Special Issue "Digital Technologies for Sustainable Education"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Linda Daniela
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Education, Psychology and Art, University of Latvia, LV-1586 Rīga, Latvia
Interests: educational technologies; smart pedagogy; digital learning materials
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Visvizi Anna
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
American College of Greece, 153 42 Paraskevi, Greece
Interests: political economy; public policy; international relations
Prof. Dr. Zanda Rubene
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Pedagogy, Psychology and Art, University of Latvia, LV-1586 Riga, Latvia‎
Interests: the history and philosophy of education and childhood; digital childhood; digital transformation of education; transversal competencies; critical thinking

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Education is currently undergoing a rapid transformation to meet the challenges and opportunities of digitalization. It is clear that as technology advances, it is increasingly being used in the educational environment to change different dimensions of the educational system. We currently know many different ways in which Advanced Learning Technologies (ALTs) can be used and will inevitably continue to expand and evolve as new technological solutions emerge. Advances in technology have made it possible for educatonal institutions to use digital learning materials, learning management systems, VR/AR solutions that help organize the study process, analyze data, and offer opportunities for all form of  learning. However, as technology advances further, the fact remains that this transformation process will be endless and that organizational forms of learning, the learning content to be mastered, and digital competences must be continuously developed to take full advantage of these advances and to ensure sustainable education. On the one hand, it may seem that technological solutions provide opportunities for learning whenever and wherever an individual wants, but on the other hand, it is clear that human learning is a purposeful process that is leading to the emergence of various challenges that demonstrate that technology and digital solutions alone do not impart learning. In order to harness the enormous potential of the use of technology, it is necessary to develop new and innovative pedagogical concepts to promote the use of technological advances to add value to student learning outcomes. It is also essential to create synergies between technology opportunities, education systems, curriculum provision and pedagogical strategies

These are all areas in which one has to work and study and be open to different opportunities while analyzing data and forecasting future trends in order to ensure sustainable education.

This special issue will be dedicated to topical issues of digital solutions for sustainable education learning. It will establish an environment where to discuss ideas, problems, challenges and innovative solutions for changes in education which are brought by advanced technologies.

Indicative topics of interest:

  • Education policies for digital transformation
  • Pedagogical solutions of technology enhanced learning
  • Distance and remote learning
  • Digital technologies and inclusive education
  • Cognitive processes in cyberspace
  • Socioemotional competencies in cyberspace
  • Technological solutions to support distance and remote learning
  • Academia-industry collaborations for digitalization of education
  • Shared curriculum and programs across scientific borders for sustainable education
  • Case studies of educational innovations
  • Gamification of education
  • Research methodology of digital transformations

Prof. Linda Daniela
Dr. Visvizi Anna
Prof. Zanda Rubene
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 papers will be 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 single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability 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 1900 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

  • sustainable education
  • digital technologies
  • smart pedagogy
  • distance learning
  • remote learning
  • policy recommendation
  • research methodology

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Self-Assessment of the Entrepreneurial Competence of Teacher Education Students in the Remote Study Process
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6424; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116424 - 04 Jun 2021
Viewed by 601
Abstract
Competence-based education has been in the spotlight for several years, and it is a topical issue in the European Union as well as marking the reform of the Latvian education system. The Council of the EU considers entrepreneurial competence to be one of [...] Read more.
Competence-based education has been in the spotlight for several years, and it is a topical issue in the European Union as well as marking the reform of the Latvian education system. The Council of the EU considers entrepreneurial competence to be one of the key competences for lifelong learning, and Latvia’s school reforms require teachers to create a study process where students develop entrepreneurial competence. This publication presents research on the self-assessed entrepreneurial competence of teacher education students to find out whether there is any correlation between their assessment of entrepreneurial competence and their readiness/ability to develop this competence in their students, as well as which methods/activities they see as suitable to do so in the classroom and the remote study process. An online survey using the QuestionPro platform was used to collect the data. The questionnaire was fully completed by 157 pedagogy students from various higher education institutions, and it consisted of four question blocks: demographic and socio-cultural questions, entrepreneurial competence, digital competence, and open-ended questions. The data provided by the questionnaire developed for this research showed that students’ self-assessed entrepreneurial competence in a remote study process rated their digital competences highest, followed by their entrepreneurial competences. The results indicate that students are sufficiently prepared to be able to further develop their entrepreneurial competence in the remote study process. From the data, it can be concluded that higher education needs to focus on the development of entrepreneurial competence and should also supplement the methodological knowledge of students to improve their readiness to teach entrepreneurial competences to others. It should also be noted that there is a strong correlation between students’ entrepreneurial competence and their readiness to teach entrepreneurial competences to others. An online survey using the QuestionPro platform was used to collect the data. The questionnaire was fully completed by 157 pedagogy students from various higher education institutions, and it consisted of four question blocks: demographic and socio-cultural questions, entrepreneurial competence, digital competence, and open-ended questions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Technologies for Sustainable Education)
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Article
Parents’ Perspectives on Remote Learning in the Pandemic Context
Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 3640; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073640 - 25 Mar 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1420
Abstract
In the spring of 2020, when the entire education system worldwide switched to distance learning, parents became key learning agents, helping students to understand how to continue learning, how to use digital solutions and how to support students in this process. This article [...] Read more.
In the spring of 2020, when the entire education system worldwide switched to distance learning, parents became key learning agents, helping students to understand how to continue learning, how to use digital solutions and how to support students in this process. This article summarizes parents’ views on the distance learning process and the challenges they faced. This is part of a larger study carried out within the project “Life with COVID-19: Evaluation of the overcoming coronavirus crisis in Latvia and recommendations for social resilience in the future” (CoLife), which was launched in Latvia in the summer of 2020 and analyzed what digital learning tools schools can use to support students in their learning. Parents’ views on 738 school-age children (313 responses about 1st–4th graders; 362 responses for 5th–9th graders and 63 responses for 10th–12th graders) were obtained, and the main conclusions were that after parents became learning agents, they would have liked more support from educators to understand how to support their children in the learning process. Parents would also have liked schools to be interested in how their children are doing and whether everything necessary is available. Overall, it can be concluded that in this crisis, parents tried to support their children, and in most cases, it was the mothers of the students who provided this support, but it was primarily based on the need to use digital technologies, which means that children whose parents do not use digital technologies may be more exposed to the danger of falling into a risk group with larger educational gaps. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Technologies for Sustainable Education)
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