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Adobe Express: Your New Go-To Design Tool

By Shannon Glennon, AI Technology Transformation Specialist, Syracuse University ITS 

If you’ve been using Canva to create flyers, social posts or presentation graphics, here’s some news worth knowing; Syracuse University provides free access to Adobe Express—and it’s worth making the switch. 

What Is Adobe Express? 

Adobe Express is a browser-based and mobile design tool that lets you create polished graphics, short videos, flyers, social media content and more (no design experience required). And it’s already available to all faculty and staff. 

What Can You Do With It? 

Adobe Express lets you quickly build branded materials using customizable templates, drag-and-drop editing and access to thousands of stock photos and icons. You can resize designs for different platforms in seconds and animate graphics for social media—all from one place. 

One of the first things worth doing when you set up your account is creating a Brand Kit. Load it with Syracuse University’s official colors (Orange #F76900 and Navy #000E54) and approved fonts and every design you create will automatically stay on-brand without starting from scratch each time. For more information, check out the Syracuse University Brand Sharepoint site. 

What About AI? 

This is where Adobe Express stands out. Powered by Adobe Firefly — Adobe’s AI tool trained exclusively on licensed and public domain content — the platform includes several AI tools: 

  • Generate Image: Create custom visuals from a text prompt, commercially safe and ready to use in university materials. 
  • Generate Video: Type a description and generate short video clips for use as b-roll, background footage or social content—no camera required. 
  • Clip Maker: Have a recording of a department talk, faculty panel or campus event? Clip Maker uses AI to identify the best moments, add captions and reformat the footage into social-ready clips automatically. 
  • Dynamic Animation: Bring a static flyer or graphic to life with one click—great for Instagram Reels or event announcements. 

Because Firefly is trained on licensed content, everything you generate is safe to use in university communications without copyright concerns. 

Getting Started 

Sign in at express.adobe.com using your NetID credentials. Your account is already waiting for you. 

Remember, you can always use your AI tools such as Claude to ask how to do anything in Adobe. If you have a question about how to do something, just ask Claude!  

Orange AI: Chat Session with Newhouse Professor Adam Peruta

Orange AI: Chat Session with Newhouse Professor Adam Peruta
Thursday, April 23, 3-4 p.m.
Graham Scholarly Commons (Bird 114)

Want to learn more about AI and put your prompting skills to the test? Join ITS and Newhouse professor Adam Peruta for the first Orange AI: Chat Session on April 23 from 3-4 p.m. in the Graham Scholarly Commons (114 Bird Library). Food and beverages will be provided.

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Keeping Campus Online Activity Safe, One Block at a Time

Every time you connect to the internet on campus — whether you’re submitting an assignment, checking your email or streaming music between classes — your device is making thousands of tiny behind-the-scenes requests to reach websites and online services. And not all of those destinations are safe.

That’s where Information Technology Services comes in.

In just one month, ITS automatically blocked 2.9 million malicious or suspicious connections before they ever reached a device on the Syracuse University network. That means 2.9 million potential threats — phishing attempts, malware, data theft schemes — stopped in their tracks every month, often without anyone on campus even noticing.

This protection is powered by Infoblox BloxOne, a security tool that Syracuse University has relied on for the past year. It monitors network traffic in real time and automatically blocks harmful connections before they can cause damage. It runs quietly in the background, 24/7, so you don’t have to think about it. Whether you’re in a residence hall, a classroom or the library, Infoblox BloxOne is constantly watching for anything that looks out of place and acting fast to shut it down.

Keeping Syracuse University’s network safe is an ongoing commitment — one that ITS takes seriously so that students, faculty and staff can focus on what matters most.

AI Insights for March 19, 2026

This message was originally shared to subscribers March 19, 2026.

AI at Work

Looking for ways to use AI to get more done at work? Join us for AI at Work: Claude Success Stories on March 25 from 2 to 3:15 p.m. in 216 Marley and on Microsoft Teams to hear faculty and staff share how they’re putting Claude to work in real, practical ways.

This Issue’s Tip: Claude and Microsoft 365

Most of us use it to write and brainstorm, but connect it to your Microsoft 365 account and it becomes a whole lot more powerful. Suddenly Claude knows your inbox, your calendar, your files, and your Teams messages — so you can ask it to summarize unread emails, draft a reply to your department chair, or prep an agenda for tomorrow’s meeting. No copy-pasting, no extra context needed.

Ready to try it? We put together a step-by-step setup guide and some sample prompts to get you started.

News and Views

In Summary

Higher education is confronting widespread AI misuse, from fake research citations to tools that can’t reliably detect cheating, forcing a shift in assessment models. At the same time, AI skills are now baseline job requirements amid uneven workforce disruption. Organizations are struggling to move AI into real operations, accelerating demand for new leadership roles, while growing reliance on AI is beginning to reshape human reasoning.

Education, Teaching and Learning

  • New Tools for Understanding AI and Learning Outcomes (OpenAI)
  • AI and Course Design: Machines Can Help, but Only Humans Can Teach (Educause Review)
  • AI Tools to Reduce College Dropout Rates (EdTech)
  • Blackboard Executives Say Catching AI Cheating Is a Lost Cause. This One Isn’t Worried. (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
  • Writing Faculty Push for the Right to Refuse AI (Inside Higher Ed)
  • Journal Submissions Riddled With AI-Created Fake Citations (Inside Higher Ed)

Business, Strategy and Leadership

  • Every Company Wants AI, but Few Have The Leader Who Can Make It Real (Forbes)
  • C-suite shakeup: Demand for chief AI officers accelerates (TechTarget)
  • Tech Firms Are Persuading Retailers to Put AI Everywhere (The New York Times)

Culture, Trends and Novel Use Cases

  • March Madness 2026: AI and Prediction Markets Replace the Office Pool (PYMNTS)

Policy, Defense and Global Impact

    Society and Human Impact

    • AI Becomes a Daily Habit: The Consumer Shift From Trying Tools to Living With Them (PYMNTS)
    • Thinking—Fast, Slow, and Artificial: How AI is Reshaping Human Reasoning and the Rise of Cognitive Surrender (SSRN)
    • Is AI Making Us Stupid? Cal Newport Is Worried. (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
    • How I Killed—and Revived—Teamwork With AI (The Wall Street Journal)

      Tech Industry and Competition

      • Anthropic’s Standoff With the Pentagon Shakes Up AI Talent Race (The Wall Street Journal)
      • Amazon Holds Engineering Meeting Following AI-Related Outages (CNBC)

      Tools, Products and Innovation

      • Anthropic Automates Excel and PowerPoint Workflows With One-Click Skills (PYMNTS)
      • Inside OpenAI’s Race to Catch Up to Claude Code (Wired)
      • Introducing The Anthropic Institute (Anthropic)

      Workforce, Jobs and Skills

      • AI Engineering Tops List of In-Demand Skills: LinkedIn (CIO Dive)
      • Leaders Say AI Skills Now Are as Fundamental as the Ability To Write (HR Dive)
      • Jobs Least and Most Vulnerable to AI (The Washington Post)
      • Labor Market Impacts of AI: A New Measure and Early Evidence (Anthropic)
      • More CEOs Envision Hiring Than Firing Due to AI, CEO Survey Finds (Axios)
      • I Worked for Block. Its AI Job Cuts Aren’t What They Seem. (The New York Times)

      Access to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and other paywalled content is available to all students, faculty and staff with a valid Syracuse University NetID. Learn more.

      This Issue’s Win: Thinking Partner

      A prompt is how you ask generative AI tools to do something for you (e.g., creating, summarizing, editing or transforming). Treat it like a conversation, using clear language and enough context to get the result you have in mind.

      To get more practice, use the generative AI tool of your choice (for example, Microsoft Copilot, OpenAI ChatGPT or Anthropic Claude) to execute the following prompt:

      “You are my thinking partner, not just an answer generator.

      I’m working on: [describe a project, class, or problem].

      Instead of giving me a quick answer, do the following:

      Ask me 2–3 clarifying questions to better understand my goal.
      Point out any assumptions I might be making.
      Suggest 2 different ways to approach this (including one I might not have considered).
      Then help me build a clear, step-by-step plan.
      Prioritize depth, critical thinking, and insight over speed.“

      Helpful Resources

      Thank you for reading. Go Orange!

      AI Insights for March 5, 2026

      This message was originally shared to subscribers March 5, 2026.

      AI at Work

      Have you found a useful way to use generative AI in your work at Syracuse University? We’re inviting faculty and staff to share real-world examples during AI at Work: Claude Success Stories on March 25 from 2 to 3:15 p.m. in 216 Marley and on Microsoft Teams. If you’d like to highlight how you use Claude in your role, email itscomm@syr.edu to share.

      This Issue’s Tip: Claude Skills

      Learn how to customize Claude using Skills, which allow you to create reusable instructions for specific tasks. This short video shows where to find Skills in the Claude interface, how to enable the Skill Creator, and how to build, upload and manage your own Skills. It also includes a quick demo of using a newly created skill to draft content in Claude.

      News and Views

      In Summary

      Companies are replacing roles with AI tools, while cybercriminals are using AI to accelerate attacks. New efforts aim to verify what’s real online as deepfakes spread. At the same time, researchers are studying how people collaborate with AI, how it affects workplace relationships and how emerging “agentic” AI could transform higher education and the future of work.

      Education, Teaching and Learning

      Business and the Economy

      Platforms and Company Updates

      • Perplexity Pulling Sponsored Answers From AI Platform (PYMNTS)
      • Claude Code Security by Anthropic aims to detect and patch complex vulnerabilities (Digital Watch)
      • Anthropic’s COBOL Bet Shakes Mainframe Economics (PYMNTS)
      • Anthropic Education Report: The AI Fluency Index (Anthropic)
      • Anthropic Pushes Claude Deeper Into Knowledge Work (The Wall Street Journal)
      • Opus 3 has a blog (Claude’s Corner)
      • Switch to Claude without starting over (Claude)

      Policy, Copyright and Regulation

      • US Supreme Court declines to hear dispute over copyrights for AI-generated material (Reuters)

        Security, Cybersecurity and Authenticity

          Society

          • AI: The Best Supporting Actor You’ll Never See (PYMNTS)
          • How AI Damages Work Relationships—and Where It Can Actually Help (Harvard Business Review)

          Access to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and other paywalled content is available to all students, faculty and staff with a valid Syracuse University NetID. Learn more.

          This Issue’s Win: AI Collaboration Coach

          A prompt is how you ask generative AI tools to do something for you (e.g., creating, summarizing, editing or transforming). Treat it like a conversation, using clear language and enough context to get the result you have in mind.

          To get more practice, use the generative AI tool of your choice (for example, Microsoft Copilot, OpenAI ChatGPT or Anthropic Claude) to execute the following prompt:

          “You are an AI collaboration coach.

          I am working on this task: [DESCRIBE A TASK YOU’RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON].

          Help me use AI effectively by:
          1. Breaking the task into smaller steps.
          2. Identifying which steps AI could help with.
          3. Suggesting prompts I could use at each step.
          4. Pointing out where human judgment or expertise is still important.

          Present the steps clearly so I can follow them and work alongside AI, not rely on it completely.“

          Helpful Resources

          Thank you for reading. Go Orange!