A Review of the Conceptual Structure and Evolution of Digital Leadership Research in Education

With the advent of digital technologies that have rapidly changed the functioning of societies, digital leadership has also become a novel imperative for the effective functioning of organizations. As the backbone of societal development, educational institutions have not been exempt from the influe...

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Main Authors: Turgut Karakose, Hakan Polat, Tijen Tülübaş, Murat Demirkol
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-10-01
Series:Education Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/14/11/1166
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author Turgut Karakose
Hakan Polat
Tijen Tülübaş
Murat Demirkol
author_facet Turgut Karakose
Hakan Polat
Tijen Tülübaş
Murat Demirkol
author_sort Turgut Karakose
collection DOAJ
description With the advent of digital technologies that have rapidly changed the functioning of societies, digital leadership has also become a novel imperative for the effective functioning of organizations. As the backbone of societal development, educational institutions have not been exempt from the influence of these new trends, which has ignited a growing research interest in the digital leadership roles of school administrators. This study aims to map the conceptual and thematic evolution of this research on digital leadership in the education field to offer a better insight into the strategic themes that are sufficiently or insufficiently addressed; that is, to identify aspects that are clearly defined or left shrouded in shadow. This study employed science mapping methodology and used SciMAT software (version 1.1.04) to map the evolution of thematic strands across three periods of the field’s development. The analysis was conducted using metadata obtained from 174 articles that are indexed on WoS and Scopus. The results indicated that with a growing focus on technology or e-leadership, considering the developments in the world of computers and the internet, research into digital leadership has gained momentum in recent years, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital leadership is regarded as a broader concept for application in investigating the knowledge, skills, competencies, and perspectives of school leaders to facilitate the healthy integration of digital technologies into education, school administration, and student learning. The field seems to require investigations into the many aspects of digitalization in education to build a more solid and insightful knowledge base to guide the effective practice of digital leadership in schools.
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spelling doaj-art-08f3fefb79ce4888ae59ac9db3291e3f2025-08-20T01:53:45ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022024-10-011411116610.3390/educsci14111166A Review of the Conceptual Structure and Evolution of Digital Leadership Research in EducationTurgut Karakose0Hakan Polat1Tijen Tülübaş2Murat Demirkol3Faculty of Education, Kutahya Dumlupınar University, 43100 Kütahya, TürkiyeFaculty of Education, Firat University, 23119 Elazig, TürkiyeFaculty of Education, Kutahya Dumlupınar University, 43100 Kütahya, TürkiyeFaculty of Education, Firat University, 23119 Elazig, TürkiyeWith the advent of digital technologies that have rapidly changed the functioning of societies, digital leadership has also become a novel imperative for the effective functioning of organizations. As the backbone of societal development, educational institutions have not been exempt from the influence of these new trends, which has ignited a growing research interest in the digital leadership roles of school administrators. This study aims to map the conceptual and thematic evolution of this research on digital leadership in the education field to offer a better insight into the strategic themes that are sufficiently or insufficiently addressed; that is, to identify aspects that are clearly defined or left shrouded in shadow. This study employed science mapping methodology and used SciMAT software (version 1.1.04) to map the evolution of thematic strands across three periods of the field’s development. The analysis was conducted using metadata obtained from 174 articles that are indexed on WoS and Scopus. The results indicated that with a growing focus on technology or e-leadership, considering the developments in the world of computers and the internet, research into digital leadership has gained momentum in recent years, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital leadership is regarded as a broader concept for application in investigating the knowledge, skills, competencies, and perspectives of school leaders to facilitate the healthy integration of digital technologies into education, school administration, and student learning. The field seems to require investigations into the many aspects of digitalization in education to build a more solid and insightful knowledge base to guide the effective practice of digital leadership in schools.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/14/11/1166digital leadershipschool administrationschool leadershipscience mappingeducationSciMAT
spellingShingle Turgut Karakose
Hakan Polat
Tijen Tülübaş
Murat Demirkol
A Review of the Conceptual Structure and Evolution of Digital Leadership Research in Education
Education Sciences
digital leadership
school administration
school leadership
science mapping
education
SciMAT
title A Review of the Conceptual Structure and Evolution of Digital Leadership Research in Education
title_full A Review of the Conceptual Structure and Evolution of Digital Leadership Research in Education
title_fullStr A Review of the Conceptual Structure and Evolution of Digital Leadership Research in Education
title_full_unstemmed A Review of the Conceptual Structure and Evolution of Digital Leadership Research in Education
title_short A Review of the Conceptual Structure and Evolution of Digital Leadership Research in Education
title_sort review of the conceptual structure and evolution of digital leadership research in education
topic digital leadership
school administration
school leadership
science mapping
education
SciMAT
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/14/11/1166
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