Indiana University nurtures faculty as an Adobe Creative Campus Innovator

Anne Leftwich, associate vice president of Learning Technologies at Indiana University, has championed the power of technology in education since her own days as an undergraduate elementary education major.

At Indiana University, she now leads a team that aims to help educators embrace the power of technology and find innovative ways to support learning. The result has been tremendous, helping to boost student success and achieve the university’s mission of solving tomorrow's problems today.

Adobe and Indiana University have been close partners and collaborators for more than a decade, working together to promote digital literacy in students, faculty, and staff. As an Adobe Creative Campus, Indiana University created a community of digital leaders in the faculty through the Digital Gardener Initiative.

It is this commitment to supporting faculty and transforming student experiences that earned Indiana University the title of Adobe Creative Campus Innovator. This first wave of Creative Campus Innovators represents institutions that are pioneering efforts to boost engagement and digital literacy.

“Being named an Adobe Creative Campus Innovator encourages us to continue working with technology to rethink pedagogy and flip education on its head,” Leftwich said.

Teaching educators to bring technology into classrooms

The Digital Gardener Faculty Fellow program invites a select number of educators every semester to learn more about bringing digital literacy into their classrooms. To date, more than 250 fellows have passed through the program, with many more eagerly awaiting their turn to join.

According to Justin Hodgson, strategic director of Generative AI Faculty Initiatives and director of the Digital Gardener Initiative, Adobe Express is often the first app that fellows introduce into their classrooms. Instead of taking a quiz or writing a paper, students can use the intuitive content creation app to create a presentation, design a poster, or develop a web page.

“Adobe Express gives students many different ways to think about representing content and information — skills that are critical in the AI age where machines can gather and summarize information for you,” Hodgson said.

The Digital Gardener Initiative expanded its outreach with a Generative AI Webinar and Workshop Series that explores AI in teaching, research, and service. Sessions focus on everything from prompting AI models and ethics and responsible use to best practices for student success. The program attracted more than 700 unique faculty and administrative participants in the past year, bringing technology to even more educators.

Redefining large classrooms

Indiana University is building upon the success of its Digital Gardener Initiative with the Transformative Educator program, which will help faculty redesign courses with high enrollment but also high drop, fail, and withdrawal rates. These are typically entry-level courses, so when students struggle, it’s often due to the lack of engagement or investment in the material. This can lead to students avoiding more advanced study in that field. The Transformative Educator program challenges faculty to rethink what a large lecture classroom can be, using Adobe tools to improve student engagement, retention, and success.

“Adobe Express is one tool that we’re promoting in course redesigns as it’s so easy to use and access,” Hodgson said. “Because it’s so flexible, you can find ways to achieve success with it in just about any discipline.”

Joining the Adobe Creative Campus community

Becoming an Adobe Creative Campus has changed the way Indiana University operates, exposing students to industry-standard tools and preparing them with skills that they will need in their careers. But just as importantly, it connects faculty to a community of educators across other Creative Campuses who are dedicated to developing opportunities and exploring ways to help students achieve their best.

“Higher education needs to shift and change the way that we educate students and provide value to the community,” Leftwich said. “As an Adobe Creative Campus Innovator, we’re proud to lead the way to apply technology in a way that’s advantageous to society.”

Interested in integrating Adobe tools on your campus? See the full list of Adobe Creative Campus Innovators and find out more about becoming an Adobe Creative Campus.