Digital Inclusion During COVID-19 Pandemic on Students’ Learning in Higher Education Institutions: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

The digitalization of education has gained more attention in Higher Learning Institutions (HLIs) due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Most HLIs were forced to make a sudden shift from the traditional face-to-face teaching to emergency online learning. The situation increased the paradox on whether digitalization has resulted in digital inclusion or exclusion. This paper focuses on a bibliometric analysis of studies on the impact of digitalization of education on students’ learning in HLIs. The analysis involved 1229 empirical studies published from 2020 to 2022 in the Dimensions scientific database. Digitalization increased learning opportunities, such as skills development, autonomous learning, digital skills and enjoyment. The findings however indicated an increased digital inequality due to disabilities and diversity. Several obstacles such as cyber-threats, poverty, limited pedagogical abilities and lack of ICT policies hindered digitalization. It is recommended that digitalization should consider Universal Design Learning (UDL) to accommodate learners’ diversity.