E-learning experiences in tertiary education: patterns and trends in research over the last 20 years

ABSTRACT

This article presents a review of the literature about e-learning experiences in tertiary education over the past 20 years, since the 2000s. At this point, an increasing use of web-based technologies started to affect the spread of e-learning. The methodological approach used in the study was quantitative. The main results showed that the development of information technology and the spread of Internet applications in the field of education drove a significant increase in the number of publications in the period 2016–2020. Approximately 50% of the total number of documents analysed were published during this period, more than 100 documents per year. The main research themes in the last 20 years showed four different periods, with leading and emergent themes in each. Our study also suggests that the recent phase of e-learning may be extended in future towards a reframed concept, so-called hybrid learning.

KEYWORDS:

• E-learning
• distance education
• literature review‌
• bibliometrics‌
• science mapping

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The impact factor of a journal for year t is calculated as the ratio between the total citations in t of documents that appeared in t−1 and t−2 and the total citable documents in the same time interval.