
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) focuses on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. The United Nations highlighted the importance of harnessing the digital revolution to benefit public education. Consequently, many countries are placing significant emphasis on digital education, actively developing national-level policy frameworks that utilize next-generation digital technologies to transform educational practices. In this context, smart education has emerged as a key component in national planning documents, aiming to promote educational equity and enhance the quality of education.
Following the joint UNESCO project on Rethinking and Redesigning National Smart Education Strategy (SmartEDU) initiated by UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE), Commonwealth of Learning (COL), International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Higher School of Economics (HSE), Beijing Normal University (BNU) since August 2020, this report aims to consolidate the global understanding of smart education in the context of digital transformation. We aim to investigate diverse perspectives from different countries and regions to build a global consensus, pinpoint the key areas of digital education policies for the advancement of smart education worldwide, illustrate the state of smart education through public datasets, and promote inclusiveness and equity within the realm of smart education.
Furthermore, this report strives to support educators, researchers, and practitioners in adapting and implementing smart education within their own contexts. We aspire to collaborate more closely with all partners to advance our shared mission, particularly in this digital education transformation times.