Online, Digital or Distance? – Spread of Narratives in ICT-Supported Education

Abstract

Digitization and digitalization have transformed educational practices. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a sudden change in the mode of the delivery of education and forced schools and universities to relocate education to digital platforms and revolutionize educational processes. The shift to online platforms brought terms like digital education/learning, online education/learning, blended and hybrid education/learning to the forefront, while traditional terms like eLearning, distance learning and mobile learning remain popular. This paper studies these terms and by backing the educational process redesign with ICT development and the time-space-group dimensions, it highlights the viral nature of the narratives of the terms.