If you ask Daniel Choo why he loves his job as a lecturer at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) in Singapore, one word stands out: change.

“I always tell my friends the reason that I’ve stayed in this job for so long is that it’s constantly changing,” explains Choo. “Every day is different. Every year I’m interacting with younger generations and seeing the changes in them. It keeps me young even as I get older.”

Since 1992, ITE has filled a role as a principal provider of career and technical education in Singapore. Students range from youths who recently completed secondary education to adults looking for continuing education and training. But one thing remains the same: ITE aims to give all students the skills and certifications that they need to improve job prospects and quickly progress in their careers.

Upskilling the workforce in Singapore

ITE educates students in a wide range of subjects, including IT, engineering, health sciences, design, and hospitality, at its three campuses – ITE College Central, ITE College East, and ITE College West. No matter what specialisation students choose, digitalisation is increasingly important for all jobs.

Choo’s colleague Ching Kai Yang explains, “As a vocational institute, our primary goal is to make sure that our students are equipped with all of the skills that they need to thrive in their industry and contribute to the Singapore government’s Smart Nation initiative. Today, that increasingly means digital and creative skills.”

Today most organisations have websites and mobile apps for their products and services. People communicate digitally, often creating multimedia visuals that make newsletters, presentations, and reports easier for colleagues, clients, or the public to understand. This is why research shows that professionals who focus on their creative skills saw up to two to three times higher salary increases – results that held steady no matter the industry or job function. These same skills also help boost resilience in industries most impacted by the pandemic, such as hospitality.

With creative and digital communications skills becoming more important in the workforce, ITE deployed around 10,000 Adobe Creative Cloud licenses for faculty and students in courses such as design, IT, and business.

“One of the objectives of ITE is to train students to be ready to work in their industry,” says Choo. “Adobe is the industry standard for creative apps, so by training our students to work with Adobe Creative Cloud, we get them ready to immediately contribute when they get jobs.”

Developing creative skills in the classroom

At the School of Electronics and Info-Comm Technology at ITE College West, Adobe Creative Cloud skills are incorporated throughout classroom modules. Students start out learning the fundamentals of IT and design along with Adobe Photoshop. Adobe Dreamweaver helps students understand web fundamentals and incorporate programming with JavaScript. Students later learn to use Adobe Animate to create dynamic applications that draw in users.

“Whether you’re developing for the web or designing images, Adobe is the leader,” says Yang. “When students look for jobs, they can point to skills that they’ve developed with Adobe Creative Cloud to set themselves apart.”

One of the biggest advantages of working with Adobe Creative Cloud is how it balances simplicity and depth. Intuitive interfaces and operations allow students to pick up apps quickly and carry understanding across all Creative Cloud apps. And the rich functionality allows students to collaborate seamlessly through Creative Cloud Libraries and create highly professional results.

Three visual communications students at ITE College Central created a 94-page Hari Raya cookbook in just three days using Adobe InDesign. Prior to that, the students had never worked with InDesign, but with just a few hours of training, they were able to create a beautiful cookbook that was unveiled by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a virtual Hari Raya event.

For design students, the integration between apps is particularly attractive. Lawrence Poh started his design career at ITE where he pursued a National ITE Certificate (Nitec) in Multimedia Technology. “Incorporating Adobe Creative Cloud in classes helped me learn how to use multiple applications for a variety of media types, including Adobe Illustrator for graphical elements and Adobe Premiere Pro for editing video,” says Poh. “I can speed up my workflow by seamlessly switching between Creative Cloud apps on each project and using the best tool for each step.”

Poh’s experience with Adobe Creative Cloud prepared him to take on more complicated design challenges, both in his further academic studies and in his professional career. Poh now works as a UI/UX designer at National University of Singapore where he helps to create large-scale experimental systems. Adobe Creative Cloud remains a large part of his daily design workflow, whether he’s adding 3D textures to graphics with Adobe Substance 3D or saving assets to Creative Cloud Libraries for more productive cross-app workflows.

“Working with Adobe Creative Cloud at ITE builds foundational skills that help students like myself overcome new design challenges and succeed in their careers,” says Poh.

Exploring the future of experience design

In his current work as a UI/UX designer, Poh uses Adobe XD to create prototypes of web and mobile applications. Likewise, ITE has recognised the growing value of using Adobe XD to teach experience design.

“Everyone can create an app these days,” says Choo. “From a technical standpoint it’s easy, but the big differentiator becomes the user experience. If people don’t find it useful or don’t like how it works, they won’t use it and your app won’t be a success.”

With Adobe XD, students can learn to quickly create dynamic prototypes of their apps. They can test exactly how users will interact with the app, allowing them to refine the design and experience before starting development.

ITE worked with Adobe to hold the first of many Adobe XD workshops to get lecturers up to speed on working with Adobe XD and bringing it into the classroom. “We were very impressed by the depth of the Adobe workshop,” says Choo. “Now that lecturers are more familiar with the app, we can start sharing our insights with students to improve experience design across disciplines.”

Facilitating the future of remote learning

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person learning was limited and students primarily worked from home. With Adobe Creative Cloud licenses available for students, they could download apps to their laptops to work and collaborate from anywhere. Even as students begin returning to campus, remote learning will remain an important part of education into the future–and so will Adobe Creative Cloud.

“ITE is trying to drive digitalisation on multiple fronts, from pushing AI technology to advancing e-learning,” says Choo. “We appreciate how Adobe is not just a leader in technology, but also in resources and training – such as the Adobe Education Exchange. Faculty and students can turn to the greater Adobe community to share and learn skills that will support a brighter digital future to Singapore.”

Recommended for you

https://main--bacom--adobecom.hlx.page/sg/fragments/customer-success-stories/cards/sg-caas-cards-random

See all customer stories

https://main--bacom--adobecom.hlx.page/sg/fragments/customer-success-stories/contact-footer