A STATEMENT OF PURPOSE FOR ADOBE IN HIGHER EDUCATION: COLLABORATION, COMMUNICATION AND CREATION
Overview Scholarship was once a solitary event, confined
data and information into relevant knowledge which
to a relatively small number of well educated
can be productively utilized (Clarke, 2001, p. 192).”
individuals, whose knowledge was limited to
Vartan Gregorian, while serving as President and
the bound volumes in a library. Knowledge was
Professor of History at Brown University stated,
expensive to produce, difficult to obtain, and limited
“One of the greatest challenges facing our society
to those who had the time and means to acquire it.
and contemporary civilization is how to transform
Fast forward to today, as we experience life during
information into knowledge” (1993, p. 605).
the “knowledge revolution,” when new information is growing at a dizzying rate and a thought, a Tweet,
Knowledge generation and transmission are
or a video can travel around the world in a few
the core business of higher education. The leading
seconds.
universities of tomorrow will be those who:
“…Technology provides the means to access,
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can transform information into knowledge,
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understand how to harness the power of
process and distribute vast amounts of data and
technology to create and disseminate new
information than ever before imagined, but this
knowledge,
remains an almost meaningless activity without processes of knowledge management to translate
•
build collaborative interdisciplinary learning communities,
•
apply new knowledge to solve some of the
sources and apply that to the real-world business
world’s most pressing issues while educating
of educating today’s college students – including
the next generation to use the technological
millenials and mid-career changers? How much
tools at their disposal to reach higher and
richer would the educational experience be for
climb further than today’s faculty ever
our students if they could easily create electronic
thought possible.
portfolios showcasing their abilities as future teachers? How could the teaching/learning
Statement of the Issue Today’s faculty are in a transitional stage between
process be enhanced by providing both faculty and students with the tools to help them design rich
the paper and/or computer-based modes of
media content and share it easily within a learning
scholarship they perfected in graduate school and
community? How beneficial would it be for faculty
the new and ever changing demands of scholarship
to communicate and collaborate as readily with a
and teaching in the digital age. While many faculty
colleague on another continent as one down the hall
strive to keep abreast of technological advances, the
using Adobe Connect? If faculty members cannot
sheer pace of change, the proliferation of software
connect in real-time for a student’s dissertation
tools, and the increasing use of mobile devices in
defense, could they accomplish the same purpose
higher education allowing students to learn anytime,
by meeting via Adobe Connect? How could the
anywhere present significant challenges to faculty.
classroom experience be enlivened by having leading
Multiple demands on their time and varying
scholars make guest appearances or practicing
levels of accessibility to meaningful professional
professionals contribute their expertise in dialogues
development opportunities, make it difficult for
with students using Adobe Connect?
faculty to experiment with and adopt promising new digital tools to create, communicate, and
While digital tools such as Adobe Creative Suites,
collaborate with one another and their students. As
Adobe Acrobat X, and Adobe Connect can easily
a result, change is incremental in the adoption and
help faculty perform their core functions and
diffusion of technology in higher education.
enhance the learning process for students, higher education is also facing the same difficulties as
As a dean of one of the largest urban public
many other businesses – we are literally drowning in
Colleges of Education in the United States, I asked
paper and we are running out of space. Certainly,
myself, “How can I break this cycle?” What can I
technology has allowed us to reduce our reliance on
do to spur the adoption of digital tools that show
paper, but too much time and too many resources
promise of enabling faculty to perform their core
are still being wasted purchasing, copying, printing,
functions as scholars and teachers? How can we,
filing, faxing, retrieving, shredding and/or storing
for example, unleash the power inherent in Adobe
paper. Our dependance on paper transmission of
Acrobat X to help faculty easily access, modify,
information in higher education is costly, time
synthesize, and compile content from numerous
consuming, and inefficient. In addition, it robs
us of the opportunity to empower our staff to think
one of a small number of universities nationwide
differently about how we do business. Many of my
whose efforts to build an environmentally-conscious
staff members are eager to learn how to use Adobe’s
campus and advance sustainability efforts through
new digital tools, have creative ideas to solve the
research have earned a “gold” rating from the
business systems/workflow problems we face in higher Association for the Advancement of Sustainability education, and would welcome opportunities for
in Higher Education, the nation’s leading advocacy
professional development and to share solutions with
group for the green campus movement” (Maddux
other staff in a learning community. My leadership
Newswire, February 3, 2011).
team is receptive to experimenting with digital tools to create, collaborate, and communicate because
As a college and university, we simply can and
they realize that higher education cannot succeed in
must do more to be responsible stewards of our
the 21st century unless we adopt more effective and
environment – and that involves going paper-free
efficient means of transforming information into
to the maximum possible extent. The cost savings
knowledge and empowering our faculty, students, and and other efficiencies businesses have experienced in staff to become more innovative.
reducing their excessive reliance on paper provides an additional impetus for higher education to
“Going Green” initiatives are becoming more
experiment with Adobe Acrobat X to streamline our
common in higher education. Many colleges and
workflows and design more efficient digital scanning
universities are responding to the call to become more and document retrieval systems. Reducing carbon environmentally conscious.
emissions by holding meetings online via Adobe Connect also appeals to universities in their efforts
“The University of South Florida has become
to “Go Green,” and helps reduce costs during these
difficult economic times.
Proposed Project: Collaboration, Communication, and Creation with Adobe Acrobat X, Adobe Connect, and Adobe Creative Suite We will implement in the USF College of
of the effectiveness of transforming a large urban College of Education from a paper-based, partially
Education Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Connect,
computerized system of operation into a digital
and Adobe Creative Suite as our standards for
environment. Through our partnership, based on
collaboration, communication, and creation.
a shared vision of how technology can enhance
We will document the development of a model
teaching and learning and a commitment to
and evaluate the perceived effectiveness of Adobe
evaluation in real-world settings, we will provide
tools to solve problems related to instruction,
higher education with the tools needed to succeed
administration, and business operations of a large
in the 21st century. The insights and lessons we
urban college. We will use Adobe assets such as
learn by asking ourselves, “What if…” and “How
Adobe TV and Adobe Educational Leaders to
can we….” use Adobe’s creation, collaboration, and
prepare faculty, staff, and administrators in the
communication tools to revolutionize teaching and
College of Education to effectively use Adobe tools.
learning in higher education will provide a road map
We will also use Adobe Educational Exchange to
for other colleges and universities to follow.
create a community of learners in which our faculty, staff, administrators and students can collaborate with one another regarding their use of Adobe tools.
Benefits The USF College of Education will serve as an incubator for selected Adobe digital tools for collaboration, communication, and creation. Faculty, staff and students will use these tools to help
Colleen S. Kennedy, Ph.D. Dean & Professor College of Education University of South Florida
References •
them be more successful, effective, and efficient in performing their roles in the academic enterprise
knowledge. Proceedings of the American •
whether that be as a faculty member, a student, or a staff member performing key tasks that support
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Thomas C. (2001). The knowledge economy. Education + Training, 43 (4/5), pp.189 – 196.
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will provide Adobe with an objective evaluation
Philosophical Society, 137(4, 250th Anniversary Issue), pp. 605-611.
student success and faculty productivity. The model/demonstration project we propose
Gregorian, V. (1993). Education and our divided
USF Sustainability Initiatives Earn Coveted ‘Gold’ Rating. (2011, Feb. 3). The Maddux Report News Wire.
LEE WILLIAMS / ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT / 4202 EAST FOWLER AVENUE, ALC100 / TAMPA, FLORIDA 33620 t (813) 974-4502 w UNSTOPPABLE.USF.EDU