As the driving force of global educational transformation, digital education functions as a pragmatic vehicle for technology-driven innovation and a strategic path for advancing educational equity and fostering high-quality development. The Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (2024) issued the Shanghai call for cooperation on digital education, which underscored the imperative to ensure that digital education benefited everyone fairly and collaboratively advanced the United Nations’ 2030 sustainable development goals. Reshaping the educational ecosystem through digital transformation, deepening the integration of teaching and AI technologies, and building an open, inclusive, and intelligent learning system have increasingly become a global consensus.In response to this global imperative, Frontiers of Digital Education has consistently been tracking and reflecting international development in this field. Aiming to capture the forefront of international academic discourse and innovation, the journal launched a pioneering research project titled Digital Education Fronts 2025. This project aspires to provide intellectual leadership, contribute to the construction of a global digital education discourse, and promote practical innovation in this field.The project was spearheaded by the journal’s editorial office in collaboration with Clarivate and supported by a multidisciplinary research team. Utilizing a dataset of nearly 60,000 academic papers on digital education published worldwide from 2019 to 2024, the team conducted a comprehensive scientometric analysis using Clarivate’s advanced analytical tools, combined with in-depth exploration by educational technology scholars. This process identified 66 significant thematic clusters, which were further refined through multiple rounds of expert review by a cross-disciplinary panel of scholars specializing in education, AI, and library and information science, ultimately resulting in the selection of the top 10 critical fronts presented in this report.This report consists of 3 main sections: Section 1 outlines the research framework, including the methodologies for data integration, the mechanisms of cross-institutional collaboration, and the procedures for topic selection; Section 2 provides a global research landscape in digital education; Section 3 focuses on the top 10 critical fronts and offers detailed insights supported by empirical cases and trend forecasting. These are interpreted through multiple perspectives, including technological iteration, policy coordination, and emergent ethical challenges. This report encapsulates a midterm analysis of global advancements in digital education and offers a forward-looking analysis of cutting-edge technologies, such as generative AI and immersive learning environments, as well as their applications in education. It serves as a strategic reference for educational digitalization over the next 5 to 10 years.The identification, interpretation, and projection of research hotspots in digital education depend on coordinated innovation. Through this project, the editorial team has advanced the journal’s mission to foster high-impact academic publishing, develop a specialized international academic platform, and refine its institutional infrastructure. It extends its heartfelt appreciation to all collaborating institutions and scholars, both domestic and foreign, for their invaluable contributions to this project.

Digital Education Fronts 2025

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发表日期：

2025年7月31日

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摘要

As the driving force of global educational transformation, digital education functions as a pragmatic vehicle for technology-driven innovation and a strategic path for advancing educational equity and fostering high-quality development. The Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (2024) issued the Shanghai call for cooperation on digital education, which underscored the imperative to ensure that digital education benefited everyone fairly and collaboratively advanced the United Nations’ 2030 sustainable development goals. Reshaping the educational ecosystem through digital transformation, deepening the integration of teaching and AI technologies, and building an open, inclusive, and intelligent learning system have increasingly become a global consensus.

In response to this global imperative, Frontiers of Digital Education has consistently been tracking and reflecting international development in this field. Aiming to capture the forefront of international academic discourse and innovation, the journal launched a pioneering research project titled Digital Education Fronts 2025. This project aspires to provide intellectual leadership, contribute to the construction of a global digital education discourse, and promote practical innovation in this field.

The project was spearheaded by the journal’s editorial office in collaboration with Clarivate and supported by a multidisciplinary research team. Utilizing a dataset of nearly 60,000 academic papers on digital education published worldwide from 2019 to 2024, the team conducted a comprehensive scientometric analysis using Clarivate’s advanced analytical tools, combined with in-depth exploration by educational technology scholars. This process identified 66 significant thematic clusters, which were further refined through multiple rounds of expert review by a cross-disciplinary panel of scholars specializing in education, AI, and library and information science, ultimately resulting in the selection of the top 10 critical fronts presented in this report.

This report consists of 3 main sections: Section 1 outlines the research framework, including the methodologies for data integration, the mechanisms of cross-institutional collaboration, and the procedures for topic selection; Section 2 provides a global research landscape in digital education; Section 3 focuses on the top 10 critical fronts and offers detailed insights supported by empirical cases and trend forecasting. These are interpreted through multiple perspectives, including technological iteration, policy coordination, and emergent ethical challenges. This report encapsulates a midterm analysis of global advancements in digital education and offers a forward-looking analysis of cutting-edge technologies, such as generative AI and immersive learning environments, as well as their applications in education. It serves as a strategic reference for educational digitalization over the next 5 to 10 years.

The identification, interpretation, and projection of research hotspots in digital education depend on coordinated innovation. Through this project, the editorial team has advanced the journal’s mission to foster high-impact academic publishing, develop a specialized international academic platform, and refine its institutional infrastructure. It extends its heartfelt appreciation to all collaborating institutions and scholars, both domestic and foreign, for their invaluable contributions to this project.