SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Educ.
Sec. STEM Education
Emerging Didactic Perspectives in Virtual Higher Education: A Bibliometric Analysis (2015–2025)
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Santiago de Cali, Cali, Colombia
- 2Universidad de Narino, Pasto, Colombia
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This study adopts a descriptive design to explore predominant thematic areas in virtual higher education research, focusing on emerging didactic perspectives. A bibliometric analysis was conducted on a purposive sample of 63 articles published between 2015 and 2025, selected from an initial pool of 2,848 publications indexed in Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The study analyzed the frequency and temporal distribution of themes by categorizing titles, abstracts, and keywords. Results showed that humanistic education and digital pedagogy were the most frequently addressed topics, representing over 36% of publications. Research output increased significantly from 2020, peaking in 2021 with nearly 24% of the total publications. The average annual number of publications was 5.73, with a standard deviation of 5.26, indicating variability over time. Emerging topics such as connectivism, cyberculture, and ethical considerations in virtual education were less represented but are gaining interest. The analysis highlights a growing emphasis on integrating affective, ethical, and relational dimensions into virtual pedagogical practices alongside technological innovation. These findings underscore the evolving nature of research in digital education and provide critical insights for future studies aimed at enhancing inclusivity, engagement, and meaningful learning experiences in virtual higher education environments.
Keywords: bibliometric analysis4, digital pedagogy3, higher education2, newtrends5, online education1
Received: 07 Oct 2025; Accepted: 15 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 ORTIZ, Burbano and Suarez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Diana Carolina Burbano
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