Social Network Analysis, Education, and Sustainability

Dear Colleagues,

Of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations, SDG4 focuses on education and aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” To achieve SDG4, many novel approaches and methods have been integrated into education, of which Social Network Analysis (SNA) is an important one. SNA has been increasingly adopted in different areas in educational research (e.g., e-learning, education policy, medical education, learning analytics, complex dynamic systems, and educational data mining).

SNA is useful for understanding educators and students’ experiences and outcomes in various educational contexts (e.g., online learning, classroom social interaction, collaborative learning, peer relations and learning networks, social media use and learning, and student mobility). By understanding these important factors, educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders can work together more effectively to promote sustainability and create a better future for all. 

This Special Issue aims to address various research gaps in SNA, education, and sustainability. It encourages contributions drawing on different perspectives and employing different approaches and methods (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods).

This Special Issue welcomes both original research articles and reviews. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

- SNA in e-learning, education policy, medical education, learning analytics, complex dynamic systems, and educational data mining;

- SNA and online learning, classroom social interaction, collaborative learning, social entrepreneurship learning, peer relations and learning networks, social media use and learning, and student mobility;

-SNA and collaborations between education, government, and private and civil society actors advocating for and promoting sustainability;

- Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods SNA;

- Education and sustainability.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Feifei Han
Dr. Dan Chamberlain
Guest Editors

Dr. Feifei Han
Dr. Dan Chamberlain
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 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 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.

• social network analysis
• e-learning environments
• education policy
• medical education
• learning analytics
• complex dynamic systems
• educational data mining
• classroom social interaction
• collaborative learning
• social entrepreneurship learning
• social media
• sustainable learning and education
• qualitative
• quantitative
• mixed methods