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Educational Transformation Under the Sustainable Development Goals

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Education and Approaches".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 3723

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology, Educational Sciences Research Center, Near East University, 99138 Nicosia, Cyprus
Interests: educational technology; distance education; artificial intelligence; augmented reality; gamification
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Management Information Systems, Near East University, 99138 Nicosia, Cyprus
Interests: e-learning; m-learning; gamification; programming languages; teacher training
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Curriculum & Instruction, Near East University, 99138 Nicosia, Cyprus
Interests: curriculum; curriculum development; curriculum evaluation; assessment and evaluation; teaching methods; teacher training; learning and teaching approaches
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Digital education along with innovative approaches in education create positive effects on society and education. With today's technology, thanks to digital education tools, education continues to spread sustainability awareness by exceeding physical boundaries. Individuals can continue their education without any limitations on time and place through distance education platforms and massive open online courses (MOOCs). In addition, educators can contribute to the use of materials all over the world by integrating technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence into their classes and sharing up-to-date and sustainable content. Thanks to innovative technologies, teachers and students can contribute to educational content and develop their digital skills by having dynamic, interactive, and rich learning experiences. The use of interactive learning tools and educational resources digitally allows individuals to be more flexible, sustainable, and accessible in the teaching process and contributes to a global sustainability perspective, both in terms of being less costly and more environmentally friendly. The aim of this Special Issue is to provide examples of effective and sustainable methods used in the learning and teaching process including innovative approaches such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), digital tools, massive open online courses (MOOCs), and gamification.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Bicen
Prof. Dr. Fezile Özdamlı
Prof. Dr. Çiǧdem Hürsen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • sustainable
  • educational technology
  • artificial intelligence
  • augmented reality
  • gamification
  • massive open online courses

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 2748 KiB  
Article
Gamification in Flipped Classrooms for Sustainable Digital Education: The Influence of Competitive and Cooperative Gamification on Learning Outcomes
by Mada Bandar Alshiha and Ahlam Mohammed Al-Abdullatif
Sustainability 2024, 16(23), 10734; https://doi.org/10.3390/su162310734 - 6 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1789
Abstract
This study examines the effects of competitive versus cooperative gamification mechanics on the learning achievement of female first-year middle school students in flipped classrooms, highlighting its implications for designing sustainable learning environments. Employing a quasi-experimental design, 60 students were randomly assigned to two [...] Read more.
This study examines the effects of competitive versus cooperative gamification mechanics on the learning achievement of female first-year middle school students in flipped classrooms, highlighting its implications for designing sustainable learning environments. Employing a quasi-experimental design, 60 students were randomly assigned to two experimental groups, each engaged in a flipped classroom environment with either competitive or cooperative gamified elements. While both groups showed significant improvement in post-test scores, no significant differences were observed in cognitive achievement or skills acquisition between the groups. These findings emphasize that competitive and cooperative gamification mechanics can be equally effective in enhancing learning, suggesting that the choice of mechanic does not critically impact learning outcomes. The study provides practical guidance for educators and instructional designers in developing balanced gamified learning environments that optimize competitive and cooperative strategies, thus fostering a more versatile and adaptable approach to student motivation and engagement in sustainable technology-enhanced education. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Educational Transformation Under the Sustainable Development Goals)
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25 pages, 308 KiB  
Article
Development of Sustainable Education Environments in Higher Education with Metaverse Applications
by İslam Suiçmez and Kezban Ozansoy
Sustainability 2024, 16(23), 10331; https://doi.org/10.3390/su162310331 - 26 Nov 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1307
Abstract
In this study, the aim is to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum within the scope of sustainable education based on metaverse applications for undergraduate students in the faculty of education. The “parallel–simultaneous design”, one of the mixed research methods in [...] Read more.
In this study, the aim is to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum within the scope of sustainable education based on metaverse applications for undergraduate students in the faculty of education. The “parallel–simultaneous design”, one of the mixed research methods in which quantitative and qualitative research methods are used together, was employed. After the needs analysis and content determination process, a total of thirty-nine students enrolled in the fall semester of the 2022–2023 academic year participated in the experimental process of the research. According to the expert opinions received, it has been revealed that the integration of technology and sustainable education is more difficult than the age groups of teachers. For this reason, the study was carried out with teacher candidates. It is clear that new teachers who receive training will play an important role in terms of creating a sustainable education system with innovative learning. Throughout this research, education was carried out in such a way that the experimental working environment was face-to-face. Courses were conducted on a weekly basis in a face-to-face classroom environment. Fourteen-week lesson plans were prepared in order to carry out teaching activities in line with sustainable education based on metaverse applications. In the second sub-objective of the study, when the effectiveness of the curriculum determined in terms of sustainable education based on metaverse applications was examined in the context of perceptions and attitude, it was found that there was a significant (positive) difference between the pre-tests and post-tests in favor of the post-test. In the third sub-objective of the study, it was found that the opinions of the teacher candidates about the effectiveness of the developed metaverse applications in the sustainable education course curriculum were positive. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Educational Transformation Under the Sustainable Development Goals)
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