On-Demand Learning for Lifelong and Responsive Education

This open access edited volume examines how On-Demand Learning is changing the relationship between education, work and knowledge in an age of AI and shifting labour markets, with a particular focus on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). It asks what the promise of learning when and where it is needed means for the quality and fairness of education.
Bringing philosophical inquiry into conversation with practice, contributors examine AI-supported teaching, VR firefighting and micro-credentials, while asking who benefits from greater flexibility--and who may be left behind. Perspectives from the Global South and policy examples from India, Mauritius and Namibia ground these questions in the realities of access, recognition and institutional change. The volume argues that the future of vocational learning rests not on technology alone, but on ethical governance, coherent institutions and the development of human capabilities.

Dr. Dejian Liu is the Founder and Chairman of NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited, and serves as Co-Dean of the Smart Learning Institute and the National Engineering Research Center for Big Data Application in Education at Beijing Normal University, China. He is a member of the Governing Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE), and is widely regarded as a leader in the field of smart education innovation. As a contributor to China's National Smart Education Platform, Dr. Liu has driven technological innovations aimed at enhancing educational equity. He has played a pivotal role in global education initiatives under UNESCO and the Belt and Road Initiative, with impact across Africa, the Middle East, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regions. Through NetDragon's education technologies, his work now supports over 1.3 million classrooms in more than 150 countries. Dr. Liu and his team hold over 1,400 patents and have authored 17 books and more than 30 academic papers.

Paul Prinsloo is a Research Professor in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in the Department of Business Management, College of Economic and Management Sciences, University of South Africa (Unisa). He is a visiting professor at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), a Research Associate for Contact North/Contact Nord (Canada), a member of the Center for Open Education Research at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany, a Senior Fellow of the European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN), a member of the Executive Committee for the Society of Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR), and serves on several editorial boards.

Professor Asha Singh Kanwar, the former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), is one of the world's leading advocates of learning for sustainable development. Throughout a career spanning over 40 years, she has made outstanding contributions in the areas of teaching, research and international development. Prior to joining COL, Professor Kanwar was a senior consultant in open and distance learning at UNESCO's (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Regional Office for Education in Africa (BREDA). She has also served as Director of the School of Humanities and as Pro-Vice Chancellor at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in New Delhi, India. She was a Fulbright Fellow for post-doctoral research at Iowa State University in the United States of America, where she was later invited to teach. Currently, she serves on the boards of several organizations, including the Governing Board of the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE).

Dr. Usama Kalim is a Post-Doctoral Associate at Beijing Normal University, China, specializing in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education. He holds a PhD in Educational Leadership and Management from Southwest University, China. His research focuses on educational technology, teacher education, and educational management, with publications in international journals such as Scientific Reports, SAGE Open, and Smart Learning Environments. He has also contributed book chapters and presented at global conferences in China, Japan, and Australia.

Dr. Yifan Zhang is a research associate at the National Engineering Research Center for Cyberlearning and Intelligent Technology at Beijing Normal University, China. His research focuses on the application and evaluation of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education, learning sciences, and on computational thinking formation.