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Explore and Engage

AI and Emerging Technology

Career-Forward Classrooms: Aligning K–12 Learning with the Realities of an AI Economy

SESSION DATES & TIMES COMING IN AUGUST 2026
Audience Classification: Digital Learning
Audience Expertise: All Levels - This session is intentionally designed to engage and provide value across experience levels-from beginners to seasoned leaders.
Grade Level Focus: Elementary Schools, Middle Schools, High Schools
Primary Audience: Content Designer, District Leader, Teacher
Does this session focus on a specific product? No – This session is focused on ideas, strategies, or practices, not a specific product or service.

    Presenter(s)

  • Jean Hess, EdD

    Educational AI Strategist
    brAInwave consulting, United States

Abstract Description : As AI reshapes every industry, “future-ready” isn’t enough — schools must intentionally align learning with the skills and mindsets students need to thrive in an AI-powered workforce.

This session reframes career readiness around adaptability, digital fluency, ethical tech use, and AI awareness. Using trends from recent global and U.S. reports, you will explore how AI is changing the nature of work, identify gaps between current classroom practices and emerging career demands, and design practical, small-scale shifts to close those gaps.

We’ll also surface practical ways to spot — and close — opportunity gaps so that career-forward skills aren’t reserved for students with extra resources or louder advocates.

You will leave with strategies to integrate AI-relevant skills into everyday instruction — without waiting for a total curriculum overhaul — so students are ready for what’s next, not what’s already behind us.

Learning Objectives:

  • At the end of this session, participants will be able to analyze at least three AI-driven shifts in workforce demands and identify where current K–12 instruction may not align with those shifts.
  • At the end of this session, participants will be able to design and adapt at least two practical, small-scale changes to better integrate AI-relevant skills — including adaptability, ethical tech use, and digital fluency — into classrooms, programs, or PD.