Exploring Digital Play and Learning from Early Childhood Across the Lifespan
A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "STEM Education".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026 | Viewed by 891
Special Issue Editors
Interests: computational play and STEAM in early childhood education; develop teachers’ professional digital competence
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: the intersection of the digitization of play and learning, particularly integrating computational thinking into mathematics and STEAM
Interests: digitalisation; digital learning environments; VR environments for learning; digital/emerging technologies; teachers’ professional development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
As digital technologies become increasingly embedded in learners’ everyday lives, play and learning are being reshaped in ways that challenge traditional educational boundaries. This Special Issue explores digital play and learning as a dynamic and multifaceted domain spanning from early childhood to adolescence, and from informal to formal learning environments. We welcome contributions that critically engage with how digital tools, ranging from coding toys and apps to virtual worlds, creative platforms, and artificial intelligence, interact with learners’ play, meaning-making, and knowledge construction.
Moving beyond narrowly defined concepts of digital literacy or computational thinking, this Special Issue invites new theoretical, methodological, and empirical perspectives on how digital technologies mediate play-based learning. Topics may include, but are not limited to, creative coding, digital storytelling, game-based learning, hybrid analogue–digital environments, AI in learners’ playful learning, and sociomaterial or sociocultural perspectives on digital engagement. We especially encourage submissions that foreground learners’ agency, creativity, and embodied participation in digital contexts.
By assembling diverse voices across disciplines, age groups, and educational settings, this Special Issue aims to reframe digital play and learning not as a distraction or add-on, but as a generative site for exploration, identity formation, and deeper learning.
Dr. Eva Brooks
Dr. Camilla Finsterbach Kaup
Dr. Emma Edstrand
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 double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 1800 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.
Keywords
- creative coding
- digital storytelling
- game-based learning
- hybrid analogue–digital environments
- AI in learners’ playful learning
- sociomaterial or sociocultural perspectives on digital engagement
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
