Impact of COVID-19 on Education: Evolution of Virtual Laboratories

Extensive research has demonstrated the importance of e-learning during COVID-19. However, a study to check whether the virus has caused a trend change in educational research lines is lacking. This paper reviews the temporal evolution of publications on virtual laboratories (VLs) in education, analyzing the relationship between its recent boom and the advent of COVID-19. For this purpose, a bibliographic study was carried out in the Scopus database seeking different VLs synonyms in the title, abstract, and keywords of articles published between 1990 and 2022. The analysis results determine that the logistical needs imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic have been found to magnify the use of VLs, increasing scientific production by more than 90% in 2021 compared to the average obtained between 2011-2020. It has also been estimated that with the return to face-to-face teaching, production has decreased by 20% in 2022 compared to 2021.