Today’s students will enter careers that haven’t even been imagined yet. With AI and automation reshaping entire industries, the skills employers once valued are being overtaken by the need for creativity, adaptability and technological fluency. But how can schools equip students with these essential competencies?

Brian Johnsrud
Director of Education Learning and Advocacy, Adobe

To explore this challenge, EdSurge sat down with Brian Johnsrud, the director of education learning and advocacy at Adobe. He shares insights into how schools can leverage creative tools to equip students with the skills they’ll need to thrive in a world where the only constant is change. Adobe, known for its cutting-edge creative and digital literacy tools, is paving the way for a new approach to education — one that blends technical expertise with the soft skills that will define the workforce of tomorrow.

EdSurge: How can educators prepare students for the future workforce and foster in-demand skills such as creativity and adaptability?

Johnsrud: Educators can stay informed about future workforce trends, including emerging jobs and highly sought-after skills. School leaders are increasingly turning to organizations like the World Economic Forum and analyzing data on the most in-demand skills for the next five years. This allows them to prepare students for future needs, even if the current curriculum doesn't yet demand those skills.

Employers increasingly recognize that, while hiring someone with the exact skills needed for a job today is great, those needs will change in a couple of years. The real question is whether the person is a lifelong learner — someone who can self-learn and adapt when the landscape shifts — and whether they possess the resilience, flexibility and agility to thrive in a world and industry that is constantly evolving.

— Brian Johnsrud

The latest World Economic Forum Jobs Report highlights the top skills that will rise in importance by 2027. Creative thinking leads the list, followed by analytical or critical thinking. The third most important skill is technological literacy, which includes AI and other technologies. Interestingly, the fourth is curiosity and lifelong learning, and the fifth is resilience, flexibility and agility.

What does this shift in skill demands mean for employers and job seekers?

These skills really highlight the skilling revolution we’re facing. Employers increasingly recognize that, while hiring someone with the exact skills needed for a job today is great, those needs will change in a couple of years. The real question is whether the person is a lifelong learner — someone who can self-learn and adapt when the landscape shifts — and whether they possess the resilience, flexibility and agility to thrive in a world and industry that is constantly evolving.

How can creative tools help students develop both technical and soft skills needed for future careers?

One approach is training students on industry-standard tools to familiarize them with what they'll use in the workplace. It’s also important to equip them with professional-quality templates and assets so that the projects they’re creating actually look like professional outputs. Pedagogically, this approach is real-world, authentic, project-based learning. Instead of creating something that only makes sense in a classroom, let’s give them real, authentic projects to work on.

Collaboration is also the future of work, and any creative tool that has built-in collaboration features provides opportunities for students to not just create but to co-create with others, share feedback and exchange ideas.

How can educators choose the right tools to foster creativity in the classroom?

Choose tools that offer both a low floor and a high ceiling, like Adobe Express for Education. This means providing entry points that allow anyone to begin creating, regardless of their starting point. The high ceiling comes into play as you move from Adobe Express all the way to Creative Cloud; you never outgrow our creative tools.

It’s all about giving teachers the tools to teach effectively and students the means to show off their skills to colleges and employers. That’s what makes a creative tool truly valuable in education.

— Johnsrud

Also, addressing creative confidence is essential, as it often poses a significant barrier for students. Many students think, “I’m not creative; I don’t know if I can design something that looks great.” The fear of the blank canvas is real and can be daunting. Teachers can help by providing professional-looking templates that allow students to focus on content rather than starting from scratch.

What makes a tool truly valuable in education?

A tool’s real value in the classroom goes way beyond its features. It’s about having the right content, support and resources to help everyone use it effectively. Take Adobe Express for Education, for example. We’ve loaded it with free lesson plans and resources for teachers, plus a learn tab with videos and guided activities for students to practice on their own. And when it comes to proving what they’ve learned, students can take Adobe Certified Professional exams — we’ve been offering these for 17 years and have issued over 1.8 million certifications.

It’s all about giving teachers the tools to teach effectively and students the means to show off their skills to colleges and employers. That’s what makes a creative tool truly valuable in education.

How does AI factor into creative education?

AI plays a significant role in enhancing this creativity. It can assist in brainstorming and rapid iteration, helping students quickly generate various ideas and alternatives. AI also helps students step back from routine tasks to see the bigger picture.

Traditional education has often taught students to swim in a controlled pool. With AI, we’re teaching them to surf in an ever-changing ocean. It’s not just about repetition and efficiency; it’s about adapting to shifting conditions and engaging in creative thinking. AI acts as a surfboard, enabling students to navigate change and thrive in an unpredictable world.

— Johnsrud

In this sense, traditional education has often taught students to swim in a controlled pool. With AI, we’re teaching them to surf in an ever-changing ocean. It’s not just about repetition and efficiency; it’s about adapting to shifting conditions and engaging in creative thinking. AI acts as a surfboard, enabling students to navigate change and thrive in an unpredictable world.

How is AI changing teaching and learning strategies?

Traditionally, education has focused on teaching students to perform specific tasks. However, as AI increasingly automates many of these tasks, our educational focus needs to shift. I believe the next focus should be on understanding context — knowing which tasks to perform, when to perform them and why.

As task execution becomes easier, grasping the broader context of these tasks will be increasingly valuable. Understanding context is a crucial human skill that is best taught through storytelling and real-world applications.

English language arts and history teachers have long excelled at teaching context by helping students understand the background and culture surrounding texts or historical events. This broader perspective, while not commonly emphasized outside these subjects, is becoming essential across all disciplines.

By mastering storytelling and contextual understanding, students can see the bigger picture in complex situations, understand how individual tasks contribute to larger goals, develop creative solutions to multifaceted problems and adapt more readily to changing circumstances in their future careers.

© Image Credit: ImageFlow / Shutterstock

For many years, educators have envisioned personalized learning as a way to tailor education to each student's unique needs. With advances in artificial intelligence, this vision is becoming a reality. AI has the potential to transform classrooms by offering personalized learning experiences that align with individual strengths, interests and learning needs.

At the same time, there is a growing emphasis on fostering creativity and authenticity in student work. AI can play a pivotal role in supporting the creative process, from generating ideas to refining projects. By making the creative process more explicit and accessible, AI empowers students to overcome obstacles and express their unique perspectives. This approach not only boosts engagement but also prepares students for a future where creative thinking and problem-solving are indispensable skills.

Brian Johnsrud
Director of Education Learning and Advocacy, Adobe

Recently, EdSurge spoke with Brian Johnsrud, the director of education learning and advocacy at Adobe, about using educational tools that not only harness the power of AI but also uphold the creative integrity of students and teachers. He highlights how AI can help personalize learning by allowing students to present their understanding and ideas in diverse and individualized ways. This shift from standardized assignments to personalized projects can make learning more engaging and relevant for each student.

EdSurge: How can educators safely and responsibly leverage AI for more personalized learning?

Johnsrud: The dream of learning personalization has been around for decades. The first phase really focused on getting the right content to the right student at the right time. Now, with AI, we're in the second phase, which isn't just about personalizing content but also about how students present their understanding and share their knowledge. Because a hallmark of creativity is uniqueness. So if we want students to be doing creative thinking, then 30 assignments done by 30 different students should all look different.

As for deploying AI safely and responsibly, schools are paying attention to a number of things right now. The first step is to check if the AI tool is actually designed for education specifically. If it wasn't made for the classroom, it probably wasn't made to improve learning. It won’t necessarily have those pedagogical pieces baked in or the accessibility and other edtech integrations that you need.

Check if the AI tool is actually designed for education specifically. If it wasn't made for the classroom, it probably wasn't made to improve learning. It won’t necessarily have those pedagogical pieces baked in or the accessibility and other edtech integrations that you need.

— Brian Johnsrud

Part of being designed for safety and responsibility includes ensuring that the tools don't train their models on student or teacher projects because the creative work you develop as a teacher or student in the classroom should be respected and protected. If you're using a tool that benefits or takes inspiration from your creative masterpiece, it's not truly aligned with core creative values and academic integrity.

In what ways does AI help foster creativity while ensuring that student work remains authentic?

AI can support any part of the creative process. If a student is stuck in brainstorming, AI can help generate multiple ideas. If another student is good at brainstorming but needs help refining their work, AI can act as a thought partner, providing critique. This is what's exciting about AI designed for creativity! It makes the steps of the creative process explicit and helps students overcome obstacles. It removes that fear of the blank canvas.

I hope AI helps shift the focus from teachers being the content creators to students taking on that role. As an example inspired by my time as a social studies teacher, instead of asking students to write a paragraph about continuity and change in a historical era, you could have them choose an era, pick a topic that shows continuity, and design an imaginary propaganda poster from that period. The benefits of this creative assignment are clear to every educator. But with rigid standards and a packed curriculum, it's challenging to dedicate two weeks to it. The good news is, with AI, you could complete this assignment in just 30 minutes during class.

Interestingly, we crave authenticity more than ever in the age of AI. AI tools are moving beyond the basic prompt-and-result, “grab and go” approach. They're becoming integrated into our creative workflows, allowing us to bring our best ideas to life and express ourselves more genuinely. The goal isn't for AI to do the work for us but to help us create more authentic, meaningful content so we can be impactful storytellers. As a teacher, you should be able to see each student's unique voice in the work they produce.

The goal isn't for AI to do the work for us but to help us create more authentic, meaningful content so we can be impactful storytellers.

— Johnsrud

How do AI literacy and creative thinking equip students for future job market demands?

In just a few years, AI skills have become essential. The 2024 Work Trend Index Report found that 66 percent of industry leaders wouldn't hire someone without AI skills. It's amazing how quickly this has become a hiring dealbreaker. In that same report, 71 percent of leaders said they're more likely to hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills than a more experienced candidate without them. For students, this means having AI skills can level the playing field with more seasoned professionals.

At the same time, creativity and creative thinking are also in high demand. The World Economic Forum's 2023 Future of Jobs Report highlighted creative thinking as a top skill for the future. The creator economy is booming, with 200,000 new creative jobs created in the United States in 2023 alone. Students who can combine AI skills with creative problem-solving are able to seize some pretty incredible opportunities.

Research has shown that the more students are able to create, the more they thrive. And AI opens up more opportunities for student creation. A 2019 Gallup report found that educators who focus on creativity and use technology in transformative ways see significant gains — students are more engaged, demonstrate better critical thinking, retain more, make connections between subjects and achieve deeper learning. For educators, seeing students excited and proud of their work is incredibly rewarding, especially in a time of increased teacher burnout.

How can educators easily incorporate creative thinking into their lessons?

Start by identifying areas in your curriculum where students need to dive deep into a concept or fully demonstrate their understanding. These are the moments where creative activities can replace traditional methods like note-taking or multiple-choice questions and garner a much wider and deeper set of learning outcomes.

© Image Credit: Billion Photos / Shutterstock

SkillRise, an ISTE initiative, examined job seekers’ perceptions of digital skills and skills-based technologies, focusing on their potential career impacts, from initial hiring to advancement. The findings from this 2024 research confirmed job seekers’ need for digital skills training and increased awareness about how skills-based tools can be used to thrive in school and at work.

Recommended Resources

• Read the full ISTE research report: Job Seeker Pathway Needs
• Learn more about this topic through a micro-learning experience: Explore Skills-based Technologies

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