Call for Chapters: Digital Multisensory Environments for Inclusive Early Childhood Education

Editors

Jinghong Zhou, Universiti Sains Malaysia, China
Mageswaran Sanmugam, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
Nurul Maziah Mohd Barkhaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

Call for Chapters

Proposals Submission Deadline: June 14, 2026
 Full Chapters Due: September 27, 2026
 Submission Date: September 27, 2026

Introduction

Preschool-age children are increasingly exposed to digital technologies; however, most educational software adopts a one-size-fits-all design that overlooks the diverse sensory, cognitive, and cultural needs of young learners. Research in multisensory education consistently demonstrates that simultaneously engaging visual, auditory, and tactile channels enhances children's cognitive development. Play, as the most natural and fundamental mode of learning in early childhood, provides an ideal context for such multisensory engagement. Yet these findings have rarely been applied to the design of digital educational games, particularly in inclusive early childhood settings that serve children with special educational needs or from disadvantaged backgrounds, where play-based learning holds the greatest transformative potential. This edited volume aims to bridge the critical gap among three fields that have developed largely in isolation: multisensory pedagogy, digital game-based learning, and inclusive early childhood education. It brings together international scholars from instructional technology, developmental psychology, special education, and human-computer interaction to address a central question: How can digital educational games be designed to fully leverage multisensory engagement within play-based learning environments while ensuring that all preschool-age children can participate without barriers? The book pays particular attention to the digital transformation of culturally rooted play materials, such as traditional manipulative toys, and explores how emerging technologies can preserve the essence of meaningful play while creating more equitable and accessible learning experiences for young children worldwide.

Objective

This book intends to accomplish the following objectives: 1. To construct an interdisciplinary theoretical framework integrating multisensory learning, embodied cognition, and inclusive education principles for digital game design in early childhood contexts. 2. To articulate evidence-based inclusive design principles for educational games that accommodate children across diverse abilities, cultural backgrounds, and socioeconomic conditions. 3. To present empirical case studies demonstrating how multisensory digital games—including digitized traditional cultural play materials—are implemented and assessed in preschool settings across diverse global contexts. 4. To provide methodological guidance for evaluating the cognitive and creative outcomes of multisensory digital interventions in early childhood. 5. To critically examine ethical issues including screen time, data privacy, and child protection, and to propose responsible design and policy frameworks. This book will advance current research by bridging the disciplinary silos separating multisensory education, game-based learning, and inclusive early childhood pedagogy, offering the first comprehensive resource that unifies these domains with integrated theoretical models, validated design frameworks, and actionable assessment methodologies.

Target Audience

The primary audience includes researchers and graduate students in instructional technology, early childhood education, special and inclusive education, educational psychology, and human-computer interaction. The secondary audience comprises educational game developers and UX/UI designers seeking research-informed inclusive design principles for children's digital products, curriculum designers and preschool practitioners integrating multisensory digital tools into inclusive classrooms, and policymakers engaged in early childhood digital equity and curriculum reform.

Recommended Topics

Section I: Theoretical Foundations Section II: Technology-Enhanced Multisensory Game Design Section III: Empirical Studies and Global Practices Section IV: Assessment, Ethics, and Future Directions

Submission Procedure

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before June 14, 2026, a chapter proposal of 1,000 to 2,000 words clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors will be notified by June 28, 2026 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines.Full chapters of a minimum of 10,000 words (word count includes references and related readings) are expected to be submitted by September 27, 2026, and all interested authors must consult the guidelines for manuscript submissions at https://www.igi-global.com/publish/contributor-resources/before-you-write/ prior to submission. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-anonymized review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Note: There are no submission or acceptance fees for manuscripts submitted to this book publication, Digital Multisensory Environments for Inclusive Early Childhood Education. All manuscripts are accepted based on a double-anonymized peer review editorial process.

All proposals should be submitted through the eEditorial Discovery® online submission manager.

Publisher

This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global Scientific Publishing, an international academic publisher of the "Information Science Reference", "Medical Information Science Reference", "Business Science Reference", and "Engineering Science Reference" imprints. IGI Global Scientific Publishing specializes in publishing reference books, scholarly journals, and electronic databases featuring academic research on a variety of innovative topic areas including, but not limited to, education, social science, medicine and healthcare, business and management, information science and technology, engineering, public administration, library and information science, media and communication studies, and environmental science. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit https://www.igi-global.com. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2027.

Indexing Information for Prospective Authors

IGI Global Scientific Publishing meets the criteria for inclusion in major indexing services such as Scopus; however, it is important to note that all indexing decisions are made independently by these services. IGI Global Scientific Publishing books are selectively indexed by the indexing organization after publication. Indexing cannot be guaranteed for any book prior to publication, and the indexing organization has complete control over the final selection and timeline.

Important Dates

June 14, 2026: Proposal Submission Deadline
June 28, 2026: Notification of Acceptance
September 27, 2026: Full Chapter Submission
November 29, 2026: Review Results Returned
January 10, 2027: Final Acceptance Notification
January 24, 2027: Final Chapter Submission

Inquiries

Jinghong Zhou Universiti Sains Malaysia zhoujinghong313@gmail.com Mageswaran Sanmugam Universiti Sains Malaysia aran96000@gmail.com Nurul Maziah Mohd Barkhaya Universiti Sains Malaysia nurulmaziah@usm.my
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