Overview of Digital Learning
Digital learning is a comprehensive phenomenon. Innovations in teaching are often synonymous with digital learning; therefore, its polysemous nature made it difficult to have a commonly agreed definition and classification (Audrin, & Audrina, 2022). Audrin and Audrina provide an overview of the research field of digital literacy in learning and education using text mining; it reviews 1037 research articles published on the topic between 2000 and 2020. This review reveals a plurality of terms associated with digital literacy. Audrin and Audrina identified six key factors that define the literature: information literacy, developing digital literacy, digital learning, ICT, social media, and twenty-first-century digital skills. According to Audrin and Audrina, these factors can be further grouped into three main streams, which are 1) digital literacy, 2) digital learning, and 3) twenty-first-century digital skills. Informational and technological foundations support these three streams. These results provide research avenues and a framework for digital literacy in education.
Digital learning can revolutionize education by fundamentally changing the nature of teaching and learning. It offers enhanced and interactive educational experiences, greater customization and personalization, and, perhaps most importantly, greater access to educational resources and opportunities. The extensive use of technology in the classroom also provides unprecedented chances for collaboration and communication between students, teachers, and other groups, opening up a world of possibilities for instruction, assessment, and research. Through digital learning, students can receive tailored instruction and feedback, engage in a wide range of activities that develop cognitive and affective skills, and encourage the development of creativity and problem-solving skills. Furthermore, digital learning can improve teaching practices, deepen student engagement, and support critical learning objectives.
Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 [ESSA] refers to the term “digital learning” as “any instructional practice that effectively uses technology to strengthen a student's learning experience and encompasses a wide spectrum of tools and practices.” This definition includes using online resources with the impact of the COVID-19 experiences. Our goal in this chapter is to identify the themes and gaps in the research to understand the scholarly conversation around digital learning. This chapter examined previous studies about digital learning published mainly in peer-reviewed journals. The databases used are Education Source, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, SAGE Journals, Taylor & Francis Online, and ProQuest Central. The keywords and phrases used include information and communication technology, digital media, and the impact of the COVID-19 experiences. Only articles that followed rigorous measures for research quality were considered for this review.