Smart education has sparked substantial scholarly interest. The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent acceleration of digital learning further underscore the importance of in-depth research in this area. The purpose of this study is to investigate the research that appears in the Scopus database and to give a comprehensive evaluation of literature published on smart education in order to identify historical and present trends as well as the future scope of research. The present study conducted a bibliometric analysis of the research articles related to smart education published in scopus from 2010 to April 2023 (articles, review papers, and conference papers in social sciences and business, management, and accounting domains) The results indicate a rapid increase in the number of publications and citations in the field, as well as the emergence of new research topics and themes. The findings of this study provide insights into the current state of research on smart education and identify potential areas for future research.
TopIntroduction
Smart education involves the use of modern technology to facilitate and enhance the learning process. It has gained significant attention in recent years. According to a study by Jia et al. (2021), the integration of 5G+ technology in smart education has opened new possibilities for personalized and interactive learning experiences. Smart education has the potential to revolutionize traditional teaching and learning methods by providing learners with more flexible and efficient ways of acquiring knowledge and skills.
Several studies have highlighted the benefits of smart education, including improved student performance, increased engagement and motivation, and enhanced collaboration and communication among students and teachers (Kaur and Bhatia, 2021; Krishnamurthy, 2021). Personalized learning, which is an important benefit of smart education, can help students learn at their own pace, using their preferred learning style thus leading to better motivation and better outcomes (Kaur and Bhatia, 2021). Smart education has also been found to be positively impacting academic performance and test scores (Krishnamurthy, 2021). Technology enhances students’ engagement and makes them more invested in the learning process. By using interactive tools such as gamification, virtual and augmented reality, multimedia content students enjoy the learning process leading to better satisfaction (Kaur and Bhatia, 2021). Smart education not just provides a personalized learning experience, it also aids in collaborative learning and enhanced communication between students and teachers. Tools such as video conferencing, discussion boards, collaborative document editing can facilitate group work and communication even in remote learning environment (Bafoutsou and Mentzas, 2002). Though smart education has proved to be having several positive impacts on overall learning process, there are also concerns about the potential negative effects of excessive technology use and the need for proper teacher training and support in the implementation of smart education (Galimullina et.al., 2017; Ovinova LN, Shraiber, 2019).
In earlier times, smart education was dependent on computers and internet but in recent times, with advent of smart phones and tablets the ecosystem of smart education has been revolutionized. It has now become very accessible, portable and has penetrated to earlier inaccessible regions (Fan and Zhi, 2020). The next phase of smart education witnessed the integration of multimedia elements such as videos, animations, and simulations which lead to improved students’ engagement and motivation (Kiryakova, Angelova and Yordanova, 2018). The most recent development in the space of smart education has been on account of emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and big data. Furthermore, the advent of 5G technology is expected to bring about a new wave of innovations in smart education, enabling seamless and real-time communication and collaboration between students and teachers (Dong et.al., 2020).
As technology kept on advancing, the ecosystem of smart education kept on growing and advancing. Th field has gone through several evolutionary phases, each marked by the integration of new technologies to improve the learning experience. With the continued development of new technologies, we can expect to see further advancements in smart education in the years to come.