Maria Perifanou has announced the Call for Papers for a Special Issue in the Educational Technology Research and Development (ETRD) Journal on Generative AI and the Future of K–12 Education.
The issut aims to advance research, theory, and practice on the responsible, sustainable, and ethical use of GenAI in K-12 education, promoting the significance of human agency within GenAI implementations. It invites contributions that explore and discuss the ethical equity and policy dimensions of GenAI adoption in K-12 educational contexts. Submissions may include theoretical reviews discussing frameworks, theoretical and conceptual analyses, ethical implications, empirical studies, and critical reviews. Collectively, these contributions are intended to help shape a research agenda that supports educators, researchers, and policymakers in leveraging GenAI ethically and effectively to advance K–12 teaching and learning. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Concepts and Frameworks: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses examining the sustainable and ethical use of GenAI in K-12 education.

• Ethical Implications: Analyses of the ethical dimensions and broader implications of GenAI use in K-12 contexts, with particular attention to equity, inclusion, and access – ensuring that AI benefits diverse learners while mitigating bias and inequality.

• Empirical studies: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research exploring AI ethics and human agency in K-12 educational settings.

• Design implications and solutions: Human-centred and ethically informed design of AI-powered tools and technology-enhanced learning settings.

• Curriculum Integration and Student Agency: Strategies for promoting the ethical and responsible use of GenAI in K-12 curricula across subjects, fostering student creativity, agency, and critical engagement with AI tools.

Submission Guidelines

Authors should submit a proposal, in the form of a 500–750 word abstract, a tentative title, author(s) information, keywords, and references along with an outline by January 31, 2026. Early submissions are encouraged.

Abstracts submissions and details should be emailed to the Corresponding Guest Editor: Panagiotis Kosmas, panagiotis.kosmas@uol.ac.cy

About the image

The Horizon II was part of the Tipping Point exhibition held in summer 2025 in Edinburgh. Tipping Point explores how artists can help us more wisely respond to the present realities and near-future horizons of AI. Wesley's 'The Horizon' offers glimpse into a possible near-future of post-abundance computation that also shows us how to better use the tools we have today. This image deconstructs the hardware that can be used in AI applications and its relationship to people and societies. It invites viewers to contemplate potential implications of components like visual or audio recognition, and reflect on the experiences of the people living with them. Tipping Point was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and delivered by BRAID in partnership with Inspace at the Institute for Design Informatics, with support from Better Images of AI. Photographed by Chris Scott.