In recent years, the accelerating pace of global change-driven by technological disruption, ecological crises,and growing social inequality-has prompted urgent calls to rethink the fundamental role of education in shaping the future. Aligned with this background, UNESCO launched the Futures of Education initiative in 2019, aiming to catalyze global dialogue and collective imagination on how education should evolve by the mid-21st century.

This initiative gained renewed significance in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which not only disrupted education systems worldwide but also exposed deep structural inequalities and functioned as an unprecedented global social experiment. It revealed both the vulnerabilities and the transformative potential of education, intensifying the demand for digital innovation. In response, UNESCO released a landmark report in 2021, outlining key challenges and strategic priorities, such as the rapid evolution of technology, the widening gap between education and societal needs, and the need to redefine learning as a global common good. These themes were further reinforced during the 2022 United Nations Transforming Education Summit, where global leaders emphasized the urgency of reimagining education systems to meet the demands of a complex and uncertain future.

Over the past decade, our team has been actively contributing to the global discourse on educational transformation. This enduring commitment has been embodied through a series of milestone initiatives that integrate scholarly inquiry with international collaboration. In 2016, we initiated the US-China Smart Education Conference to promote cross-cultural exchange and collaboration across K-12, higher education, and vocational education. This endeavor laid the groundwork for broader international partnerships in the years that followed. Since 2020, in response to the global educational disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have hosted the Global Smart Education Conference (GSE) annually. This forum brings together diverse stakeholders from around the world to explore how digital innovation can serve as a driving force for systemic educational transformation. Working in partnership with leading international institutions, we have also conducted comparative studies on national smart education strategies and facilitated the establishment of the Global Smart Education Network (GSENet)-a growing alliance dedicated to fostering inclusive, innovative, and future-ready education systems worldwide.

Building on more thana decade of sustained research and international collaboration, we have the book, Smart Education: Pathways Toward Education 2050, marks a significant milestone in our collective efforts to understand and shape the future of education. Funded by the Chinese government and supported by the National Publication Foundation, it serves as a flagship publication representing the commitment to advancing global educational transformation with both academic insight and strategic vision. It brings together years oftheoretical inquiry, empirical investigation, and practical experience to address a central question: How can smart education become a shared global vision for Education 2050?

This book positions smart education as a transformative response to the evolving demands of the intelligent era.While rooted in the principles of the Education 2030 Agenda-particularly the recognition of education as a global common good-this vision extends further, anchoring itself in the long-term horizon of 2050. It seeks to promote inclusive development, social equity, and sustainability in an increasingly digital and interconnected world. Build on this value, smart education emphasizes high-quality learning, flexible and adaptive content, and enhanced instructional efficiency. These priorities are anchored in principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, and empathetic collaboration. Ultimately, smart education seeks to foster inclusive learning communities that support human flourishing in an increasingly complex world.

To conceptualize smart education, the book introduces two interrelated analytical dimensions. The performative features of smart education, which represent a shared vision of future learning and its goals. The constructive features, which identify the practical pathways and enabling conditions necessary to realize this vision. Structured around these core ideas, the book unfolds in four interconnected parts. 

It begins by reviewing the global trends of digital transformation in education. It then refines key features of smart education, followed by a discussion of practical strategies to advance educational reform. Finally, the book offers a forward-looking landscape of smart education by 2050-drawing on the social experiments and the deep integration of technology and education to explore how smart education can align with broader national development goals and support the creation of future-ready education systems.

We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to the three distinguished scholars who contributed forewords to this book: Zhao Qinping, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Xie Weihe, former Vice President of Tsinghua University; and Li Yongzhi, President of the China National Academy of Educational Sciences.

This book does not seek to prescribea predetermined future, but rather invites global stakeholders to create it. It is intended not only as a guide, but also as a call to action-inviting researchers, educators, policymakers, and communities to explore, experiment, and collaboratively shape education systems needed for the world ahead.We hope this book will serve as a starting point for meaningful dialogue, a reference for informed decision-making, and a shared source of confidence and direction-as we collectively chart bold, inclusive, and visionary pathways to reimagine education for generations to come.