
2026 Agenda
Join us for the launch of the Adobe Academic Innovation Café, our new virtual series spotlighting creativity, curriculum innovation, and Generative AI in higher education.
Each 45–60-minute Café brings together educators and academic leaders who are transforming teaching and learning through digital creativity. You’ll hear real stories from institutions featured in the Adobe Academic Innovation Summit and leave with practical ideas to apply in your own classroom or program.

Thursday, March 19, 2026
8am PT | 10am CT | 11am ET |
4pm GMT | 5pm CET
In this session, leaders from Penn State’s Program in Writing and Rhetoric (PWR) showcase an innovative Infographics Unit designed for 5,000 First-Year Writing students. Discover how they guide students to transform written arguments into compelling data visualizations using Adobe Express.
You’ll explore how PWR faculty scaffold, support, and assess multimodal projects, with a strong focus on critical thinking and creativity in the age of Generative AI. These projects demonstrate how technology can be thoughtfully and strategically integrated into writing courses.
Leave with actionable approaches to help students become agile, effective visual communicators, skills essential for today’s digital world.
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Stan Kranc | Associate Teaching Professor of English, Penn State University.
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Stuart Selber | Professor of English and Director of Digital Education, Penn State University.
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Melissa Vito | Vice Provost of Academic Innovation, University of Texas at San Antonio.
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Todd Taylor | Adobe Pedagogical Evangelist & Professor of English, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Wednesday, April 29, 2026
8am ICT | 9am SGT | 11am SYD |
1pm NZ | 6pm LA (28 Apr) |
9pm NY (28 Apr)
Discover how Bond University is redefining what assessment can be: creative, cross-disciplinary, globally relevant, and powered by AI-enhanced collaboration. This session spotlights the award-winning Collaboration for Global Change subject, recently recognized with the Next Generation Learning and Skills Award at the 2025 Green Gown Awards Australasia for its pioneering approach to sustainability education.
You will hear from the architect behind this transformative curriculum, who will unpack how Bond brings together design, creative pedagogy and AI-enhanced teamwork to prepare every undergraduate student to address the world’s most urgent challenges.
Whether you’re an educator, academic leader, or curriculum innovator, this session will offer bold, actionable ideas for reimagining assessment in the age of AI.
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Craig Sims | Assistant Professor, Bond University.
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Daniel Brennan | Associate Professor, Bond University.
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Jeffrey E. Brand | Deputy Provost, Education, Bond University.
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Manuela Franceschini | Adobe Pedagogical Evangelist.
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Rowena Ulbrick | Academic Director – Digital Literacies, Swinburne University of Technology.

Thursday, May 28, 2026
11am ICT | 12pm SGT | 2pm SYD |
4pm NZ | 9pm LA (27 May) |
12am NY (28 May)
Join us for an inside look at how Western Sydney University is reimagining the first-year experience through reflection, identity development, and creative storytelling.
You will learn how the Learning Experience team and academic staff are leveraging a Digital Storytelling Activity Guide to help thousands of new students make sense of who they are, where they come from, and who they hope to become. You will also hear how WSU designed a powerful reflective framework that builds confidence, strengthens belonging, and supports well-being during one of the most important transitions in a student’s life.
This session offers a close look at an innovative model that blends reflection, community building, and student-centered teaching practices to drive meaningful transformation at scale. Attendees will take away inspirational ideas as well as a practical learning module to reimagine innovation on their own campuses.
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Aileen Pamonag Lane | Associate Lecturer, Western Sydney University, Faculty of Health.
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Kristin Wiese | Director of Learning Experience, Western Sydney University.
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Manuela Franceschini | Adobe Pedagogical Evangelist.
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Rowena Ulbrick | Academic Director – Digital Literacies, Swinburne University of Technology.

Thursday, June 18, 2026
8am ICT | 9am SGT | 11am SYD |
1pm NZ | 6pm LA (17 Jun) |
9pm NY (17 Jun)
Step into the future of teacher education with this dynamic edition, showcasing Curtin University’s forward-thinking approach to preparing tomorrow’s educators. In an era defined by rapid technological change, Curtin is reimagining how future teachers learn, design, and assess – embedding multimodality, AI fluency, and digital storytelling at the heart of its curriculum.
This session highlights the innovative assessment frameworks that enable Education students to experiment, co-create, and demonstrate mastery in authentic, creative, and practice-aligned ways. From multimodal artefacts to AI-supported learning design, participants will see how Curtin equips pre-service teachers with the digital mindset, pedagogical agility, and creative confidence they need to thrive in contemporary classrooms.
Join us to explore the digital pedagogies shaping the educators of tomorrow.
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Adrianne Melissa Evans | Associate Lecturer, Curtin University.
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Bobby Victoria Cooper | Associate Lecturer, Curtin University.
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Siobhan Unwin | Associate Lecturer, Curtin University.
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Manuela Franceschini | Adobe Pedagogical Evangelist.
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Rowena Ulbrick | Academic Director – Digital Literacies, Swinburne University of Technology.