To enhance the digital literacy skills of teachers and learners, the Department of Education (DepEd) has provided all public schools nationwide with annual Adobe Creative Cloud Licenses.

DepEd’s Office of the Undersecretary for Administration (OUA), through the Information and Communications Technology Service (ICTS), has partnered with Adobe to procure around 108,000 licenses and the Creative Nation Academy on sharing knowledge and expertise on the use of these tools.

The creative licenses, DepEd said, have already “undergone speedy activation after distribution.”

The Adobe Creative Cloud is a comprehensive collection of Adobe desktop software and mobile applications under one umbrella.

This can be accessed through an Adobe Federated ID linked with the respective school email address, which was already made available by Jan. 15, 2022.

Digital transformation in schools

Education Undersecretary for Administration Alain Del B. Pascua explained that DepEd must provide these licenses to public schools as the country advances to the creative development era.

“Anyone can be a content creator due to the simplification and adaptability of existing mobile devices where learning and design can blend as one,” Pascua said.

Pascua explained that the DepEd is also preparing learners to be globally inclined and encouraging them to use industry-standard software to give them greater opportunities of landing a job.

DepEd ICTS-Educational Technology Unit Head Mark Sy also stressed the importance of opening the gateways to the teaching force since they are the ones molding transferable skills of students.

“If we do not provide them with these tools, we cannot have competitive graduates who will help the Philippines in global digital skills standards that contribute to nation-building,” Sy said.

Digital Rise Program

Likewise, DepEd noted that different webinars on the various productivity tools and design software have also been conducted by DepEd through the “Digital Rise Program.”

The program aims to ensure that all DepEd schools will have appropriate tools and software in promoting technological advancements.

DepEd explained that the program also aims to “enhance teachers' creativity in digital and multimedia arts.”

Sy explained that another program of the ICTS-EdTech unit is the provision of Adobe CC licenses to teachers who have qualified and passed the Adobe Creative Educator Level 1 course offered by the Adobe Education Exchange program.

“In this way, we can say that our DepEd teachers have proven their skills which are at an international standard,” Sy said.