Call for papers SPECIAL ISSUE: Flexible learning itineraries. Digital technologies for personalisation and educational inclusion.

Keywords: Personalised Learning, Personal Learning Environments, Flexible Learning Pathways, Agency

Coordinators of the special thematic section

• Jesús Salinas, Universitat de les Illes Balears. jesus.salinas@uib.es
• Alexandra Lizana, Centro de Enseñanza Superior Alberta Giménez (Affiliated with Universidad Pontificia Comillas). alizana@cesag.org

Publication date: September 2025

Deadline for submission of contributions: 30/04/2025

INTRODUCTION

Personalised learning has emerged as a central theme in both educational research and pedagogical practice. The challenge of addressing the individual needs of students becomes evident within a traditional model, limiting the possibility of providing personalised support from teachers. This context has driven the development of approaches and tools aimed at adapting the teaching-learning process to individual characteristics, rhythms, and motivations, with a particular emphasis on the role of educational technology as a key facilitator in this transformation. The issue arises concerning how to meet the diverse needs, interests, abilities, cognitive styles, and learning styles.

Throughout history, multiple efforts have been made to employ technology as a means to promote personalised learning. The incorporation of technological tools in this area seeks to adapt educational processes to the individual needs and characteristics of students, addressing this task from various perspectives. Notable among these are the design of algorithms capable of responding to individual differences, the implementation of learning analytics, the use of educational recommendation systems, the integration of chatbots, and more recently, the application of technologies based on generative artificial intelligence. These innovations represent significant progress in the quest for a more equitable and personalised education, supported by the transformative potential of technology.

Another aspect of this personalisation refers to the cultivation of personal competencies related to autonomy, agency, and the construction and maintenance of one’s own personal learning environment, with greater personalisation of hands-on experiences, either by improving didactic methodologies or adjusting their design to the needs and characteristics of users, considering teachers as designers.

In this dynamic of self-regulated and independent learning, where a multitude of concepts sometimes overlap, various models have emerged from different research efforts to contribute to the adequacy of teaching-learning processes. These possibilities, in increasingly open environments, can help meet the needs of the vast majority of students, leading to environments based on flexible learning pathways.

The current challenge facing teachers is to create learning environments enriched by technologies to provide an inclusive and quality educational response to all students.

This special thematic section aims to explore the multiple dimensions of personalisation in teaching and learning with digital technology, examining how digital tools and platforms can enhance personalisation and the challenges related to their implementation for different educational agents, as well as the obstacles that may hinder the application of these opportunities.

Topics or lines of interest

Proposals are invited on topics that include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Personalisation and agency: Investigate how digital technologies support personalised learning pathways that enhance agency.
• New applications for personalisation and recommendation in digital environments.
• Experiences of personalised learning through digital technologies.
• Design of flexible learning itineraries that adapt the teaching-learning process based on dimensions of personalisation.
• Design of learning sequences adapted to the needs and characteristics of students.
• Ethical considerations: Examine the ethical implications of digital technology on student autonomy.
• Dimensions involved in the personalisation of student learning.
• Equity and access: Address the digital divide by adapting and ensuring that all students can fully participate in digital learning.
• Experiences based on the analysis of the use of digital technologies by students and teachers regarding the personalisation of the teaching-learning process.
• Considerations on user-device interaction in the design of personalised learning experiences to improve interaction and interface.
• Identification of common patterns in the use of different digital technologies to implement personalised learning pathways.
• Linking experiences in formal, non-formal, and informal learning personalisation.

This special thematic section aims to shed light on the complexity of enhancing personalisation in teaching and learning through innovative approaches, theoretical perspectives, and practical applications related to the adaptability of learning in technology-mediated educational environments, based on students' needs.

Important dates

• Start date for submission of papers: 15/12/2024
• Deadline for submission of papers: 30/04/2025
• Publication date: September 2025

About the Coordinators Jesús Salinas Ibáñez

Principal researcher of the Educational Technology Group and Professor in the Department of Applied Pedagogy and Educational Psychology at the Universitat de les Illes Balears. He has led various R&D projects on digital technologies, higher education, and virtual teaching-learning environments at national, European, and international levels. He has coordinated interuniversity cooperation and scientific research projects and networks with different countries.

Scientific evaluator for various Spanish and Latin American agencies. Reviewer for journals, especially in Educational Technology. His research interests include e-learning, flexible education, flexible learning pathways with concept maps, self-regulated learning, e-learning design, and personal learning environments.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3043-8455

List of Publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=es&user=0SHWBuoAAAAJ

Alexandra Lizana Carrió

Doctor in Educational Technology and graduate in Pedagogy (specialised in School Pedagogy). She is a researcher in the Educational Technology Research Group (GTE) at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) and the Research Group in Technology, Education, and Diversity (GITED). She is part of the Department of General Didactics and Educational Theories at the Centro de Enseñanza Superior Alberta Giménez (affiliated with Universidad Pontificia Comillas).

She teaches in the Bachelor's degrees of Early Childhood Education and Primary Education. She has also collaborated as a lecturer with the National University of Patagonia Austral (UNPA), the UOC, and the Universitat d'Andorra.

She is part of the experts in the Educational Centres Advisory Plan (PACE), aiming to empower teachers in relation to knowledge management enriched by ICT. She has participated in various international, national, and regional projects on research and educational innovation. Her research line focuses on the capture, representation, and transfer of knowledge among teachers, as well as good educational practices.

She has made various contributions to national and international journals and conferences. She has also designed different educational materials for both public and private entities. From 2017 to 2021, she was the Coordinator of the Municipal Education Service for Adult People at the Palma City Council.

Currently, she is the coordinator of the Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education at CESAG.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8557-3139

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Original contributions will be accepted, written in Spanish or English, of the following types:

• Research project reports, maximum length 5000-6500 words.
• Evaluated and verified innovation experiences that can be transferred to other contexts or situations, maximum length 5000-6500 words.
• Essays and theoretical works involving systematic theoretical reviews, maximum length 5000-6500 words.

Contributions must be submitted through the designated management system by selecting the special thematic section: Flexible Learning Pathways.