The 8th International Conference on Higher Education Learning Methodologies and Technologies Online (HELMeTO 2026) will be held in Cagliari (Italy) on September 28-30, 2026.

HELMeTO 2026 invites researchers, educators, and practitioners worldwide to explore the future of online higher education, where digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and innovative pedagogies are reshaping how universities teach, learn, and evolve in a global context..

Participants will have the opportunity to exchange good practices and points of view about the future of methodologies and technologies regarding the online teaching-learning process. Moreover, a special focus will be done to the importance of mining useful knowledge from of the data generated on virtual learning environments and to the methods for improving the performances of the universities themselves.

The conference will include parallel sessions organized in two general tracks:

• General Track 1 – Online pedagogy and learning methodologies;
• General Track 2 – Learning technologies, data analytics and educational big data mining as well as their applications.

Moreover, the following special tracks will be organized by valuable researchers under the umbrella of HELMeTO 2026:

• Special Track 1 – Active Online Assessment in Higher Education: Pedagogical Models, Digital Practices and Evidence-Based Approaches
• Special Track 2 – Rethink Education: The Opportunities and Challenges of Artificial Intelligence
• Special Track 3 – Human rights-based approach and practices for preventing and countering online hate speech: digital strategies and educational challenges in Higher Education
• Special Track 4 – Press Start to Research! Exploring Artificial Intelligence and Gamification for Social Inclusion
• Special Track 5 – The Digital Self: Creative Practices and Non-Linear Languages for Building Socio-Emotional and Affective Skills in the Age of AI
• Special Track 6 – Exploring the Role of “Expressive Mediators” in Inclusive Higher Education within Digital and Hybrid Environments
• Special Track 7 – Embodied and Adaptive Learning Environments: Serious Games, Educational Robotics and AI for Personalized Education
• Special Track 8 – Pedagogy and participatory technologies in the post-digital era
• Special Track 9 – Extended Reality for Higher Education: Design, Assessment and AI-Generated Immersive Learning
• Special Track 10 – Beyond the Recorded Lecture: Reframing Video-Based Teaching as a Distinct Pedagogical Practice
• Special Track 11 – Pedagogy of Artificial Intelligence: changing leadership roles, innovation learning, community well-being
• Special Track 12 – AI-augmented E-learning for Mathematics Education at University Level
• Special Track 13 – Gameful learning in higher education: experiences, methodologies and best practices
• Special Track 14 – European University Alliances, Virtual Exchange and Blended Mobility in Higher Education
• Special Track 15  – AI in Physical Exercise, Kinesiology and Sport: Innovations for Higher Education

Further information on the special tracks can be found at Special Tracks page

Finally, a Doctoral Consortium session, dedicated to PhD students, will be organized at HELMeTO 2026. Further information will be published soon.

Important dates:

Special tracks submission deadline: April 13, 2026

Special tracks notification of acceptance: April 28, 2026 

Abstract submission opening: May 6, 2026 

Abstract submission deadline: June 10, 2026

Abstract notification of acceptance: July 14, 2026

Abstract camera-ready submission: July, 31, 2026

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Conference: 28-30 September 2026

Full paper submission opening: September 1, 2026

Full paper submission deadline: October 11, 2026 (strict deadline)

Full paper notification of acceptance: November 10, 2026

Full paper camera-ready submission: November 30, 2026

List of Topics

Within the General Tracks, the conference covers, but is not limited to, the following topics:

• AI and Digital Transformation in Higher Education
  Artificial Intelligence, emerging technologies, and their impact on university teaching, learning, and institutional innovation
• Online, Blended, and Hybrid Learning Environments
  Distance education, flexible learning models, global and cross-institutional education
• Instructional Design and Digital Pedagogies
  Learning design, course development, and innovative teaching approaches for technology-enhanced higher education
• Assessment, Learning Analytics, and Data-Driven Education
  Digital assessment, learning analytics, educational data mining, and student performance prediction
• Collaborative, Inclusive, and Open Education
  Online communities, peer learning, accessibility, equity, and open education practices
• Ethics, Governance, and Sustainability of Digital Education
  Data privacy, ethical implications, standards, interoperability, and sustainable digital ecosystems

Additional and more specialised topics are addressed through the Special Tracks available at: https://www.helmeto.it/2026-edition/special-tracks-2026/

For more details on how to prepare the abstract, visit the Author Guidelines page.