An overview of the last 20 years literature on e-learning in an academic context

This article aims to implement a systematic review of the literature on e-learning in the academic context that includes the period from 2001 to 2020. We have chosen the 2000s as a starting point to implement this review because they represent the historical moment in which we are witnessing to the diffusion and implementation of e-learning in universities. Although the flexible learning model via the Internet was introduced in the 1990s and only in the 2000s did these new technologies develop concretely within academic contexts. The methodological approach adopted was quantitative. The work took place in three different phases. (1) The articles were found by inserting some keywords in the Web of Science (WoS) platform and covered a period from 2001 to 2020. (2) The selection of the articles took place through Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) by Moher et al. (2009). (3) The final data have been reported and represented in special graphs. Furthermore, the 2001-2020 analysis period was divided into four five-year sub-periods (2001-2005, 2006-2010, 2011-2015, 2016-2020), to analyze and explore the evolution of the problems identified during every subperiod. From the first results found, using the WoS platform and the selection of articles implemented through PRISMA, two important issues emerged. First, it emerged that the number of publications on e-learning has increased significantly in the last five years (about 50% of the total number of documents analyzed that appeared in 2016-2020), exceeding the number of 100 documents per year. Secondly, from the in-depth analysis of the four five-year periods, a greater focus appears on the aspects related to technology during the first two sub-periods 2001-2005 and 2006-2021. On the contrary, in the subsequent two phases 2011-2015 and 2016-2020 there is greater attention to topics related to the learning content. All this was examined by comparing Fee's model (2009) with the sankey diagram. This research could allow us to have a precise overview of the aspects studied and treated by researchers and academics in the field of e-learning in universities over the last twenty years.