The Benefits and Challenges of Smart Learning: A Literature Review

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive review of the benefits and challenges of smart learning. The review includes a total of 155 articles published in 2011 —2020, which were collected from three publication databases, namely Web of Science, Scopus and ProQuest. It covers the benefits of smart learning as evidenced in the studies, the challenges to smart learning addressed in the studies, and the remaining challenges to be resolved. As summarised from the studies, the benefits of smart learning cover three major areas — teaching and learning support, positive perceptions from students and teachers, and improved learning outcomes. The benefits frequently reported lie in the enhancement of learning interests and motivation, the enrichment of learning experiences, and the increase of interaction and collaboration. The major areas of challenges focus on the identification of learning styles and status, the provision of adaptive learning path and content recommendation, as well as authentic learning experiences. There are also areas of challenges to be addressed in future work, in particular teachers’ competence and training, and the acceptance of smart learning by students and teachers.