Trends in Educational Research about e-Learning: A Systematic Literature Review (2009–2018)

Jesús Valverde-Berrocoso,Carmen Burgos-Videla,María Del Carmen Garrido-Arroyo,María Belén Morales-Cevallos

doi:10.3390/su12125153

Abstract

The concept of e-learning is a technology-mediated learning approach of great potential from the educational perspective and it has been one of the main research lines of Educational Technology in the last decades. The aim of the present systematic literature review (SLR) was to identify (a) the research topics; (b) the most relevant theories; (c) the most researched modalities; and (d) the research methodologies used. To this end, the PRISMA protocol was followed, and different tools were used for the bibliographic management and text-mining. The literature selection was carried out in three first-quartile journals indexed in JCR-SSCI specialized in Educational Technology. A total of 248 articles composed the final sample. The analysis of the texts identified three main nodes: (a) online students; (b) online teachers; and (c) curriculum-interactive learning environments. It was revealed that MOOC was the most researched e-learning modality. The Community of Inquiry and the Technological Acceptance Model, were the most used theories in the analyzed studies. The most frequent methodology was case study. Finally, the conclusions regarding the objectives of our SRL are presented: Main themes and research sub-themes, most researched e-learning modality, most relevant theoretical frameworks on e-learning, and typologies of research methodologies.

Highlights

The digital transformation of education systems in all levels has allowed incorporating a new teaching–learning ecosystem called e-learning
The aim of this systematic literature review (SLR) was to analyze the evolution of educational research on e-learning in order to identify patterns in the studied themes, determine the predominant methodological perspectives, and value the transferability of this knowledge in the university teaching practice. This SLR provides an evolution of the educational research conducted on e-learning throughout a decade, allowing the identification of the main interests of the scientific community, the approaches used to tackle these online educational phenomena, and their impact on the digital transformation of education. The objectives of this SLR were the following: 1. To identify the research topics about e-learning and education that were published in international high-impact scientific journals in the period of 2009–2018
The purpose of the systematic review was to analyze the evolution of educational research on e-learning

Summary

Introduction

The digital transformation of education systems in all levels has allowed incorporating a new teaching–learning ecosystem called e-learning. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the closing of classrooms all over the world and forced 1.5 billion students and 63 million educators [1,2] to suddenly modify their face-to-face academic practices, wherever possible. This situation showed the strengths and weaknesses of education systems facing the challenge of digitalization. Bates [4] states that COVID-19 has demonstrated the current inequalities in the system and the need for universal and low-cost access to the Internet for education. According to Statista [6], the market of e-learning all over the world will be over 243 billion dollars in 2022

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