Purpose
The STLP Creative Digital Arts (CDA) program celebrates the originality, creativity, and digital fluency of Kentucky students. This guidance defines how built-in software features, stock materials, and emerging generative tools may (or may not) be used in CDA entries while maintaining the integrity of student-driven creation.
Policy Overview

STLP entries must primarily reflect student-originated work where the creative decisions, manipulations, and design choices made by the student. Software and technology are viewed as creative partners, not replacements for imagination or skill.

Students may use licensed tools and assets that come packaged with software, but the final work must be clearly and recognizably shaped by the student’s own creativity.

Acceptable Use of Software Assets

Students may use built-in or licensed elements that are part of an approved software or platform, such as:

  • Audio loops and samples included in GarageBand, Soundtrap, or BandLab
  • Brushes, gradients, textures, or shapes built into Adobe Creative Cloud
  • Fonts or color palettes provided through Canva, Google Fonts, or Microsoft tools
  • 3D models, animations, or presets included in Blender, After Effects, or Unity

These assets function like paints, instruments, or clay. They are materials for creation, not finished works.

Acceptable Examples

    • A student composes a song in GarageBand using a stock drum loop and bassline, but writes and records their own vocal track and keyboard melody.
    • A student designs a poster in Photoshop using default brushes and textures, but creates original illustrations, layout, and typography.
    • A student creates an animation in Blender using a pre-built 3D rig, but customizes textures, animates new movements, and records original voice acting.
Transparency and Attribution

Students must acknowledge the use of any built-in or pre-made assets in their artist statement, project description, or final presentation. Transparency honors both the student’s work and the creators of the tools they used.

Suggested Attribution Language

    • “Created with Adobe Photoshop using default brushes and my own digital sketches.”
    • “Music assembled using royalty-free GarageBand loops and original guitar recording.”
    • “Video edited in Adobe Premiere using one stock transition effect and original footage.”

Judges may consider transparency and honesty within Digital Citizenship, Process, and Innovative Design scoring categories (among others). Lack of disclosure may result in disqualification or reduced scores for the entry.

Prohibited or Limited Use

Entries are not eligible if they:

    • Depend primarily on pre-made or auto-generated content with minimal student modification
    • Contain content generated entirely by generative AI tools (image, audio, video, or text)
    • Misrepresent AI-generated or stock content as original student work

Examples of Disallowed Entries

  • An AI-generated image (e.g., from DALL·E or Adobe Firefly) submitted as a Line and Brush Design
  • A fully AI-generated song (e.g., from Suno or similar tools) submitted as a Digital Music Composition
  • A Canva project that uses an unmodified stock template with only text changed, submitted as an original Logo Design.
Generative AI: Inspiration vs. Creation

STLP supports learning about AI while ensuring that final CDA entries represent authentic student creation. Generative AI tools may inform the process but may not produce the final competitive artifact. For additional and specific guidance, reference the CDA + AI guide.

Acceptable Uses of Generative AI

    • Brainstorming themes, color palettes, or visual styles
    • Using AI outputs as reference material for hand-drawn or manually created work
    • Reflecting on how AI tools work, their limitations, and their impact on digital citizenship and creativity (as part of the written explanation, not the final artwork)

Unacceptable Uses of Generative AI

    • Submitting AI-generated images, music, video, or designs as part of or as the final CDA entry
    • Using AI to auto-generate or heavily complete a design and claiming it as original work

Why the Difference?

Software AssetsGenerative AI Tools

Built-in, licensed, permission-based content with clear terms of use Trained on large datasets that may include copyrighted works without clear attribution
Student must deliberately select, arrange, and manipulate assets Tool can produce near-finished media from short prompts
Showcases technical skill, design thinking, and creative authorship Can obscure authorship and reduce evidence of student skill
Aligns with responsible, transparent use of digital tools Raises unresolved ethical and authorship concerns
Educational Rationale

STLP Creative Digital Arts aligns with the Kentucky Academic Standards for Technology, especially Digital Citizen, Innovative Designer, and Creative Communicator concepts. Students demonstrate growth when they:

  • Use technology responsibly, safely, and transparently
  • Respect the intellectual property and labor of others
  • Leverage digital tools to express original ideas and solutions
  • Reflect on how tools influence their creative choices

This framework keeps CDA competitions focused on authentic student innovation while modeling safe, savvy, and social engagement in digital spaces.

Summary

STLP values technology as a creative amplifier, not a replacement for student imagination. Tools may support, enhance, and inspire, but the vision, design, and construction of all CDA entries must originate from the student.

Guidance for Judges and Coaches
  1. Look for clear evidence of student authorship and decision-making.
  2. Encourage and reward transparent crediting of software assets.
  3. Flag or disqualify entries where AI-generated or stock content forms the majority of the final work or is misrepresented.
  4. Use rubric categories (Innovative Design, Design Principles, Digital Citizenship, and Process) to recognize ethical and skillful tool use.
The Process Document: Student Reflection Prompts

Schools and coaches are encouraged to include reflection questions in CDA process documentation, such as:

  • What tools, assets, or resources did you use to create this work?
  • Which parts of this project are fully your own creation?
  • How did you transform or build on any pre-made elements?
  • How did technology help you express an idea that matters to you?

Students should take advantage of the provided Process Document template to craft their process responses.

Students can choose to express their process steps in whatever form works for them; however, if student is new to CDA and looking for a starting point, this provides a great general template to use (note that some categories have their own unique templates and those are linked from their rubrics so always reference the STLP Super Sheet for the most up to date guidance).

Connections and References