How Many Ways Can We Define Online Learning? A Systematic Literature Review of Definitions of Online Learning (1988-2018)

TLDR

Online learning has been a focus of education research for over two decades, yet scholars use the term to mean very distinct, even contradictory, concepts. This paper presents a systematic literature review of online learning definitions to clarify the concept’s varied meanings. The authors systematically searched literature from 1988 to 2018, collected 46 definitions from 37 sources, and performed a content analysis. The analysis identified core elements, synonym confusion, and mapped how definitions evolved alongside technology over three decades.

Abstract

Online learning as a concept and as a keyword has consistently been a focus of education research for over two decades. In this paper, we present results from a systematic literature review for the definitions of online learning because the concept of online learning, though often defined, has a range of meanings attached to it. Authors and scholars use the term to mean very distinct, if not contradictory concepts. We conducted systematic literature for over the last 30 years (1988 to 2018) to investigate the number and content of definitions of online learning. We collected 46 definitions from 37 resources and conducted a content analysis on these sets of definitions. Content analysis of the collected definitions led to an understanding of the core elements for defining online learning, the confusion surrounding the terms and the synonyms used for online learning. An evolution of the definition of the concept of online learning was also mapped to the evolution of technology in the last three decades.