Advances in Artificial Intelligence Learning Technologies

Dear Colleagues,

Learning technologies are dramatically improving education on an academic level, and its relevance has exploded worldwide during the current COVID-19 pandemic emergency. E-learning platforms represent a ubiquitous reality and widely support the student–lecturer communication channel, to kindergarten level, where kids often use storytelling tools, while learning the basics of computational thinking in an effective, constructivist way. Teaching the core skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through all the age levels is paramount for the future of the social communities of scientists.

The main aim of this workshop is to bring together advanced expertise in the field of learning technologies focusing contributions on the application of artificial intelligence methodologies to conventional blended learning management systems, and technologies supporting the learning process of analytics, computational thinking, and coding. The scope of the submitted contributions is expected to range from theoretical models and methods to architectures, system implementations, and reports of field experiences.

The future of education lies in the ability to develop learning technologies which integrate seamless artificially intelligent components in the educational process, in order to deliver a personalized learning service remotely.

A large number of conventional knowledge transfer and learning systems already integrate AI components, e.g., for supporting learner profiling and learning analytics, while a great potential for AI technologies is represented by the personalization and automation of the different phases of the learning process. In a scenario which demands education to be quick, effective, and responding to fast-changing topics and social safe remote collaboration, the role of the AI model and technology is crucial.

Topics include, but are not be limited to, models, architectures, systems and field experiences on:

• Artificial intelligence (AI) and learning technologies;
• AI for MOOCS;
• AI and storytelling;
• Artificial characters and avatars;
• Augmented reality and 3D/4D REALITY in education, virtual labs;
• Adaptive or supported teaching or tutoring;
• Distributed repositories for collaborative teaching;
• E-learning gamification;
• Learning management systems;
• E-learning strategies and approaches for pandemics emergencies;
• Learning analytics;
• User behavior models;
• Tool and models for special educational needs;
• Knowledge extraction and classification;
• Human–computer interaction;
• Automatic learning evaluation;
• STEM and computational thinking, STEM and coding
• AI in mobile learning systems;
• Student performance prediction and automated classification;
• Automatic tests generation;
• Tracking devices and sensors for monitoring user emotional feedback;
• Intelligent automated bots for student or teacher assistance;
• Deep learning in education;
• Virtual community for distance classes collaboration;
• Virtual ecosystems for teacher collaboration and knowledge sharing;
• AI coding environments in educational systems;
• AI computational thinking models and support tools;
• Case studies integrating AI computational thinking…

Prof. Dr. Alfredo Milani
Prof. Dr. Valentina Franzoni
Dr. Giulio Biondi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.