Toward a new educational reality: A mapping review of the role of e-assessment in the new digital context

Today, education is facing a new reality in which technology and new teaching methods are being quickly introduced into educational systems and institutions. Educational institutions are now dealing with the challenge of providing continuity to e-learning, turning it into a more flexible and up-to-date field, and considering assessment as a quality element in this transition. Therefore, with the aim of determining the current state of the research focused on assessment in digital environments (e-assessment), a mapping of the literature has been carried out. After examining 1,771 results extracted from Web of Science and Scopus and after the application of seven inclusion criteria, a total of 159 publications from the period of the past five years were read. The answer four research questions on the evolution of publications, the authors, the tools used, the contexts, the objects of study, and the future avenues of research, among others. The results show the increasing importance of e-assessment in this new context, moving toward a new reality in which technology plays a decisive and fundamental role in the teaching and learning processes. Thus, educational systems are heading towards a new context in which both teachers and students should rethink their roles and functions leading education to a more flexible, current, and digitally mediated context.