Research fronts are dynamic, knowledge-driven clusters of scholarly activity that emerge in response to pressing problems and/or groundbreaking discoveries. Clarivate Analytics provided a valuable tool based on Citation Productivity and Trajectory (CPT) indicator, which successfully identified particularly hot research fronts on a global scale. To enhance the accuracy and comprehensiveness of identifying both active and emerging research trends, this study develops an extended Clarivate formulation incorporating a novel Impact Factor (IF) metric. The refined approach incorporates growth rates, publication productivity, and the average publication gap between published and citing publications. This method is applied to exploring key research fronts in the digital education ecosystem using bibliometric data from the Scopus database in the period of 2019-2023. The results reveal that artificial intelligence and online learning are the most prominent and influential fields, with virtual reality, blockchain, hybrid learning, and digital literacy representing fast-growing areas. By analyzing both quantitative and qualitative aspects, this work informs key stakeholders about the evolving priorities and trends in the digital educational landscape.

This article deals with the European Union's educational policies during the Covid-19 pandemic when several cracks and vulnerabilities in its Member States' education systems were exposed across the European Union (EU). In this sense, and with this exceptional period as a reference, we propose to research whether the Community's educational policies reflect a reinforcement of the commitment to education as one of the pillars of European integration. Other studies have not yet addressed the possible impact of this exceptional period on the design of European educational policies as integration mechanisms. Namely, whether there would be a pause in the integration process or, on the contrary, its strengthening and, if so, in what respect. For this research objective, several documents from the most important European institutions were examined. Its results allow us to verify the intention to renew education as an essential element of European integration and as an instrument to promote the EU as an economically stable and socially integrated community.

This study addresses global concerns surrounding elementary students' science performance following the COVID-19, as a result of international tests such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) highlight the ongoing challenges that urge the exploration of innovative educational approaches to improve science learning. This research employed gamification-assisted instruction and explored its impact on enhancing the understanding of science concepts and attitudes toward science class among fourth graders. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design and included an experimental group (ExG) that was taught using a gamification strategy and a control group (CoG) that was taught using a traditional method with a sample of 38 female elementary students from a public school in Jordan. Data were gathered using valid and reliable tools: the developed scientific concepts test and the Attitude Towards Science class measures. The ANCOVA analysis revealed that gamification significantly improves the acquisition of scientific concepts (η2=.208) and boosts a positive attitude toward science classes among elementary students (η2=.626). These findings encourage decision-makers to incorporate gamification into science teaching practices and methods.