Smart Sustainable Education: Innovative Digital Transformation for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past few years, the development of Smart Technologies has triggered substantial changes in education and approaches to teaching and learning. At the same time, it raised question about the role of educational technologies in context of the necessity of fostering the development of inclusive and sustainable society. In other words, on the one hand, we need smart, innovative, collaborative learning infrastructures that will enable us to cultivate a specific 21st-century specific learning culture consistent with teaching and learning crossing the boundaries of time and space and time and hence becoming available everywhere. On the other hand, we need to build the capacity to exploit the opportunities, which smart use of smart technologies offers to the benefit of inclusive and sustainable development of the society. A variety of emerging technologies linked with evolving learning theories provide the value mix of Smart Education. The use of different smart solutions changes the role of teachers and educational environment. It also brings new questions to educational science as the traditional role of educator, i.e., as person who organizes the teaching and learning process is changed—but still there is open question about how to ensure sustainable development of cities, villages and society. Who and when will provide these knowledge for society? What is the role of smart education?

The objective of this Special Issue is to disseminate the latest high quality, interdisciplinary research in the domain of smart sustainable education to discuss ideas, problems, challenges and solutions for changes in society, which are brought by technological innovations and which is the place of education in that context.

The digital transformation of education is a key challenge for achieving sustainability. A variety of emerging technologies inked with evolving learning theories provide the value mix of Smart Education.

In parallel the quest of modern societies for sustainable innovations with a great impact on labor, and economic indexes is evident. In this context, the proposition of Smart Education is sound and timely. The design of flexible, customized, integrated, multidisciplinary curriculum and programs with advanced smart services required the understanding and analysis of theoretical models, meta frame works and applied research systems.

Additionally, Sustainability theories promote further the value contribution of the Special Issue. The intersections of innovation, international business and emerging business models linked with the advanced requirements of the high-tech economy pose critical questions:

• Which are the Smart Education theories, models, tools and systems?
• Which are the policies at governmental, educational and higher administration level for this integration?
• Which are the implications of Smart Education at Micro, Mezzo and Macro level?
• Which are the Societal Challenges, and Economic Implications for the realization of Smart Education at Global Scale?
• Which are the scenarios for Smart Education Sustainable programs across countries and continents?

Aims of the Special Issue:

The Special Issue will explore the transformative impact of smart technologies for the provision of Smart Sustainable Education. It will integrate education, sustainability and innovation towards a new value adding proposition for higher education institutions.

The Special Issue serves as an innovation and entrepreneurship primer for higher education and promotes ideas for the enhancement of critical thinking and constructivism.

Topics of interest:

• Higher Education Policies for the adoption  of Smart Education
• Emerging technologies for Smart Education
• Smart Education for International Collaboration
• Smart Education for Innovation
• Academia Industry Collaborations
• Shared Curriculum and Programs across continents
• Case Studies of Smart Education
• Interactive Case Studies for postgraduate studies
• Business Games
• Gamification in Higher Education
• Virtual and Augmented Reality for Smart  Education
• Design of advanced internships programs

Prof. Linda Daniela
Prof. Anna Visvizi
Guest Editors

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