In a world of global health emergencies and increasing displacement, education has undergone a rapid transition to online and blended forms of learning in many countries. The pandemic has triggered a re-imagining of “school” and “university” and what these should look like, especially regarding the role of technology, the internet and social media along the formal and informal learning continuum (Greenhow & Lewin, 2016). Given that virus surges may lead to future temporary shutdowns, educational system shifts in this past year suggest leaders and educators must plan for changes in the division of labor, fluid pedagogical practices, and flexible learning and work environments that incorporate technology (Greenhow, Lewin, & Staudt Willet, 2020). Perhaps never before has the work of the educational technology research and practice community been so vital.

Looking back over 50 years, the BJET Editorial Team has called for “theory, design frameworks, critical perspectives, and honest reports of less-than-perfect technology implementations…”(Hennessy, Mavrikis, Girvan, Price, & Winters, 2019, p. 6), which may be especially important in times of global crisis. We are at an unprecedented moment in the history of educational technology where the field’s efforts to engage honestly, comprehensively,(self-) critically and rapidly are crucial to providing research-based insights on the contexts and conditions of the emergency transition to online and blended learning around the world and useful recommendations for the path forward. This special section contributes in timely and significant ways to understanding and responding to global health and education emergencies. At the time of writing over 152 million people in 222 countries and territories have been infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)(World Health Organization, 2021; Worldometer, 2021); this special section includes research from the most infected countries, including the United Kingdom, United States, India, Italy, Spain, Germany, Canada, Israel, Brazil, Portugal, China and Australia. Such work is important to understanding how theories and approaches to online education play out in national systems of education as well as important commonalities and differences as we look across the papers and country contexts. The disruption of national systems of education and the rapid transition to online education provides a unique and rare case in which to examine and reflect on the field’s technology-mediated learning theories-in-action in an educational emergency. The papers in this collection address how education systems responded to the rapid transition to online education around the world.