How smart learning has been achieved: a review of the literature (2011–2020)

This paper presents a review of the contexts, objectives, means and features of smart learning practices. It covers a total of 107 articles collected from Scopus and ProQuest which were published between 2011 and 2020. The results illustrate the patterns and trends of smart learning which have been practised in a widening range of subject disciplines, educational levels and learning environments. They show the evolution of smart learning in terms of technological developments, featuring in particular an increasing use of mobile devices and learning analytics as well as practices in online and blended environments. Improving learning performance has become a major objective of smart learning. The findings also suggest future studies in relation to the smart learning design in subject disciplines which differ in nature; the effective interoperation of smart learning with emerging educational technologies and approaches such as learning analytics and personalised learning; and smart pedagogy design and technology-pedagogy integration.