Adobe Spark Post

Submitted by: Kar-On Lee, Learning Technology Specialist, SFU

What is it?

Adobe Spark Post is a free app available for the iOS that enables you to create instant graphics or posters that you can upload to social media or save to your device.

What can it do?

Adobe Spark Post allows for easy creation of graphics that you can use easily for social media, pages, blogs or embed into your local LMS (Moodle, Connect, Blackboard, Canvas).

Adobe Spark Post is part of the Spark family of apps that includes post, page and video. All three are available for free on the iTunes store. Unfortunately the Spark suite is not available on the Android platform

 

How does it work?

  1. Download and install the iOS app from the iTunes App Store (sorry, this one is iOS only, but there is also a web app that you can use).
  2. Open Adobe Spark Post. If this is the first time using Adobe Spark Post, you will need to sign in or create an Adobe account.
  3. From the first screen, tap the to iconchoose a photo from your photo gallery.
  4. Here we choose a standard landscape photo and tap “Choose”
    landscape
  5. Choose a size for your graphic by deciding the social platform or where you want to export it. You can choose to export it directly to social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest or alternately there are a number of pre-defined sizes to choose from.
    export1
  6. Tap “Done” once you have decided.
  7. Double tap to edit text.
    text1
  8. Type your text into the text box and tap done in the upper right hand corner when done.
    text2
  9. You can change the colour, font, shape of the text with additional options. The text is selected and you can resize and move the text box within the box of your photo.
  10. Tap check mark at the bottom to proceed.
    checkmark
  11. Your graphic is now ready to be shared.Tap the share icon at the top of the page to save to the device or to share it directly into a social media platform.
    shared

Use in teaching & learning

Adobe Spark Post is only one app in the Adobe Spark suite. When combined with Pages and Videos students and instructors can create powerful products all using simply their mobile devices. Adobe Spark Post is free to use, however currently it is only available on the iOS platform.

When used in the classroom, it can create engagement amongst students as well as your content. Adding simple visuals can enhance your material making it easier to understand for everyone including those students who prefer visuals.

Some suggestions of possible instructional uses:

  • instructors to create stunning graphics to complement their course pages or lecture material
  • Students to use when building projects such as complementing presentations, reports or webpages
  • Staff to use in promotional material, departmental sites

A short task – challenge yourself!

  1. Create a mini banner for an elearning (LMS) platform home page.
  2. Take a photo or browser for a photo on your device
  3. Add text or captions as appropriate
  4. Save a copy to your device and also upload a copy to Instragram or Twitter with the hashtag: #12AppsBC

Did you try this activity?

Leave a comment below with your impressions of the app and we will enter your name into a draw to win a $25 gift card from Google Play or iTunes stores (see conditions). Some things you may want to comment on are;

  • Other ideas or ways that this app could be used in teaching & learning?
  • What skills or knowledge do students gain or enhance when using this app?
  • Are there other apps or services that you know of that are similar to this app? How is the app different from that app?
  • What are the terms of service for this app, and what rights did it ask for when installing it on your mobile device?
  • Based on your experience, what is one thing instructors should know when using this app?
  • Things that worked or didn’t work in the app?

CC BY 4.0 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.