Who Produces Knowledge on Inclusive Education and Technology in Africa? A Bibliometric Mapping of Research Trends, Themes, and Collaboration

Authors

  • Aniku Ahmed Mohammed Moyini Departmentof Internal Audit, Islamic University in Uganda, Mbale, UGANDA
  • Salih Mohamed Harun College of Community Studies and Rural Development, University of Juba, Juba City, SOUTH SUDAN
  • Ali K Anami Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Muslim University of Morogoro, Morogoro, TANZANIA
  • Miiro Farooq Centre for Wisdom Pedagogy, Makerere University, Kampala, UGANDA
  • Stella Migide Madete Umma University, Kajiado, KENYA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33394/ijete.v3i1.19652

Keywords:

Inclusive education, Educational technology, Africa, Knowledge production, Bibliometric analysis

Abstract

This study examines who produces knowledge on inclusive education and technology in Africa and how that knowledge is organised in indexed scholarship. Records were exported from Scopus on 7 February 2026 and filtered to publications from 2021 to 2025, yielding a final corpus of 157 documents. A bibliometric design was applied to conduct performance analysis (publication trends, source productivity, and citation patterns) and science mapping (country collaboration networks, temporal overlays, and keyword-based conceptual structures). Results show rising publication output, but the wide dispersion of journals and loosely connected keyword clusters indicate parallel development rather than a consolidated conceptual core. Knowledge production is unevenly distributed, with South Africa leading affiliation occurrences, signalling selective visibility within indexed literature. Citation patterns are highly skewed, with a small set of anchor papers shaping debates on accessibility, digital inequality, and online learning. International collaboration is more established than intra-African collaboration, which appears thinner and less dense, and major collaborative ties remain largely stable between 2021–2023 and 2024–2025. Thematic evolution suggests movement from pandemic-era exclusion concerns toward post-crisis digital governance and emerging topics such as artificial intelligence and generative tools.

References

Ajani, O. A., Govender, S., & Gamede, B. T. (2025). Investigating emerging technologies for curriculum delivery in a rural South African university through the lens of diffusion of innovation. Journal of Curriculum Studies Research, 7(2), 394–411. https://doi.org/10.46303/jcsr.2025.27

Aldriwesh, M. G., Alyousif, S. M., & Alharbi, N. S. (2022). Undergraduate-level teaching and learning approaches for interprofessional education in the health professions: A systematic review. BMC Medical Education, 22(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-03073-0

du Plessis, E., & Bayeck, R. Y. (2025). South African lecturers’ views of ChatGPT: An AI technology used for designing online assessments. Journal of Teaching and Learning, 19(4), 97–113. https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v19i4.9853

Hlatshwayo, M. N. (2022). The rise of the neoliberal university in South Africa: Some implications for curriculum imagination(s). Education as Change, 26, Article 11421. https://doi.org/10.25159/1947-9417/11421

Kafile, M., Ninana, A., & Makhetha-Kosi, P. (2025). The digital divide and e-learning participation: A mixed-methods study of extended curriculum programme students in South Africa. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 24(9), 769–784. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.24.9.37

Machaka, M. E., & Singh-Pillay, A. (2025). Technical and vocational education and training college female students’ experiences in engineering disciplines. Journal of Technical Education and Training, 17(4), 17–31. https://doi.org/10.30880/jtet.2025.17.04.002

Magedi, M. J., Rakgogo, T. J., Mnguni, O. S., Segoe, B. A., & Kgoebane, M. (2023). COVID-19 and its impact on students with disabilities: A case of a South African university. Transformation in Higher Education, 8, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.4102/the.v8i0.212

Mireku, D. O., Bervell, B., Dzamesi, P. D., Nimo, S. K., & Teng, B. (2024). A systematic review of students’ support services for inclusive education in higher education in Africa. Cogent Education, 11(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2397826

Ngubane-Mokiwa, S. A., & Khoza, S. B. (2021). Using Community of Inquiry (CoI) to facilitate the design of a holistic e-learning experience for students with visual impairments. Education Sciences, 11(4), 152. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11040152

Ngubane-Mokiwa, S. A., & Zongozzi, J. N. (2021). Exclusion reloaded: The chronicles of COVID-19 on students with disabilities in a South African open distance learning context. Journal of Intellectual Disability – Diagnosis and Treatment, 9(1), 137–147. https://doi.org/10.6000/2292-2598.2021.09.01.17

Ochieng’, V. O., & Ngware, M. W. (2023). Adoption of education technologies for learning during COVID-19: A case of primary schools in Kenya. International Journal of Educational Reform, 32(4), 513–531. https://doi.org/10.1177/10567879221076081

Opesemowo, O. A. G., & Adekomaya, V. (2024). Harnessing artificial intelligence for advancing sustainable development goals in South Africa’s higher education system: A qualitative study. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 23(3), 67–86. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.23.3.4

Rughoobur-Seetah, S., & Hosanoo, Z. A. (2021). An evaluation of the impact of confinement on the quality of e-learning in higher education institutions. Quality Assurance in Education, 29(4), 422–444. https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-03-2021-0043

Simelane-Mnisi, S., & Mthimunye, J. M. (2025). Gender differences in lecturers’ competency and use of learning management systems at a university of technology in South Africa. Education Sciences, 15(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15121595

Simplice, S. A., Adegboye, A., Ejemeyovwi, J., & Umukoro, O. (2021). The mobile phone technology, gender inclusive education and public accountability in Sub-Saharan Africa. Telecommunications Policy, 45(4), Article 102108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2021.102108

Tarisayi, K. S. (2024). ChatGPT use in universities in South Africa through a socio-technical lens. Cogent Education, 11(1), Article 2295654. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2295654

Tomczyk, Ł. (2024). Digital competence among pre-service teachers: A global perspective on curriculum change as viewed by experts from 33 countries. Evaluation and Program Planning, 105, Article 102449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2024.102449

Ugwuoke, U., Tetteh, A., Okebukola, P., & Ogonenwe, J. (2025). Enhancing ICT retention through indigenous pedagogy. Discover Education, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-025-00962-0

Woldegiorgis, E. T. (2022). Mitigating the digital divide in the South African higher education system in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Perspectives in Education, 40(3), 197–211. https://doi.org/10.18820/2519593X/pie.v40.i3.13

Zongozzi, J. N. (2022). Accessible quality higher education for students with disabilities in a South African open distance and e-learning institution: Challenges. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 69(5), 1645–1657. https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2020.1822518

Downloads

Published

2026-03-03

How to Cite

Moyini, A. A. M., Harun, S. M., Anami, A. K., Farooq, M., & Madete, S. M. (2026). Who Produces Knowledge on Inclusive Education and Technology in Africa? A Bibliometric Mapping of Research Trends, Themes, and Collaboration. International Journal of Ethnoscience and Technology in Education, 3(1), 67–88. https://doi.org/10.33394/ijete.v3i1.19652

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2026): March

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Aniku Ahmed Mohammed Moyini, Salih Mohamed Harun, Ali K Anami, Miiro Farooq, Stella Migide Madete

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with International Journal of Ethnoscience and Technology in Education (IJETE) agree to the following terms:

  1. For all articles published in International Journal of Ethnoscience and Technology in Education (IJETE), copyright is retained by the authors. Authors give permission to the publisher to announce the work with conditions. When the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors agrees to implement a non-exclusive transfer of publishing rights to the journals.
  2. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
  4. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

International Journal of Ethnoscience and Technology in Education is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0