Special Issues

Education 4.0: A Practical Pillar Framework for Intelligent Learning Ecosystems

Information for This Special Issue 

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, “Education 4.0: A Practical Pillar Framework for Intelligent Learning Ecosystems”, aims to explore the systemic architectures that define Education 4.0 within the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Aligned with Industry 4.0´s technological convergence, this collection examines how educational institutions can structure intelligent ecosystems through the strategic integration of personalization, immersive technologies, active methodologies, predictive analytics, and global collaboration, with particular relevance for countries undergoing rapid technological development which implemented their National Industry 4.0 Program.

General Focus

The central objective is to map the essential structural components of intelligent learning ecosystems and analyze their interdependent dynamics. The issue welcomes contributions that develop practical implementation frameworks, scalable institutional architectures, and technological governance models for Education 4.0, covering preschool, basic, secondary, and higher education levels, as well as professional and corporate training.

The scope includes empirical studies, systematic reviews, institutional case studies, and comparative analyses that explore:

  • Multi-level integration of emerging technologies in diverse educational contexts 
  • Governance models and policies for intelligent ecosystems
  • Teacher training strategies and institutional digital literacy
  • Systemic impact assessment and technological sustainability architectures

Relationship with the Existing Literature

While Education 4.0 literature is abundant in specific technological applications, this special issue privileges holistic approaches that articulate multiple dimensions within a cohesive structural pillar framework. It differentiates itself from isolated studies by exploring intersections between intelligent personalization, immersive environments, active pedagogy, predictive intelligence, and distributed collaboration, creating integrated models applicable to different educational realities.

Contribution to Sustainable Development

Education 4.0, as an intelligent ecosystem, positions itself as strategic infrastructure for the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 4 (Quality Education). This issue examines how structured frameworks can democratize access to excellence in learning, optimize institutional resources, and prepare adaptive competencies for global challenges, promoting educational equity and systemic sustainable innovation.

Topics

The issue welcomes contributions in the following thematic areas:

Technological and Architectural Pillars:

  • Adaptive personalization and intelligent learning pathways
  • Extended reality and immersive pedagogical environments
  • Educational analytics and institutional predictive intelligence
  • Global collaborative platforms and distributed co-creation

Pedagogical and Methodological Dimensions:

  • Active methodologies and competency-based learning
  • Instructional design for hybrid ecosystems
  • Real-time formative assessment and intelligent feedback
  • Gamification and large-scale micro credentialing

Institutional Management and Policies:

  • Governance architectures for Educational Technology
  • Scalable implementation strategies (pilot → system)
  • ROI models and technological sustainability
  • Integration with national and European digital education policies

Training and Human Ecosystems:

  • Teacher digital literacy and continuous training
  • Academic leadership for 4.0 transformation
  • Public-private partnerships in intelligent education
  • Ethics and privacy in educational data ecosystems

Conclusion

This Special Issue aims to consolidate Education 4.0 as a structural discipline of the 21st century, providing conceptual and practical frameworks for building intelligent learning ecosystems. We invite researchers from all areas of education and technology to contribute works that transcend isolated technological demonstrations, proposing systemic architectures that truly transform contemporary educational models.

 

Guest Editor

Dr. Abílio Afonso Lourenço

University of Minho, Portugal

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6920-0412

privadoxy@gmail.com

 

Manuscript Submission

Manuscripts must be submitted online through Educational Point's manuscript submission system. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are subject to peer review. Accepted articles will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles, and short communications are invited. For planned papers, the title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor should they be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are rigorously evaluated through a single-blind peer-review process. The guide for authors and other relevant submission information is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Educational Point (www.educationalpoint.net) is an international, open-access, peer-reviewed journal.

Please consult the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. Submitted papers must be well formatted and use correct English.

Keywords

Education 4.0; Intelligent learning ecosystems; Industry 4.0; Adaptive personalisation; Immersive technologies; Learning analytics; Active methodologies; Educational governance; Teacher digital literacy.

 

Sustainable Development Goals

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue:

  • Enhanced navigation: Grouping articles by theme helps researchers navigate broad-scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater visibility: Special Issues increase the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited.
  • Research network expansion: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are frequently promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: Educational Point offers the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, online and in print. (if it is the journal's practice).

Proposed Schedule

The following schedule is proposed for the Special Issue, totally flexible and adjustable according to the availability and interests of Educational Point:

  • Abstract submission deadline: 30 April 2026
  • Full papers deadline: 31 October 2026
  • Publication: January 2027