Parental Involvement in Digital Learning During Elementary School Education: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Parental involvement has been recognised as a key factor in influencing children's educational outcomes, especially in the context of digital learning in primary education. The objective of this research was to systematically review the research on parental involvement in digital learning scenarios in primary education to understand the definition of parental involvement, theoretical frameworks and research findings in this field of study. Following the PRISMA guidelines, 30 research articles published in peer-reviewed journals from January 2014 to April 2025 were identified and reviewed from multiple databases. Findings reveal definitional inconsistency, limited use of theoretical frameworks and four key research domains: expanded parental roles (organising, monitoring, instructing), influencing factors (parent-related, child-related, external), growing focus on parents' emotional states and generally positive impacts on student outcomes. This review enhances comprehension of parental involvement in the digital learning context and offers insights for constructing a theoretical framework for parental involvement in this new context.