ECTEL 2026 (European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning) is a ICORE B / QUALIS B2 conference held in Valencia, Spain on 2026-09-14. The paper submission deadline is 2026-03-20 (extended). Acceptance notifications are sent on 2026-05-31.
The European Conference on Technology-Enhanced Learning (ECTEL) engages researchers, practitioners, educational developers, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and policy makers to address current challenges and advances in the field. ECTEL 2026 will take place on 14-18 September 2026 in Valencia, Spain. ECTEL 2026 will be a face-to-face conference.
Theme
As technology and increasingly artificial intelligence shapes how we learn, teach, and research, the challenge for the TEL community is to ensure that innovation remains purposeful and grounded in learning theories and robust evidence. The theme of ECTEL 2026 invites research work that pairs scientific rigor with reflective awareness: studies that advance the design and understanding of learning technologies while keeping human values, agency and educational purpose at the center.
This orientation echoes wider European work on digital citizenship in education, where technologies are framed as tools to empower learners, defend human rights and strengthen democracy (Council of Europe, 2023). At the same time, the Artificial Intelligence Act (EU) 2024/1689 explicitly classifies AI systems in education as “high-risk”, particularly those that assign, assess or monitor learners. This tension reminds us that learning technologies, including AI, are not neutral or inevitable, but must remain deliberate choices shaping the educational futures we want.
Against this backdrop, Mindful TEL: Learning Technologies Shaped with Intention calls for research that is not just effective, but meaningful; devised and studied with intention, to enrich learning and shape education’s digital future. With decades of experience and deep, interdisciplinary expertise, the ECTEL community is eminently equipped to lead the way.
Conference Topics
We invite submissions that advance and reflect on our understanding of Technology-Enhanced Learning through the lens of purposeful design, rigorous inquiry and human-centred innovation. The topics are structured under the following four broad thematic lenses, each open to multiple research methodologies, learning contexts, and technological forms. Submissions may address but are not limited to the following:
1. Theoretical, methodological and empirical foundations of TEL
Studies examining how learning technologies intersect with pedagogy, theory and design.
Research exploring learners’ and educators’ epistemic and metacognitive agency in TEL systems.
Methodological contributions and empirical investigations that contribute robust evidence of “what works” and “why” in TEL.
2. Technologies, tools and interfaces in TEL
Design, implementation and evaluation of digital systems (including AI-mediated, immersive, mobile, adaptive) for learning, with a focus on purpose and impact.
Investigations of human-technology collaboration, agency, transparency and trust in TEL environments.
Issues of interoperability, scalability, sustainability, data-driven insight and real-world integration.
3. Contexts, practices and learning ecologies
Studies across educational levels (K-12, higher education, lifelong learning, informal and non-formal) and diverse global, institutional, cultural settings.
Research on teacher/practitioner professional agency, institutional designs and ecosystem roles in enabling meaningful TEL.
Explorations of how TEL practices, environments and stakeholders are shaped and reshaped in current and future learning ecologies.
4. Societal, ethical, policy and equity dimensions
Issues of fairness, inclusion, accessibility, digital/AI literacy, and power relations in TEL.
Research examining governance, policy and institutional agency that enable responsible, human-centred TEL.
Critical reflection on the impact of TEL innovations on human values, trust, sustainability and the broader educational mission.
We encourage authors to frame their work in relation to how it contributes to shaping technology for meaningful learning, how it designs with intention, and how it brings rich new insights, not merely novelty. Studies that combine technological innovations with pedagogical depth, reflection, and real-world relevance are particularly welcome.
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