The International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education: content and authorship analysis 2010–2024

Abstract

In celebrating the 20th anniversary of the International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education (IJETHE), previously known as the Revista de Universidad y Sociedad del Conocimiento (RUSC), it is timely to reflect upon the shape and depth of educational technology research as it has appeared within the journal, in order to understand how IJETHE has contributed to furthering scholarship, and to provide future directions to the field. It is particularly important to understand authorship patterns in terms of equity and diversity, especially in regard to ensuring wide-ranging geographical and gender representation in academic publishing. To this end, a content and authorship analysis was conducted of 631 articles, published in RUSC and IJETHE from 2010 to June 2024. Furthermore, in order to contribute to ongoing efforts to raise methodological standards of secondary research being conducted within the field, an analysis of the quality of evidence syntheses published in IJETHE from 2018 to June 2024 was conducted. Common themes in IJETHE have been students’ experience and engagement in online learning, the role of assessment and feedback, teachers’ digital competencies, and the development and quality of open educational practices and resources. The authorship analysis revealed gender parity and an increasingly international identity, although contributions from the Middle East, South America and Africa remain underrepresented. The findings revealed a critical need for enhanced efforts to raise the methodological rigour of EdTech evidence syntheses, and suggestions are provided for how IJETHE can help move the field forwards. Key future research areas include educator professional development, the impact of digital tools on learning outcomes and engagement, the influence of social and contextual factors, the application of AI tools to support learning, and the use of multimodal data to analyse student learning across diverse contexts.