Higher Education Development and Technological Innovation

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "Higher Education".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 980

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Canberra School of Professional Studies, UNSW Canberra, Canberra 2601, Australia
Interests: emerging technologies; digital transformation; innovation in higher education; online pedagogies; online learning transformation

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Guest Editor
School of Management & Governance, UNSW Business School, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Interests: AI in education; digitally enhanced teaching; digital innovation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Technological innovation has been informing and transforming higher education for over 30 years. While it is noted that the speed of this transformation increased during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, technology innovation is now at the centre of inclusive and accessible learning and teaching practice, particularly blended and online teaching.

Universities need to be strategic in their innovation practices to improve learning and teaching while enhancing the student experience for all (Kane et al., 2022). Introducing new and emerging educational technologies, trialling, failing and the subsequent widescale roll-out often sees innovation being adopted and adapted across the sector to meet the various needs of the student population in the context of each university. 

At the same time, student needs, such as the preference and/or necessity to study online, have driven widespread adoption of certain educational technologies to both enable and enhance learning. However, when employing any technology, we must consider the importance of ensuring the best learning experience for all. Digital technologies and higher education transformation can assist with this, as has been shown throughout the long history in this area.

This Special Issue seeks to move innovation from the singular classroom or lone campus to enable others to learn from, adopt and adapt practices and research from where these innovations have been used. Submissions should report authentic, empirical research and include lessons learnt and best practice moving forward to inform the sector in a learning organisation approach (Senge 1990). 

Technological innovation can help connect and prepare students for the workforce. It encourages online collaboration and transformation across learning and teaching in various ways and can support all types of learners across new and engaging environments. It can provide a safe place for students to learn about, use and engage with AI in order to be productive members of the workforce of the future.

Original research articles are invited for submission. The scope of the submission should be transformative innovation in the broader higher education sector. Research works including these topics are particularly invited and may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Innovation in higher education;
  • Higher education transformation;
  • Online learning transformation/innovation;
  • Digital uplift at scale;
  • Gen AI innovation in learning and teaching;
  • Innovation in teaching the use of AI;
  • The implementation of emerging technologies at scale;
  • Strategic innovation;
  • Curriculum innovation;
  • Sustainability in learning and teaching innovation;
  • Technological innovation incubation and implementation;
  • Online/virtual universities;
  • Digital technology innovation;
  • Technological innovation in assessment.

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Chris Campbell
Associate Professor Lynn Gribble
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

  • innovation in higher education
  • higher education transformation
  • online learning transformation/innovation
  • digital uplift at scale
  • gen AI innovation in learning and teaching
  • innovation in teaching the use of AI
  • implementation of emerging technologies at scale
  • strategic innovation
  • curriculum innovation
  • sustainability in learning and teaching innovation
  • technological innovation incubation and implementation
  • online/virtual universities
  • digital technology innovation
  • technological innovation in assessment

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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11 pages, 197 KiB  
Article
Game Changing: Incorporating Technology into Social Work Research for Social Change
by Adrienne Baldwin-White and Reem Shawkat
Educ. Sci. 2025, 15(6), 729; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060729 - 11 Jun 2025
Viewed by 455
Abstract
In the digital era, technology is being utilized for educational purposes and to develop interventions. There are several known applications of technology in multiple disciplines. However, the social sciences, in particular, have been slow to adopt technologies for intervention, prevention, and educational tools. [...] Read more.
In the digital era, technology is being utilized for educational purposes and to develop interventions. There are several known applications of technology in multiple disciplines. However, the social sciences, in particular, have been slow to adopt technologies for intervention, prevention, and educational tools. In addition, for those who want to integrate technology into current programming or develop technology to address a problem, there are no resources on how to engage in the integration or development process. This paper sought to address this gap by documenting the development process of a video game that was created to address the issue of gender-based violence among college students. Specifically, it focuses on the design and piloting of a narrative-based game centered on beliefs and behaviors related to gender-based violence. The aim of the game is to offer an alternative approach to existing prevention programs, particularly targeting emerging adults in college settings due to their prolific and preference for the use of technology, the high rates of sexual and dating violence on college campuses, and their need for more engaging gender-based violence prevention education strategies. This paper intended to contribute to ongoing dialogue and efforts related to the creation and integration of technology in the helping professions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Higher Education Development and Technological Innovation)
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