Sustaining Enhancement Of Learning Outcomes Across Digital Platforms During The COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The spread of COVID-19 has led to the closure of all educational institutions and a complete shift to distance learning using digital platforms, which succeeded in playing a major role in sustaining enhancement of educational goals during the crisis. Several studies have directed attention towards examining the factors that enhance the sustainability of digital platforms in enhancing learning outcomes during the pandemic, whether through technological or educational design elements or through the integrative design of all platform tools and educational strategies. Accordingly, the current study was proposed with the aim of identifying the role of digital platforms in improving learning outcomes during the pandemic, and thus the sustainability of learning, through a systematic review of several qualitative and quantitative studies conducted on digital platforms during the crisis. The systematic review was based on twenty three studies, which divide as seventeen studies devoted to studying the efficiency of technological and educational design elements, and six studies for dealing with the efficiency of the integrated design of digital platforms in enhancing learning outcomes. The results have demonstrated the role of some digital platforms such as Moodle, Google classroom, Microsoft Teams, Edx, Canavas, Teachsus, and CCtalk in achieving sustainable learning during the pandemic. However, the most important learning outcomes that were enhanced are knowledge, satisfaction, interaction, participation, and higher-order thinking skills, and performance skills, motivation, in addition to attitudes, perceptions, communication skills, and self-efficacy. The technological design elements that were based on gamification variables, flipped classes and mini video also were shown to have a role in enhancing the learning outcomes. The educational elements that were based on problem-based learning, cooperative learning activities, discovery learning, integrating synchronous and asynchronous learning, and formative assessment were shown to have a significant role in enhancing learning outcomes.