Digital Platforms and the Improvement of Learning Outcomes: Evidence Extracted from Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Digital platforms are one of the educational resources that were used in education prior to Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the pandemic has led to a complete shift to learning via digital platforms, and therefore they have become a strategic alternative for sustainable education. Given that previous studies regarding the impact of digital platforms on learning outcomes have yielded conflicting results, the present study aims to determine whether or not digital platforms improve learning outcomes. To achieve this aim, meta-analysis approach was used through the examination of the overall effect size of these platforms on the learning outcomes besides the examination of the effect size of a set of mediating variables including study period, subject area, student rating, and publication type. Thirty studies published between 2015 and 2021 comparing learning via digital platforms and learning in traditional classrooms were accounted for. The focus on this period of time was because the fourth industrial revolution took place in that time where the use of digital platforms in teaching was prosperous. Findings showed that the overall effect size using the random effect model (g = 0.278; p < 0.001; α = 0.05) was small and positive, from (0.123–0.433) in favor of learning via digital platforms, and so no evidence regarding publication bias could be discovered in these data. The result of the current study may be useful to universities and e-learning centers on how to use digital platforms to improve learning outcomes.