Digital Technologies in Education: Empowering Teachers and Learners for Collective Well-Being

Dear Colleagues,

Historically, notions of collective well-being have been evident throughout many societies, both literate and non-literate. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, its implications came into sharper global focus, with digital technology serving as a lifeline for community connectivity. For many communities, resilience emerged as a shared experience. The experience of connectivity was not universal, however, with many populations left disenfranchised, existing divides deepening, and new divides forming. This raises a host of questions concerning the scope of innovation. What does this mean for teaching and learning? Adding further complexity, the disruption triggered by generative AI in this last year suggests that effective and sustained responses may take time to emerge.

In the contemporary context, sustainability has arguably emerged as the word of the decade, becoming a term that now has a much wider reach than environmental issues and the pivotal message of UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG4 commits to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”.  This is a clear goal, but such aspirations were articulated long before the change of the millennium. Moreover, digital technology has often been seen as part of the solution, as with one laptop per child, the hole in the wall and other related initiatives. The issue is that such initiatives have not been sustainable. What then might help create more durable solutions? And how is individual and societal well-being considered in the midst of ongoing advancements in digital innovation? How do we meaningfully prepare for future waves of disruption? Will the aggregate impact only widen existing divides? Are ‘lighthouse’ innovations emerging?

This Special Issue calls for papers that address these topics with an over-arching focus on promoting collective well-being. What is already working? What programs are positioned to achieve such goals? What ‘good news’ stories provide insight and evidence that might guide others?

Dr. Jon Mason
Prof. Dr. Maureen Robinson
Dr. Shitanshu Mishra
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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.

• well-being
• digital technology
• global citizenship
• SDGs
• innovation
• disruption
• education
• learning
• e-learning
• frameworks