If you’re ramping up Adobe Certified Associate (ACA) certification at your school, it can be overwhelming to figure out the best way to teach and help your students pass the certification exams and gain valuable creative skills. ACA certification can be especially challenging, since there are so many separate certifications that can be earned. We’re here to simplify your preparation. Below is the list of learning products available to help you effectively teach ACA certification.
Brain Buffet (ACA Test Prep):
If you’re looking for project-based material to help prepare your students, Brain Buffet is great for you. The content is fun and self-paced, allowing your students to spend more time on content that is more challenging. All the videos cover the essentials, so you can be sure your students will be prepared for the certification. Brain Buffet is especially engaging because it is set up in projects, not objectives. Instead of telling students, “We’re going to learn about crop and bleed marks today”, you can say, “We’re going to create a printable poster and you’ll learn how to add crop and bleed marks along the way.” Projects result in real-world deliverables that students can use for their portfolios. Each project includes video-based tutorials to help students learn as they create the final piece.
Brain Buffet has great reviews from other teachers and is available on multiple platforms. You can opt for the Brain Buffet platform or the GMetrix platform. The Brain Buffet platform offers some additional valuable features such as Just-In-Time interactive video learning and course note taking. You can also see additional, short Adobe courses such as Character Animator, Audition, XD, and Spark.
Below are all available exams on the Brain Buffet platform:
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- InDesign
- Dreamweaver
- Premiere Pro
- Animate
- After Effects
LearnKey:
Like Brain Buffet, LearnKey offers video-based material as well. Because LearnKey is hosted on the GMetrix platform, it’s a user-friendly experience for both you and your students. The courses are structured in two formats, both on-demand learning style and instructor-led. The best part is that there are benefits for you, such as a full admin panel, course outlines, and benefits for your students, including simulations (great when students don’t have access to Adobe Creative Cloud), workbooks, labs, flashcards, and pre- and post-assessments.
Below are all available exams on the LearnKey platform:
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- InDesign
- Dreamweaver
- Premiere Pro
- Animate
- After Effects
Moore Solutions Inc:
We’re excited to be adding Moore Solutions Inc. (MSi) to the list of ACA learning partners in winter 2020. MSi is built to teach learning styles: visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. Each objective is broken down three parts: Read, Watch, and Do. The Read portion has short textbook chapters for the student to review, the Watch section has a video for the students to view, and the Do portion has a simulation where the students perform given tasks that they just reviewed within the MSi simulated application.
Currently, MSi does not connect to Adobe CC, and functions entirely in a simulated environment, it’s a great option for students with little to no access to the applications. However, MSi is currently working on an add-in for Adobe that will allow students to complete their lessons and receive a grade within the Adobe application. The MSi panel will appear right in the Adobe software.
Below are all exams currently available on the MSi platform:
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- InDesign
- Premiere Pro
MSi will be adding the following in the winter of 2020:
- Dreamweaver
- Animate
- After Effects
Pearson’s Learn ACA Series:
If you’re looking for teaching curriculum in a more traditional format, Pearson has created several textbooks and e-texts that should suit your needs.
The first option is Pearson’s Learn ACA series. This is the best textbook option for those teaching ACA CC in a K12 setting. Cutting out a lot of the frills allows you to teach specific content that will prepare your students to pass the certification exam. In addition to the printed book, you can also get access to the web edition, which includes video tutorials, downloadable lesson files, and an online e-book (which is available in ePUB, Mobi, PDF, and web formats). Instructor notes are available as well.
The first edition aligns to CC15 exams, and the recently released second edition aligns to the CC18, CC19, and CC20 exams. See the full availability in the list below.
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- InDesign
- Dreamweaver
- Premiere Pro
- Animate
- After Effects
In addition to the traditional textbooks, Pearson also offers the many of the Learn ACA Series titles on the GMetrix platform. This is a great option for those who like the simplicity of the Learn Series but the convenience and the administrator tools of GMetrix. This option includes the video tutorials, downloadable lesson files, and an online e-book. See the full availability listed below.
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- InDesign
- Premiere Pro
- Animate
Pearson’s Classroom in a Book:
This series created by Pearson is great if you’re looking for a more comprehensive textbook. These books are much larger than the Learn series books, offering beginning, intermediate, and advanced content. These books offer complete, self-paced lessons to help students learn the features of Adobe software. Books include access to the web edition, which offers video tutorials, downloadable lesson files, quizzes, and an online e-book. The e-book is available in multiple formats, including ePUB, Mobi, and PDF.
Basic instructor notes are available to download. These textbooks are available for those training on Adobe CC18, CC19, or CC20. See the full availability in the list below.
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- InDesign
- Dreamweaver
- Premiere Pro
- Animate
- After Effects
Logical Operations:
Logical Operations’ book/e-book is a great option for our higher education and business customers. The e-books include some video training as well, which is great for those who want a traditional book with supplemental visual learning. Logical Operations has also broken down their material so there is an instructor book and two student books for each application; both student books are needed to learn the material covered in the exams.
These textbooks are available for CC20 exam tracks. The textbooks are available for the following three exams:
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- InDesign
With so many ACA learning partners, there's something for everyone. Interested in purchasing ACA learning products? Contact Certiport’s sales team here.