Research trends in digital technology in education: systematic literature review

Abstract

Today sustainable development includes social well-being contingent on the level of education. Even in the last century, education has been designated as a human right (Assembly, 1948) and identified as one of the most effective tools for development. Education is the means that contributes to reducing poverty and improving health, equity, and peace (Alvarado, 2019). At the same time, information technologies that disseminate knowledge are considered the main driving force of education reforms. The importance of technology in education has also been reaffirmed during the COVID-19 pandemic which skewed the education of millions of children. As a result of the pandemic,1.6 billion children and adolescents have moved to distance learning in 190 countries since March 2020. This change has had varying impacts in terms of their academic performance, nutritional support, and subsequent enrollment stability (UNESCO, 2020). Most governments have used digital education as a backup measure to ensure continuity of learning at all levels of education (Martin, 2022). However, the current digital divide (World Bank, 2020) has shown that digital education is very underdeveloped; in a vulnerable environment, those with fewer technical resources had more difficulty completing lessons, as more than two-thirds of children aged 3 to 17 worldwide did not have access to the Internet at home (Unicef ​​et al., 2020).