picture icons, these resources can help to further enhance learning for your students. This can also help to promote creativity as students explore artistic abilities and use different media to better understand subject matter. 

5. Try Different Lesson Ideas:

Adobe Express can be used across grade bands and subjects. Have students create posters, book reports, portfolios, such as “about me” videos, journals, “how tos,” and more! This is also a great way to showcase student work and celebrate achievements. 

I hope that you are feeling excited and motivated to try out Adobe Express for personal or classroom use. Check out some pre-made templates or create your own content and share your favorite creations with us! Be sure to check out our accompanying OTIS course, “Using Adobe Express to Create Engaging Content for ELLs”  as well as many other courses in the OTIS Course Library. 

For more tips, tricks, and tools for teaching in and out of the classroom, check out more content on the Teq Talk blog or our YouTube channels OTIS for educators and Tequipment.

We also offer virtual professional development, training, and support with OTIS for educators. Explore the technology and strategies that spark student success — no matter where teaching or learning are happening!

Follow us on social:

  edteq             OTIS4educators  |  Teq Products  |  iBlocks           OTIS4educators  |  MyTeq          Teq