The field of education is not immune to advances in sophisticated information and communication technology (ICT). Going beyond the ICT-hype, the objective of this paper is to examine to what extent and how technology-enhanced teaching and learning (TEL) can enhance teaching and learning and, hence, turn them into levers of sustainable socio-economic growth and development. To address these questions, a multidimensional survey was developed and distributed internationally to lecturers/professors active in the field of higher education. The initial point of departure for this study was consistent with the well-referenced in the literature thesis that TEL has profound value added in view of enhancing the teaching and learning process. Yet, as the outcomes of the survey underpinning the discussion in this paper suggest, there is much more is at stake than that. Indeed, it is argued that several conditions need to be fulfilled if technology is to serve as a benefit, and not an obstacle to teaching and learning, and thus boost the delivery of quality education. This paper outlines them.which suggests that an intrinsic, albeit contentious, link exists between education and the ICT industry. Considering that the objective of research is to expand our knowledge and understanding of the world around us and to make research findings usable to all stakeholders, the interesting question is whether and how the inroad of technology in the field of education is of value to our societies.Quality education is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) approved at the United Nations (UN) forum in 2015 [10]. In an attempt to go beyond the success of the Millennium Development Goals, the SDGs put forth the imperative to "ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning" [10]. Quality education may be the key lever of sustainable development [9,11,12] around the world, i.e., including the developing and the developed world. In this view, the access to, the role, and the potential of the use of technology in teaching and learning become more than a slogan. Indeed, the definition of inclusive education [13] points out to the decisive role of technology-enhanced education vis-à-vis boosting technological innovativeness, strengthening the economy, enhancing awareness of environmental sustainability, and ultimately empowering people to secure their wellbeing. Undoubtedly, the inroad of technology in the field of education yields a great promise. As the use of ICT in classroom matures and so the debate on it, it is necessary to get back to basics, and going beyond the ICT-hype, to examine to what extent and how TEL can effectively add to teaching and learning, and, consequently, to the imperative of quality education and sustainable growth and development. To address these questions and concerns, a multidimensional international survey was run. The discussion in this paper draws from insights collected in this way and queries them. The reminder of the paper is structured as follows. Following a brief literat...

This study investigates the role played by parents as mediators of young children's access and engagement with digital technologies. In Belgium, Germany, Latvia and Portugal, qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 families in each country, including one child between 6 and 7 years old. Our findings show that parents of young children mainly play the role of 'gatekeepers' when it comes to facilitating and constraining access to and use of digital technologies. Parents' perceptions of the efficacy of digital technologies as responsible entertainment and as educational tools influence the technologies available at home and

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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.

Social networks research has grown exponentially over the past decade. Subsequent empirical and conceptual advances have been transposed in the field of education. As the debate on delivering better education for all gains momentum, the big question is how to integrate advances in social networks research, corresponding advances in information and communication technology (ICT) and effectively employ them in the domain of education. To address this question, this paper proposes a conceptual framework (maturity model) that integrates social network research, the debate on technology-enhanced learning (TEL) and the emerging concept of smart education.

It has been quite a long time since S. Papert introduced the idea that children should be involved in the use of computers in the learning process to support the development of computational thinking. Nowadays, educational robotics is introduced in different dimensions of education, but mostly it is used as part of a compulsory educational process in nonformal educational activities, in activities to reduce the risks of early school leaving, and in initiatives introduced by some projects where different aspects of educational robotics are tested in activities with students who have diverse special needs. But till now robotics has mostly been associated with the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and outcomes of educational robotics are measured through the prism of improved knowledge in STEM subjects. In this special issue, journal researchers provide results on ER in the context of inclusive education.

Virtual solutions for exhibiting museum collections are no longer a novelty, as such experiences already exist in the world, but the remote use of museum collections for learning purposes has so far not been widely used in the educational environment. This article analyzes virtual museum applications by evaluating them from a learning perspective, including 25 criteria in the evaluation rubric divided into three groups: (i) Technical performance; (ii) information architecture; and (iii) educational value. This will enable educators to select the most appropriate material for their specific learning purpose and to plan the most appropriate learning strategies by organizing training sessions to acquire knowledge that can be enhanced by museum information and teaching students digital skills in evaluating information available in the digital environment, analyzing its pros and cons to teach them how to develop new innovative solutions. The research is carried out from a phenomenological perspective; to be more precise, virtual museums are analyzed using the principles of transcendental design and a hermeneutic design is used to interpret the resulting data. A total of 36 applications of virtual museums were analyzed, whereupon the results were compiled using static data analysis software, while 13 applications were used for the hermeneutic data analysis. The results suggest that the strength of virtual museums is in information architecture, but less attention is paid to the educational value of the material, which points to the need to change the principles of virtual museum design and emphasizes the role of teachers in using virtual museums as learning agents.

The inroads of sophisticated technologies and related applications in the field of education trigger several developments related not only to the processes of managing education institutions across levels and domains but also pertaining to approaches to teaching and learning. As advances in technology impact all aspects of life, when adopting and adapting to these advances, the education sector is expected to respond to issues and processes that current technological revolution triggers in the entire society. Hence, effective and forward-looking manner of managing technological advances in the education sector today is a necessity to ensure sustainability of that sector in the future. The objective of this Special Issue was to reflect on these issues, to identify the key questions that have to be addressed in this context, and to encourage new critical insights into these developments.