Computers in Human Behavior

Change and improvement are two keywords embedded in innovation in general (OECD, 2005) and, in particular, in teaching and learning innovation (Miles, 1964). Based on those two keywords, educational innovation could be defined as “the application of one idea that produces a planned change in educational processes, services, or products, then leading to an improvement in learning goals”. The role of the computer in educational innovation is seen as a facilitating tool, as both educational innovation and computation address the same topic, i.e. “Knowledge”. The computer's capability to manage information makes it an ideal tool to potentiate different implementations in teaching and learning contexts. The several distinct ways teachers and students interact are oriented by teaching methods. This means the computer may be used to: improve existing methods for teacherstudents interaction, e.g. traditional lectures; enable alternative methods that are difficult to apply under current conditions, e.g. personalized learning; create new methods, e.g. flipped teaching; or, in addition, analyse data generated from teacher-students interactions and help in the learning improvement decision-making process (Fidalgo-Blanco, Sein-Echaluce, García-Pe~ nalvo, & Conde, 2015). Although teaching staff has been innovating for decades, presently it is the knowledge society that offers more opportunities for innovation. Computers, information and communication technologies, cloud computing, new trends in cooperative work, and thewidespread dissemination and use of knowledge are generating a large number and variety of technology-enhanced educational tools, which allow teachers to do new experiments, convert an improvement idea into an effective improvement process, and, definitely, to innovate the learning process. From a training perspective, all educational systems share the same goals and aims. They also share the same problems, for instance school failure and the promotion of student-centred active learning practices. The idea and the conviction that educational innovation helps to improve learning goals and students’ learning skills are also shared among all stakeholders. For these reasons, the techniques, technologies and strategies used in innovative educational experiences are universally transferable and exportable, irrespectively of the curricula and academic scope in which they have been trialled. This special issue includes 17 articles addressing different experiences of educational innovation that share a common goal, i.e. the use of technology to improve learning, while adopting different strategies to fulfil it. The following abstracts provide readers with a concise overview of this special issue contents.