In the last few years, web applications have evolved from HTML/CSS websites into engaging applications that provide a rich user experience. Adobe spotted this trend early and has developed technologies that provide some of the best user experiences possible. Adobe introduced the term rich Internet application (RIA) to describe these interactive web applications.
The two main Adobe technologies that allow RIA development are Adobe® Flex® and Adobe AIR™. RIAs can run inside the browser or on the desktop (using AIR). Examples of these applications are available in the Flex Showcase and the Adobe AIR Showcase.
Adobe is offering two new courses designed to teach experienced web developers how to create dynamic, database-driven web applications using ColdFusion 8. Introduction to ColdFusion 8 covers the basics and focuses on best practices and design, while stressing the importance of usability, code reuse, performance, and scalability. Advanced ColdFusion 8 Development teaches you to take full advantage of ColdFusion 8 when building web applications.
Help students take the shortcut to brilliant. Teach them career skills with free Adobe Creative Suite® 4 curricula that have already been awarded the ISTE Seal of Alignment. You'll find separate curriculums for design and print production, web design, and video design and production.
A great new resource is now available on Adobe.com. You can learn Flex in a week by going through a series of video training sessions at your own pace. Start with basics, and then move into more advanced techniques. Participate online or download and watch the sessions offline. If you have questions as you're viewing, ask a question on the Flex in a Week forum. To take advantage of this free training, just go to the Flex in a Week page and follow the easy instructions.

These resources provide a combination of online workshop modules for self-study, course projects to apply the skills learned, and book recommendations to put together a course on RIA design and development.
The new Adobe eLearning Suite software offers a content-authoring solution for educators that enables them to create rich learning experiences that can be delivered via the Web, desktop, mobile devices, and learning management systems. Take a look at: http://www.adobe.com/education/solutions/hed/elearning/
For an overview of Adobe solutions for higher education, visit http://www.adobe.com/education/solutions/hed/
If you've never checked out Adobe TV, you're in for a treat. This is your online source for expert insight into Adobe products, delivered on video, on demand. You'll find a full range of programs, from entertainment through instruction. Watch when and where you want.
In this video, Doug Winnie demonstrates how to create realistic 3D animation in Flash Professional CS4 and Flash Player 10. Animate an object’s rotation and position quickly and easily.
In this episode, Greg Reis shows you how to add custom widgets directly into Dreamweaver CS4—not encoding involved!
Duane Nickull continues his series of tutorials on Flash Builder 4. In this video, he writes a simple app to show changes in how AMF is used to talk to and from remote data services.
Your shortcut to brilliant is here! Catch a replay of the worldwide launch event for Creative Suite 4 and see how these tightly integrated software editions and services improve productivity and allow you to produce richly expressive work in print, web, interactive, video, audio, and mobile projects.
Alan MacEachren & Scott Pezanowski (Dec. 23, 2009)
Alan MacEachren and Scott Pezanowski discuss how Flash and Flex enable geographically aware analytical and presentation tools in Penn State’s GeoVISTA Center.
Rick Toh (October 02, 2009)
Rick Toh empowered a group of designer/developer students to exercise their creative powers in developing interactive animations as visual accompaniment for a performance of the Singapore Wind Symphony.
Jason Diehl (September 02, 2009)
Art Institute faculty Jason Diehl embraced the introduction of ActionScript 3.0. He introduced it and Flex in coursework to help Art Institute students create some innovative wayfinding projects accessible both on the Web and via touch-screen kiosks.
Steve Kurtz, Gordon Goodman & Nancy Doubleday (July 31, 2009)
RIT’s Department of Interactive Games and Media has developed a curriculum to help students find their educational path in the design or development role. Successive courses present both perspectives, with emphasis on team roles.
Wouter Verweirder and Klaus Delanghe
A new, innovative Bachelor’s program at University College West Flanders combines design, development, and integration, offering students an integrated approach to creating digital media.
Bill Bain and Jason Madsen (October 14, 2008)
Two educators figured out a way to develop an application that helps aggregate students' questions into a portal during their lab periods, enabling instructors to help students more efficiently.
Frank Nguyen (May 27, 2008)
Frank Nguyen describes how to use Adobe Captivate® to align eLearning assessments with learning objectives.
Mark Badger (May 19, 2008)
Mark Badger finds ways to teach visual thinkers how to code in ActionScript® for Adobe Flash®.
Steve Anderson (April 14, 2008)
Steve Anderson of USC interviews Scott Mahoy, creative director for the Labyrinth Project, about his design philosophy and use of Flex.
Sean Morrow (April 14, 2008)
Sean Morrows of NSCC talks about what Adobe Flash and Flex have meant to his Web Development program.
Jeffrey Heer (March 10, 2008)
Jeffrey Heer of UC Berkeley shares insights about improving decision-making with interactive visualizations powered by tools built with Adobe Flash.
Will Carter (March 10, 2008)
Veronica Paredes of USC interviews Will Carter about his trajectory as a web/mobile developer and his tools of choice.
Erik Loyer (March 10, 2008)
Erik Loyer of Song New Creative shares his rubric for determining what kinds of projects need Flash and which need Flex.
Mike McKean (February 25, 2008)
Professor Mike McKean of the University of Missouri Columbia talks about a campus competition using Adobe AIR to spur innovation for enhancing citizen involvement in journalism.
Yakov Fain (November 1, 2007)
Yakov Fain tells why he teaches Flex in his NYU classroom.
Erik Loyer (November 22, 2007)
Steve Anderson at USC interviews Erik Loyer of Song New Creative.
(May 1, 2009)
Congratulations to Cesare Rocchi, a student at the Universita’ Politecnica delle Marche in Ancona, Italy, for winning the recent Student Rep RIA Application Contest. He entered his application, Posty, which simplifies microblogging.
Manvesh Vyas (November 13, 2008)
Manvesh Vyas shares how to set up your own surface-computing platform based on Adobe Flash and how students at Georgia Tech's SynLab create interactive surface applications on different platforms.
Areez Gangji (September 9, 2008)
Areez Gangji researched ten Flex and AIR applications that can help students organize their notes, connect with others, edit photos, tame their media, and share documents.
Frank Garofalo (July 31, 2008)
Frank Garofalo worked with three other students to create an AIR application for his senior project that streamlined delivery of the course content for all students and faculty.
Lee Byron (May 19, 2008)
Lee Byron and his team of Carnegie Mellon students used Adobe Flex to develop a video-messaging service that enables flirting.
Adam Hosp and Nick Leonard (April 14, 2008)
Hosp and Leonard developed an AIR application that lets users distribute their favorite news articles, images, and videos to their social networks.
Jonathan Coffman (March 10, 2008)
Jonathan Coffman shares information on the project his team developed for Adobe AIR that helps newspapers support citizen news input.
Tyler Travitz (February 25, 2008)
Tyler Travitz at RIT shows off his independent study project created with Flex.
The Flex developer for SPIELERKABINE.net talks about his award-winning Web 2.0 project.
If you are a current student or faculty member at an educational institution, you can get Adobe Flex Builder™ 3 Professional software free.