A Systematic Literature Review of Online Learning Spanning 26 Years (1993–2018)

Abstract

This article aims to provide the reader with a comprehensive background for understanding current knowledge on online learning through a systematic literature review of the published literature in peer-reviewed English language journals. We reviewed 5,803 articles published over 26 years (1993–2018). We focused on the number of articles published, journals’ names, and overall research trends about online learning. We reviewed the growth and evolution of keywords, titles, and abstracts to develop an understanding of the growth and fall of trends in research on online learning. We discovered that the dominant trends in the published articles on online learning are learning, students, environment, courses, education, and teaching. The growing areas are online delivery, learning in online setting, teacher (teaching), and students (learners), and we discuss the gaps in the discipline that indicate a potential growth area for the future of the discipline including technology research.