Transforming Global Education Through AI and Emerging Technologies

We invite submissions for a Research Topic of Frontiers in Computer Science on Transforming Education through Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies. This Research Topic highlights innovative, interdisciplinary, and equity-oriented research exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) and related emerging technologies are reshaping education worldwide. We seek contributions that investigate the evolving role of AI in teaching and learning across subjects such as mathematics, science, computer science, computational thinking, engineering, and robotics.

As generative AI and other emerging tools become increasingly embedded in classrooms and learners’ experiences, pressing questions emerge for educators, researchers, and policymakers: What knowledge and skills will be most essential for learners in the future? How can novices and experts be supported to engage productively with these technologies? How do we ensure equitable access and meaningful participation across communities and educational systems? What foundational understanding of AI is necessary for preparing teachers and students? How can educators collaborate with AI tools in ways that enhance the human dimensions of teaching and learning?

This Research Topic offers a platform for scholarship that explores new tools and frameworks while providing evidence of meaningful implementation in real-world contexts. We encourage submissions from classroom-based studies, design-based research, and critical policy analyses, among other approaches.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Futures and Methods
• Future-oriented and speculative research design to anticipate new pedagogies and skills in an AI-rich society.
• Historical and comparative analyses of past educational technologies (e.g., robotics, VR, coding platforms) to identify enduring innovations versus transient hype.

Teaching and Learning
• Development and implementation of integrated curriculum that supports understanding of AI fundamentals and/or leverages AI to enhance teaching and learning across diverse learning environments.
• Examination of how learners at different levels (novices vs. experts) engage with generative AI tools across subject areas.
• Use of AI-powered dashboards and real-time data to support responsive teaching and learner-centered decision-making.
• Investigations into motivation and educator adoption and uptake of AI tools.
• Exploration of computational thinking and computer science skills in a world where AI can now generate code or automate tasks.

Equity and Systems
• Exploring how unequal access to AI tools shapes learning outcomes, assessments, and competitive pressures in schooling.
• Analyses of how school, district, and/or national policies shape interpretation and implementation of AI and other emerging technologies in practice.

Human and Philosophical Dimensions
• Investigations into the evolving role of human presence in education alongside AI tools and avatars, such as how students and teachers perceive AI-generated feedback, interact with human-like personas, and navigate questions of authenticity when digital systems supplement or substitute for human engagement.
• Exploration of the implications of AI as a cognitive partner and/or tool.
• Critical and philosophical perspectives on whether education should prioritize using tools effectively, building transferable knowledge, or preparing learners to navigate societies saturated with AI.

We welcome contributions that feature real-world implementation, offer comparative or cross-cultural insights, and critically examine both opportunities and challenges. Through this Research Topic, we aim to investigate how AI is reshaping educational landscapes worldwide while centering human agency, equity, and innovation.

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, Human–Media Interaction, Generative AI, Equity and Access, Computational Thinking

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.