#adobe-creative-cloud #digital-fluency #collaboration #pedagogy #faculty-development #multimedia-design #instructional-design #grant #faculty-partnership #program-design > [!summary]+ Summary > This page describes the background of a program I jointly created with a GWU faculty member to upskill faculty digital fluency by exploring ways to use Adobe Creative Cloud for STEM education. Examples of the program results can be seen on the [[2022-2023, SEI Program]] page. # GW-Adobe Science Education Initiative (SEI) This was an important program to upskill faculty digital fluency at George Washington University (GWU). The SEI Program was conceived by myself and Sylvain Guiriec, a faculty member in the Physics department, and was funded by an awarded **$25,000 USD** Adobe grant. (See [[CV#Funded grants]].) Our goal was to teach faculty how to utilize Adobe Creative Cloud tools to support Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education. In winter 2020 and spring 2021, I was actively looking for faculty partners to develop and launch programing to bolster faculty digital fluency. It was a difficult time because of COVID-19. The entire community was still 100% work from home (WFH) and many faculty were digitally tired. Still, my role was to help the university and central library gain value through the [Adobe Creative Campus](https://www.adobeforeducation.com/higher-ed/creative-campus) contract. I had the mission to find ways to get faculty, staff, and students using Adobe tools to enhance teaching, learning, research, and work. ## The basis for creative applications in STEM In winter 2020, [Sylvain Guiriec](https://physics.columbian.gwu.edu/sylvain-guiriec), a GWU faculty member in Physics, approached me about work he had done with Adobe Premiere Pro during WFH to measure the speed of sound. It was a novel idea that would never have occurred to me. He had not only demonstrated how Premiere Pro could be used to do science, but he created a full lesson for his students, who were all remote at the time. This idea immediately connected with my interests around helping faculty to learn more about the power of Adobe applications and how they could use them in their teaching, research, and work. It didn't take long for us to brainstorm pitching an idea to Adobe for funding to support making a new digital fluency program. At its core, our idea was to provide support to faculty through staff, resources, and some monetary incentive, to work with us in reimagining course projects. We wanted to help faculty use Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Audition, and/or Adobe InDesign to assist with 1–2 STEM lessons. ## Making the pitch for grant funding In March 2021 we made a pitch to our Adobe partners for a **$25,000 USD** grant. Our stated purpose was *to elevate scientific discovery and dissemination through developing faculty and empowering students with the technical know-how and the design thinking mindset to apply and take full advantage of the Adobe Creative Cloud.* In creating this new digital fluency initiative, we aimed to achieve the following objectives: 1. Promote science and new technologies with creative and engaging projects; 2. Teach professional presentation skills that are crucial for academic and professional projects; 3. Apply image and video editing skills that are required in modern projects, including in science and astronomy; and 4. Build capacity with faculty in mastering image and video processing for teaching, research and scientific dissemination. <div class="container"><iframe class="responsive-iframe-sd" src="https://1drv.ms/b/c/13829E5D2EB238DE/IQQZSpAxvdIBTKnaL7vkZl-9AcWDazpD471dNEvONCbZ9bQ" width="100%" height="400" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></div> ### A plan for action We planned to run the initiative on two fronts. One would be out of the Physics department and the other out of the central library with my team. I would inform the community about the opportunity and recruit faculty to join. I would meet with faculty one-on-one to discuss their course, content, and idea; I would invite them to meet with Sylvain and myself as the program managers; I would identify staff who could help; and I would kick-off the project work. Over two to three months, the team would guide the faculty member in how to use the Adobe apps, jointly brainstorm ways to leverage the apps to teach STEM, and would iterate on solutions, lesson activities, and lesson plans. In conclusion, faculty would develop new digital fluency, have a working product, and receive an extra $500. ## 🎯 Results Fortunately for us, Adobe loved the idea and granted us the requested funds! Upon returning to campus in August 2021, this program produced four STEM lessons and learning activities infused with Adobe Creative Cloud and other creative tools. Four unique faculty were engaged with multiple staff contributing. (See the [[2022-2023, SEI Program]] page.) The faculty involved became solid partners and advocates, and the staff involved all enjoyed being able to do something different that enabled them to practice new skills, consult one-on-one with faculty, and explore creative avenues.