Towards digitalization in higher education: conceptual and bibliometric paradigm

Abstract

Objetive:  The aim is to study the foundations of the scientific literature in this area, the different intellectual structures, the conceptual and social structure and the trends of the analysed field. Methodology: The research is carried out through a bibliometric network analysis and graphical mapping of the field under investigation.  Results: Firstly, the field is relatively recent and shows a collaborative network of inter-institutional character and with important synergies between countries and authors. In the intellectual structure, there is a cluster of strategies to follow in the implementation of DT in HEIs, with its possible drivers and obstacles, at technological, social, pedagogical and organisational levels; the implementation of DT in a concrete and practical way, alerting that DT is more than a set of digital tools; a more theoretical and conceptual line of thought on the concept of DT in HEIs and, finally, sustainable DT in the impact on HEIs. In the thematic structure, the block of theoretical and conceptual foundations that reveals COVID19 as the main accelerating factor of DT, the cluster that investigates the learning process through digital teaching and the third one that highlights the importance of cultural change management and people in the process stand out. Practical implications: This study allows us to have a general vision of the intellectual, conceptual and social structure of the DT and HEIs process and its impact on the different dimensions. Furthermore, the findings have implications for the management of TD processes in HEIs.