Adobe Unveils New Digital School Collection for K-12 Classrooms

Includes Photoshop Elements 8 and Premiere Elements 8 to Help Educators Enhance Teaching and Learning of Digital Literacy Skills

SAN JOSE, Calif. —Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the new Digital School Collection for K-12 students and educators. The bundle includes the new Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 8 and Adobe Premiere® Elements 8 for Windows® which offer new photo, video and podcasting capabilities that enable students to creatively express ideas through classroom projects. Along with other tools in the collection – Adobe Contribute® CS4, Adobe Acrobat® 9 Pro and Adobe Soundbooth® CS4 – educators can inspire students to develop the problem solving, critical thinking, digital literacy and collaboration skills needed to succeed beyond the classroom and in the future workforce. Additionally, for the first time, Adobe takes advantage of new technologies used in 21st century classrooms by offering netbook compatibility support for Photoshop Elements 8 (Windows) and Adobe Photoshop Elements for the Mac platform.

“Ensuring that students graduate with competitive skills in the global workforce while also keeping them engaged is a challenge that budget-conscious districts face daily,” said Bob Regan, director of worldwide K-12 for Adobe. “We think it’s imperative to deliver affordable solutions like the Digital School Collection that not only inspire students to stay connected to their classroom, but also encourage 21st century and project-based learning.”

To equip educators with skills to use Adobe solutions in their classrooms, the collection includes a free Teacher Resource DVD with K-12 lesson plans, creative ideas and quick tutorials to easily implement projects. These free teaching resources are also available online at www.adobe.com/education/instruction/adsc. Additionally, Adobe and Knowledge Network Solutions Inc. (KNS) together offer professional development courses that help teachers use the new version of Adobe Digital School Collection across academic disciplines.

Digital Story Telling Comes Alive
Photoshop Elements 8 helps students learn creative communication and problem solving skills by enabling them to manage, edit and share photos more easily, giving them more control over digital storytelling projects and multimedia presentations. The new Organizer, a media management hub, lets students manage their photos, videos, documents, ePortfolios, podcasts and digital stories in one location – a convenient solution to responsibly organize projects and homework. With Photoshop Elements 8, students will use their critical thinking skills to best express what they have learned through visually creative book reports or digital art projects.

Video Tools Help Students Go Above and Beyond in the Classroom
Premiere Elements 8 gives teachers ways to incorporate podcasting and video sharing into lessons, a benefit when engaging digital natives. Students are challenged to communicate ideas effectively through creation of artistic videos with special effects features such as new video motion-tracking capabilities. Intelligent video editing features also help students develop future workforce skills when used to create professional-looking documentaries. Once students are finished with their photo or video projects, they can showcase them via the new interactive Online Albums templates allowing for collaborative review with peers and teachers. Podcasting is also now easier than ever to use in 21st century classrooms with features that enable syndication publishing for audio/video content distribution and integration with Podbean, a free podcast hosting site.

These features, along with solutions in Acrobat 9 Pro, Contribute CS4 and Soundbooth CS4, give students the ability to integrate multimedia design, video, audio, animation and Web design into projects and ePortfolios that build necessary technology and critical thinking skills for future success.

“Across the school district, our teachers are learning to incorporate technology into lesson plans in ways that meet curriculum standards in language arts, social studies and science,” says Linda Dickeson, applications training specialist of computing services at Lincoln Public Schools in Lincoln, Neb. "Students are fully engaged when they are using Adobe Digital School Collection, and we see the tools being used by all age levels in our district. This offering is great for teachers who want to integrate the latest digital technology across the K-12 curriculum and inspire students to learn.”

Pricing and Availability
The Adobe Digital School Collection will be available on Oct. 1, 2009 from authorized Adobe education resellers via volume licensing for US$149. The standalone version of Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 software for Windows and Mac is US$69. Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 and Adobe Premiere Elements 8 bundle for Windows is US$119. Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 and Adobe Premiere Elements 8 for Windows K-12 Student Licensing is US$99. Additionally, the Adobe Digital School Collection and Photoshop Elements 8 will be available through Adobe’s hardware partners, Lenovo, HP and Dell. Further information is available at www.adobe.com/education/k12/adsc. Prices listed are the Adobe direct store prices; reseller prices may vary. Prices do not include tax or shipping and handling. Prices are listed in U.S. dollars and based on products estimated street price.