The value of using animation as an educational tool cannot be underestimated.  In the project that I tried to create, the goal was to use animation to show the journey along the red path from London to Jamestown.  Its value was to enable students to visualize that the journey was not a straight path.  This would then segway into conversation about why the journey was not a straight journey, enabling the educator to introduce more information about the journey such as: the three ships that took the journey, the people aboard, the goals, the setbacks, etc. 

By using this type of animation, students would be able to visually recall the animated red line and associate that with information about the origins of the settlement at Jamestown.  With an animated visual component and an audio component, students would find this presentation engaging, not overly demanding on cognitive load, and would be more likely to retain what they had learned.

In my experience, the downside to using Adobe Animate as the tool to create the presentation was the complexity of learning the program.  As someone who is familiar with programs such as PowerPoint, Vyond, and most recently Prezi, I was disappointed in being unable to create the project as I had envisioned.  If I were to try to use Adobe Animate in the future, it would be better for me to have a live or virtual trainer.