Why I Introduced Adobe Express to My Students in Primary Education Studies
When Cardiff Metropolitan University became an Adobe Creative Campus, students and staff gained access to Adobe Creative Cloud, including Adobe Express. I’ve been incorporating it into teaching and learning for about seven years, and multimodal activities have become central to the Primary Education Studies programme. This has been particularly significant to the School of Education and Social Policy. All schools in Wales have access to Adobe Express through the Welsh Government’s central platform, Hwb. We’re keen to develop our students’ skills with Adobe as it’s a tool they’ll encounter in Welsh classrooms when they graduate. The rise of AI and concerns about plagiarism prompted us to move away from traditional essays and rethink assessment. This became an opportunity to develop assessments that encourage students to reflect on their learning, linking practical activities to the theory we’ve explored. It also gives students firsthand experience with digital skills while preparing them to use Adobe Express as teachers after graduation.
Designing Assessments for Today’s World
Instead of essays, students design creative, multimedia artefacts that capture and communicate their learning. We use Adobe Express in both year one and year two for them to reflect on their experiences—during placement and at university. They can include pictures, videos, podcasts, and sound clips to fully capture their experiences. Assignments include:
- Section A: Digital competence focus – students select from suggested blog topics, such as “How can teachers use technology effectively in the primary classroom?” or create their own.
- Section B: Numeracy focus – students select from suggested blog topics, such as “What can be done to improve attitudes to maths in Welsh primary classrooms?” or create their own.
- Section C: Placement focus – students reflect on placements, detail employability skills they developed, and discuss challenges and how they overcame them.
Students reflect on their placements and “try and link that to theory we’ve explored within the module,” producing visual and interactive webpages, videos, or digital posters that demonstrate academic understanding and creative communication.
Creating Academic Reflection Posts
To encourage Year 2 students to reflect on school placements using the Gibbs reflective cycle, I ask them to complete two blog projects in Adobe Express:
- One blog topic is set by the Cardiff and Vale public health team: “Motivation and encouraging movement inside the classroom is essential to physical ability and education around understanding how to move and be active. Discuss."
- The second blog allows students to choose from topics including “How can science and technology activities be made engaging and relevant in primary education?” and “Why is the development of collaborative skills important in primary education?”
Example of a richly detailed project combining research, reflections, and media like photos, graphics, and tables:
Building Community and Reflection
I introduce multimodal activities early in the course for introductory and reflective exercises, establishing Adobe Express as a core platform and building student confidence. These activities also strengthen classroom relationships.
At the start of the year, I ask students to introduce themselves using Express, creating posters, presentations, or videos that include something they do outside university or their favourite show.
By the time students reach placement reflection assignments, they are fluent in digital storytelling and can focus on connecting theory and practice.
Examples of Student Multimodal Work
What I’ve Seen in My Classroom
Students engage most when multimodal activities are introduced playfully.
Allowing experimentation reduces fear, whereas too much scaffolding can cause disengagement. I start with simple tasks, e.g., “You’ve got twenty minutes to make a two-minute video.” They learn from examples I share and hands-on experience. In their assignments, students connect theory and practice through digital artefacts. These authentic assessments also encourage exploring concepts in different ways, building confidence in professional communication formats, and developing collaboration skills.
Adobe Express has become a core platform for students to present knowledge and ideas using text, visuals, video, and audio. It empowers them to communicate with impact and helps them develop critical creative and AI skills for their careers.
Advice for Other Educators
- Empower students: Student digital champions often see affordances differently and record videos to help others.
- Use workarounds: Students submit text and images via Turnitin in a Word document, allowing them to benefit from Adobe Express while meeting requirements.
- Collaborate: I work with lecturers in other departments using Express in their courses, creating momentum and speeding up the learning curve.
See how you can bring creativity into your class with Adobe Express Learning Kits
Adobe Express Learning Kits are free, ready‑to‑use resources designed to help faculty embed creativity, storytelling, and digital literacy into coursework. Get started quickly and introduce Adobe Express in any discipline—whether you teach media, communications, business, or the sciences.
Each Learning Kit includes:
- Customizable LMS modules
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About Dr. Nick Young
I am a Senior Lecturer in Primary Education Studies and Affiliated Research Lead of the Centre for International Research of Interactive Technologies in Teaching and Learning (CIRITTL) at Cardiff Metropolitan University. My work focuses on enhancing learning through purposeful and ethical use of digital technologies. Before higher education, I taught primary school in South Korea, Spain, and Wales, shaping my understanding of teaching, learning, and cultural diversity. This global perspective continues to inform my teaching and research at Cardiff Met. My research focuses on digital technology in education, cross-cultural collaboration, and health and wellbeing, emphasizing the transformative potential of interactive and emerging technologies. I have led and contributed to international research projects across Europe, Africa, and North America, exploring innovative and inclusive learning design. I have also contributed to research on student transitions into university, examining how digital tools, pedagogical design, and wellbeing support can improve learners’ experiences and outcomes. My career began in journalism, and the communication, creativity, and critical thinking skills developed there continue to underpin my academic and pedagogical approach. I began teaching in higher education on the BA Primary Education with QTS programme, leading modules in ICT, Mathematics, and Geography. I continue to combine research, teaching, and international collaboration to develop reflective, innovative practitioners ready to shape the future of education.
Connect with Dr. Nick Young on LinkedIn