The use of digital technologies in drama education: An analysis of the journal 'Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance'

This study aims to analyze the trends in the use of digital technologies in drama education through a comprehensive examination of articles published between 1996 and 2024 in Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance (RiDE). The study investigates the descriptive characteristics of the selected articles, the purposes for which digital technologies are used, the stages of drama education in which they are integrated, the main findings, and the authors' recommendations in line with the research questions. The data set consists of 23 research articles analyzed using a meta-synthesis design. The data were thematically categorized through content analysis. The findings reveal that digital technologies are most frequently associated with the process drama approach. A significant increase in the use of online platforms, digital storytelling tools, and virtual reality applications was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The dominance of Australia-based studies indicates this country's pioneering role in digital drama pedagogy. It was also found that research originating from Turkey has increased in recent years, particularly in alignment with national digital transformation policies. The results highlight the critical importance of pedagogical flexibility, cultural context sensitivity, and the development of teachers' digital competencies for the effective integration of digital technologies into creative drama processes. Accordingly, the study recommends the development of context-specific, practice-based models and the encouragement of more local and multicultural research in the field of digital drama education.