Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies for Inclusive and Innovative Education

In recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies have driven significant changes in education, offering new ways to support teaching and learning for diverse populations. As classrooms become increasingly heterogeneous, housing students with different cognitive profiles, physical abilities, sociocultural backgrounds, and access to digital resources, the need for inclusive and human-centered educational solutions with AI-based technological components becomes ever more pressing. Advances made in recent years in computer science areas such as deep learning, computer vision, multimodal interaction, and intelligent tutors provide opportunities to create adaptive and personalized learning experiences capable of responding to individual needs from the perspective of multidisciplinary teams. These innovations can potentially democratize access to quality education, especially for students from traditionally marginalized or underserved communities.

This Research Topic explores how new advances based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies can be leveraged to foster inclusive and innovative education in diverse learning environments. As education systems increasingly face disparities in access, ability, and participation, there is an urgent need for equitable, human-centered solutions that address the diverse needs of students. This includes students with disabilities, those from marginalized communities, those with diverse linguistic backgrounds, and those who face barriers due to their geography or socioeconomic status.

To compile interdisciplinary research highlighting how AI-based tools (such as adaptive learning platforms, intelligent tutor systems, NLP-based feedback, and multimodal interfaces) can create personalized, accessible, and meaningful learning experiences. Focusing on inclusion and innovation, this Research Topic seeks to identify avenues to democratize access to AI tools, reduce learning gaps, and empower educators and students through emerging technologies.

This Research Topic invites original research, systematic reviews, case studies, and theoretical contributions that examine the design, development, and impact of AI and emerging technologies in inclusive educational contexts. We are especially interested in works that focus on:

- AI-powered personalized and adaptive learning systems
- Assistive technologies for students with disabilities
- Multilingual or culturally responsive educational tools
- Natural language (AI and deep learning) processing for accessible content generation
- Learning analytics for equity and early intervention
- Applications of multimodal learning environments

Submissions may address K-12, higher education, or lifelong learning contexts. We welcome applied and theoretical contributions, including studies involving co-design with marginalized groups and innovative pedagogical models enabled by technology. Authors should aim to demonstrate how their work contributes to more inclusive, effective, and equitable education systems.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Registered Report
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence in Education, Inclusive Learning, Human-Centered Computing, Adaptive Learning Systems, Universal Design for Learning, Assistive Technologies, Cognitive Diversity, AI-generated Educational Content

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.