2026· Journal of Information Technology Education Innovations in Practice· 0 citations· 59 references
TL;DR
The findings reveal a transition toward integrated digital sustainability ecosystems, while persistent challenges remain in ethics, equity, and institutional readiness.
Abstract
Aim/Purpose: This study aims to systematically map the intellectual structure, research evolution, and emerging hotspots of Interactive Digital Technologies (IDTs) in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). It specifically addresses the fragmentation and uneven technological integration within this field.
Background: As education systems face accelerating digital transformation and urgent sustainability challenges, understanding how digital technologies support ESD has become increasingly important. Although research in this area has grown rapidly, it remains fragmented across technologies, educational levels, and regions. A comprehensive bibliometric synthesis is therefore needed to clarify the field’s development, key contributors, and emerging directions.
Methodology: This study used a bibliometric design to analyze 377 journal articles indexed in Scopus and published between 2000 and October 2025. Using standard screening and science-mapping techniques, the study examined publication growth, citation impact, collaboration patterns, keyword networks, and thematic evolution.
Contribution: This study provides a novel integrative perspective by reconceptualizing interactive digital technologies as components of digitally enabled sustainability learning ecosystems, moving beyond fragmented and technology-specific approaches, and advancing theory by suggesting an emerging shift from isolated instructional tools toward ecosystem-based sustainability learning.
Findings: Results show rapid growth in publications after 2016, peaking in 2024, indicating increasing global attention to this field. Five major themes emerged: AI-enabled learning, green digital curricula, game-based and mobile sustainability learning, institutional digital governance, and interdisciplinary competence development. The findings reveal a transition toward integrated digital sustainability ecosystems, while persistent challenges remain in ethics, equity, and institutional readiness.
Recommendations for Practitioners: Educational institutions and policymakers should adopt ethically grounded, inclusive, and system-oriented digital strategies that align technological innovation with sustainability competencies, teacher capacity development, and equitable access frameworks.
Recommendation for Researchers: Future studies should integrate multi-database analyses, multilingual sources, and mixed-method approaches to capture contextual diversity and examine the pedagogical effectiveness of IDTs in fostering measurable sustainability competencies.
Impact on Society: By mapping the global research landscape, this study informs the development of inclusive and digitally enabled sustainability education systems that support SDG 4 and strengthen long-term societal resilience.
Future Research: Future research should employ longitudinal, comparative, and empirical designs to examine how AI-driven, immersive, and governance-oriented digital ecosystems influence learning outcomes, ethical practice, and sustainable behavioral transformation across diverse sociocultural contexts.
Although digital ethics has become increasingly important in education, systematic evidence on its global research structure and thematic development remains limited. This study aims to map global research on digital ethics in education from 2015 to 2025 using bibliometric analysis and science mapping techniques. Data were retrieved from Scopus, yielding 782 documents published in 466 sources and involving 3,993 authors. The analysis was conducted using Bibliometrix and VOSviewer to examine publication trends, citation impact, collaboration networks, keyword co-occurrence, co-citation patterns, thematic mapping, and thematic evolution. The findings reveal rapid growth in publication output and interdisciplinary collaboration, indicating the expanding scholarly relevance of digital ethics in educational research. Core keywords, including ethics, education, higher education, and female, form the intellectual backbone of the field. Network, overlay, and density visualizations show a thematic shift from methodological and COVID-19-related topics toward emerging issues such as digital literacy, AI literacy, generative AI, academic integrity, equity, and curricula. High research density remains concentrated around ethics and education, whereas AI-related themes are still comparatively underexplored. These findings highlight opportunities for future research on ethical AI literacy, AI governance, and responsible AI integration in educational curricula. This study contributes a comprehensive knowledge map by identifying leading actors, thematic domains, and research gaps, offering practical guidance for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners seeking to promote ethical, equitable, and accountable digital transformation in education.
Farid Fauzi· International Journal of Hum...· 0 citations
This study provides a comprehensive mapping of the intellectual structure and thematic evolution of PBL research in Digital Learning Environments and identifies research gaps, including limited international collaboration and the need for greater integration of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
H. Z. Alhusni, B. Prahani*, Budi Jatmiko et al.· Journal of Law and Bibliomet...· 0 citations
Digital transformation in higher education represents not only a technological shift but also a fundamental change in pedagogy, aligning with the demands of a globalized society. This systematic literature review (2020–2024) examines how emerging technologies in higher education impact learning outcomes, foster entrepreneurial innovation, and advance Quality Education (SDG 4).
Conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines, a comprehensive search of Scopus and Web of Science databases was performed. This process yielded 41 relevant studies, which were subsequently appraised for quality using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist.
Using bibliometric analysis and network mapping, we identified four major thematic clusters in the literature. Based on these clusters, we propose an integrative theoretical framework that links digital transformation initiatives to educational outcomes, innovation, and sustainability goals.
We outline crucial future research directions (e.g., addressing infrastructure challenges, enhancing digital pedagogy, and scaling innovation labs) to guide scholars and practitioners. Our review provides a timely synthesis of current knowledge and offers actionable insights for leveraging digital transformation to improve global educational quality and equity.
Aisha Ansari, Haroon Bakari, Elaaf Awan et al.· Frontiers in Education· 0 citations
Sustainability in civil engineering education has become a key concern for academia and industry, reflecting the urgency of environmental, social, and economic challenges. This study aims to map research trends and emerging themes in how sustainability is integrated into civil engineering curricula by identifying key countries, institutions, journals, highly cited articles, and active authors and their collaboration networks, and by synthesizing key topics and future directions. A total of 123 Scopus-indexed articles published between 1999 and 2025 were analyzed using a mixed bibliometric and qualitative approach. Performance analysis, science mapping, and content coding of course levels, educational settings, pedagogies, and targeted competencies were combined to characterize the field. Results showed growth in publications after the introduction of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with work concentrated in a set of journals, countries, and institutional hubs. Thematic mapping identified six analytically distinct but related clusters: (1) community engagement and social responsibility learning, (2) environmental resource management education, (3) sustainability principles and professional practices, (4) behavioral and identity-related learning, (5) pedagogical delivery and learning technologies, and (6) sustainable construction with digital and life-cycle tools. These clusters show that sustainability is most often positioned in environmental, construction, and capstone courses, but programwide sequencing and systematic assessment of social, behavioral, and professional identity outcomes remain limited. The review contributes a diagnostic, context-sensitive curriculum map that links sustainability themes with course levels, pedagogical settings, assessed competencies, and future research needs, providing a structured basis for curriculum renewal that can be adapted to institutional priorities, regional workforce needs and local environmental contexts.
N. Kamal, C. K. C. Che Ibrahim· Journal of Civil Engineering...· 0 citations
Gamification has emerged as a transformative approach in the library and information science (LIS) context, enabling a shift from passive information provision to interactive, user-centered learning environments. Despite its growing adoption, the literature remains fragmented and lacks a comprehensive synthesis of its intellectual structure and development. To address this gap, this study employs a bibliometric analysis guided by the PRISMA framework to examine the evolution of gamification research in LIS. Drawing on a curated dataset of high-quality, indexed publications, the findings reveal a clear chronological progression from early exploratory studies to a rapidly expanding, mature field, particularly following the digital transformation accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis identifies a core body of influential studies, while thematic analysis highlights key research clusters related to pedagogy, service design, digital ecosystems, and user engagement. The evolutionary analysis indicates a shift toward structured pedagogical approaches and immersive, technology-driven applications. The study also identifies critical gaps, including limited theoretical integration, a lack of longitudinal and cross-contextual research, and insufficient attention to ethical and organizational dimensions. This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric mapping of gamification, offering a structured understanding of its intellectual landscape and future research directions. The findings highlight the need for theory-driven frameworks and offer practical insights for developing user-centered, ethically grounded, and strategically integrated gamified library services.
M. Al-Taie, M. Aboelmaged, Gharib Hashem et al.· Journal of Librarianship and...· 0 citations
Emerging technologies serve as essential tools for accomplishing sustainability goals. The integration of technology and sustainability are crucial for global challenges in today’s rapidly evolving world to drive innovative solutions, environmental and social progress. By making use of tools like Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and data analytics, Digital Transformation can optimize sustainability. This study aims to understand how Digital Transformation can advance sustainable development and enhance organizational competitiveness.
This study uses bibliometric analysis of 506 bibliometric papers from Scopus and Web of Science database. In addition, logical flow for the systematic reviews is reported using “PRISMA” framework. Further performance analysis have been performed using bibliometrix and Biblioshiny software package to extract data regarding scientific production, influential authors, relevant sources, cooccurrence networks and so on. Furthermore, scientific mapping is performed using content analysis.
The result reveals a positive relation between Digital Transformation and sustainability. There is also a growing interest in the among researcher and journal suggesting critical areas regarding factors and outcome of digital transform toward sustainability should be examined in future. Furthermore, five cluster from keyword cooccurrence network has been presented and six themes has been identified through content analysis for future research. In addition, a conceptual framework has been proposed for the future research.
This study contributes to theoretical understanding of the literature regarding understanding of convergence of Digital Transformation and sustainability by developing the conceptual framework. Furthermore, study also adds value by conducting integrative analysis of bibliometric and content analysis to identify factors and outcomes for the future research.
Unknown authors· Journal of Science and Techn...· 0 citations