Infographics, short for information graphics, are collections of information and data presented in a graphical format, are nice resources for educators and students to get information. But students could also create them as a project.

Infographics are a great project for students. They have to research, analyze, synthesize, compare and contrast, and summarize, as well as use graphical skills and software skills. Students can work in groups on the projects, allowing them to develop teamwork, collaboration and communication skills.

Adobe Digital Schools Collection is a collection of software that can be used by students to create infographics. It is available for Windows and Mac and contains Adobe Photoshop Elements 10, Premiere Elements 10 and Acrobat X Pro.

Photoshop can be used to modify pictures and graphics and then Acrobat can be used to publish the project as a PDF file. Students could even create interactive, multimedia infographics with Premiere (video editing) and the fact that Acrobat X can include audio and video in the PDF file.

There are a lot of resources for educators to help them use the ADSC in their classrooms. The Adobe Education Exchange is a great resource for educators and has curriculum and lesson plans for using the ADSC in class along with teacher resources and a community of users. There are 23 lesson plans, tech guides, user guides, teacher guides, and completed examples to view. There are over 36,000 members in the community and that number continues to grow.


Have students create an infographic as a project in your class.


Related:

A Great Collection of Cool Infographics on Pinterest - from Free Technology for Teachers

Today Apple announced iBooks2 and interactive textbooks for the iPad. These new textbooks would combine graphics, interactive elements, notes, highlighting, widgets, videos, and more. They have created a Mac application to allow anyone to create one of these new "iTextbooks" and are partnering with major educational publishers to release pre-made electronic textbooks for the iPad.

They look great. Stunning visually, interactive, and more likely to get students to actually read their textbooks. The interactive features are amazing and I think it's a great idea and will engage students more. We know students like doing things electronically and interactive and multimedia are better than static paper.


But, I have an issue. They are only available on iPads. So, what happens to the schools, teachers, and students that don't have iPads and don't have the money to purchase them? What about all the school systems and people who have Windows, or recently got Android tablets like the Kindle Fire? They get left out in the cold.

Even The Verge reporter mentions this at the end of the presentation: "What about getting students iPads more easily?"

What I would prefer to see the textbook publishers and technology companies do is to make a platform-independent or web-based e-textbooks like this. That way, schools, students, and teachers can use the devices and OS's that they already have to access them.

I don't even use a textbook with my Physics classes because the ones we have are old and not easy to read. Instead, I have a collection of resources on the class web site that students use. These resources include 4 interactive websites, 2 online physics textbooks, and multiple online, virtual, interactive labs and simulations. No need for one textbook.

The new iBooks2 will automatically generate study cards. This eliminates that fact that the process of creating study cards helps students learn and study. The instant look up of the meaning of the word may make students note even learn words. Why learn it when you can just look it up?

There are ways to create amazing, interactive electronic textbooks so that they could be used on any platform. Maybe Adobe Acrobat X could be used since it can handle multimedia and interactive content? Maybe Apple and the Publishers could work on a conversion or porting system to port these e-texts to Windows and Android? Maybe they can use HTML5 to make web versions so anyone could access them, on any device, just using their access code?

I think these are definitely better than paper textbooks, and more cost effective at $14.99 vs. $80 - $130, but they are only for Apple. Many school districts have investments in Windows or Android and can't afford to switch to Apple. Many students have Android smartphones and Windows computers. What about them?

Maybe this is an opportunity for a company to come in and work to port these e-texts to the web and other platforms?

Apple also announced iTunes U and an app for the iPad for educators to use as a type of course management system. Again, can I access those features and content without installing iTunes? There are also tons of free course management systems that are web-based and completely platform independent, like My Big Campus, Moodle, Google's apps, it's Learning, CourseKit, LearnBoost, Edmodo, Schoology and many more.

I believe that educational resources should be platform and company independent so that ALL students, schools and teachers can use them without needing to purchase new hardware.



What do you think?



Related Article:
On device apps/software vs. web apps - which is better for schools?

Adobe has released some new products this year and they all have applications in education.



Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 - software for developing rich interactive apps for Android™, BlackBerry®, and iOS. Design engaging browser content in HTML5, and create immersive digital magazines. Mobilize your creative vision with the suite edition that's right for you




Adobe Digital School Collection - bundle for education that includes Photoshop Elements, Premiere Elements, and Acrobat. This is a great product for education, support digital literacy, creativity, e-portfolios, and more.
Read more here: Digital Storytelling with ADSC, Address 21st Century Skills with ADSC, Creativity and Digital Literacy with ADSC,



Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, Single Edition - provides an intuitive and affordable way to create, develop, and deliver iPad apps such as brochures, portfolios, and highly visual books without writing code or relying on developers. Use familiar Adobe InDesign® CS5.5 skills to explore your creativity and develop content that inspires and engages.

Adobe Creative Cloud - a comprehensive offering of creative services, Adobe Creative Suite® desktop applications, Adobe Touch Apps, and community features that together will radically redefine the content creation process. Some features are available today. The full offering will be available in 2012.




Adobe TouchApps - Photoshop Touch, Ideas, Collage, Debut, Kuler, Proto, Carousel
Design, edit, and elegantly present your work using six new Adobe® Touch Apps designed for your tablet. Whether you use a stylus or just your fingertip, intuitive touchscreen features provide easy, precise control for a variety of creative tasks. Transfer files through Adobe Creative Cloud for refinement in Adobe Creative Suite® software — or to view, access, and share from almost anywhere.






The Adobe Education Exchange is a resource site for educators who use Adobe products. Tips, instruction guides, videos, a community of users, lesson examples and much more are all available to help teachers and students using Adobe products.



These are all very good products for education and can help students learn 21st century skills, creativity, design, digital storytelling and allow them to create media rich projects for school. They will also learn how to use industry standard software.


DISCLAIMER: I received a free copy of the Adobe Digital Schools Collection to do this review. I have been using it, and the Adobe Education Exchange, as part of this review.

Adobe has recently launched some new products: The Adobe Digital Schools Collection, Android apps, and 6 Touch Apps for Android Tablets. Adobe Touch Apps.


As some of you may heard, Adobe will not be developing Flash for Mobile Browsers anymore. However, Flash content will be accessible through Adobe apps. Adobe is moving towards mobile apps and HTML instead of mobile browser Flash. 


There are a variety of Apps for iOS, Android, and Blackberry available, including Reader, Air, Create PDF, Photoshop Express, and Adobe Ideas.


You can find the Android apps here.