AI and Virtual Collaborative Learning (VCL): The Future Forward
The rapid advancement of digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping education, driving the shift toward Virtual Collaborative Learning (VCL). The post-pandemic era has accelerated digital transformation, highlighting the need for innovative, flexible, and technology-driven pedagogical approaches.
According to UNESCO, one and a half billion students around the world were engaged in remote learning at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. New learning approaches and strategies are arising, characterized by efficiency, just-in-time delivery, solution orientation, anywhere access to learning material, as well as an internet-based learning process, especially after pandemic crisis.
Virtual learning environments are no longer an alternative but an essential mode of education, fostering a shift from traditional classroom-based learning to an interactive, AI-driven, and just-in-time knowledge-sharing ecosystem.
Digital transformation in education has redefined learning methodologies, moving beyond static content delivery to dynamic, interactive, and AI-powered solutions.
Web-based learning platforms, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and Learning Management Systems (LMS) have played a crucial role in this shift. These technologies allow students to engage in flexible learning, access resources anytime and anywhere, and participate in collaborative activities across geographical boundaries.
With the development of the skills required in the digital transformation era, the higher education sector needs to include in their pedagogical approaches digital technologies implementing online teaching in learning environments that utilize a diverse range of digital tools. Web-based, or online, teaching is grounded in cyberspace and allows students the flexibility to learn anytime and anyplace, and at a time when they choose to focus on the course content. The creation of a virtual learning environment gives opportunities for eliminating many of the barriers related to traditional classroom learning. In these new learning process learners are not simply passive recipients of know-how and expertise, but rather co-creators of their just-in-time and action-based learning, more characterized by interpretation, experimentation and problem solving rather than description and analysis.
Researchers emphasize the importance of taking into account technological, social, and educational affordances when designing effective technology-mediated collaborative learning processes (Herrera-Pavo, 2021; Kirschner et al., 2024). They assert that it is essential to consider the virtual learning environment that facilitates collaboration, the dynamics of social interactions and group work, and the specific learning context to ensure an optimal learning experience.
To exploit the real potential of digital transformation in learning, it is necessary to reshape the processes that support designing, development and delivery of learning in a just-in-time, and action-oriented manner, and to integrate it into day-to-day activities.
In addition, today also AI is transforming digital education by creating adaptive, intelligent learning environments. It is being argued that AI have a significant influence on the way education is both delivered and received today, and it has potentialities to enhance VCL by making learning more responsive, interactive, and customized to each learner’s needs (Pereira et al., 2022). Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, AI ensures that educational content is relevant, structured, and tailored to individual learning styles.
Although literature highlights the numerous advantages AI brings to education, it is still in its early stages and remains underdeveloped. In this chapter, we aim to explore the role of AI in VCL and its impact on higher education through a Structured Literature Review (SLR). The goal is to envision a future research agenda for the integration of AI in virtual collaborative learning environments and to contribute to shaping the future of digital learning ecosystems.
This chapter addresses three main research questions:
- RQ1: How is the literature on AI and virtual learning evolving?
- RQ2: What are the specific focal points of the existing literature?
- RQ3: What are the implications of this research?
This chapter is structured as follows: In the next section, we describe the methodology used for conducting the Structured Literature Review (SLR). Section 3 presents a descriptive analysis of the literature, while Section 4 provides the cluster and content analysis. Finally, Section 5 discusses the findings and outlines a future research agenda.
Gioconda Mele, PhD, is a Researcher at the Department of Engineering for Innovation – University of Salento (Italy) and lecturer in Innovation Management. After a degree in Economics at University of Salento, she took her Master degree in “Business Innovation and Leadership” and her PhD in “e-business” at eBMS-ISUFI. Her main research areas concern Entrepreneurship Education & Entrepreneurial University, Business Models Innovation & Circular Economy, Social Media Big Data Analytics for value creation, with particular focus on Smart Tourism Destinations. She is author of several publications in international journals and proceedings of international conferences, and volumes and monographs focused on Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship.
Valentina Ndou, Associate Professor at the University of Salento in Italy, specializing in Management Science and Engineering. With over 20 years of experience, she has led and contributed to numerous international and European research projects, focusing on digital transformation, e-business, entrepreneurship, and tourism innovation. She has served as a consultant for organizations like the UN IOM and as an evaluator for various research funding bodies. Ndou has published extensively in top journals, co-authored books, and mentors student startups, several of which have received awards. She also fosters academic collaboration with institutions in Albania.
