Learning and Development in Digitally Mediated Physical Education: A Bibliometric and Thematic Evolution Analysis of Online, Open Distance, and Technology-Enhanced Learning (2015–2025)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17309/tmfv.2026.4.02Keywords:
digitally mediated physical education, online learning, open distance learning, artificial intelligence, bibliometric analysis, thematic evolutionAbstract
Objectives. As physical education increasingly intersects with digital learning, artificial intelligence, and flexible modes of delivery, the field faces a critical question of how movement-based education can remain pedagogically meaningful in technologically mediated environments. This study mapped the global scholarship on digitally mediated physical education from 2015 to 2025, focusing on online, open-distance, and technology-enhanced learning.
Materials and Methods. Using a bibliometric design with thematic evolution analysis, 1,358 Scopus-indexed documents were examined using Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny and VOSviewer.
Results. The results revealed a rapidly expanding and interdisciplinary field shaped by the convergence of pedagogy, educational technology, artificial intelligence, public health, and computational learning systems. Conceptually, the literature was anchored in artificial intelligence, COVID-19, online learning, higher education, blended learning, distance learning, virtual reality, physical activity, digital technology, and educational technology. Bibliographic coupling and co-citation analyses showed that the field is sustained by both core pedagogical traditions and emerging technological knowledge bases. Thematic evolution indicated a progression from early ICT and blended learning applications toward pandemic-responsive online physical education and, more recently, AI-supported, immersive, teacher-oriented, and learner-centered digital pedagogies.
Conclusions. The study positions digitally mediated physical education as a developing learning-and-development field requiring stronger pedagogical, ethical, and theoretical grounding.
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