Educational Innovation and Emerging Technologies in Latin American Higher Education: Contributions to Active, Collaborative, and Student-Centered University Learning

Abstract

Latin American higher education is undergoing a transformation shaped by the expansion of emerging technologies, the accelerated digitalization of learning environments, and the need to consolidate more active, collaborative, and student-centered pedagogical models. In this context, this article aims to critically analyze the contributions of educational innovation and emerging technologies to active, collaborative, and student-centered university learning in Latin American higher education. Methodologically, a critical documentary literature review was conducted based on recent scientific literature, technical reports, and institutional documents published mainly between 2021 and 2026, with emphasis on higher education, artificial intelligence, learning analytics, hybrid environments, extended reality, gamification, and technology-enhanced pedagogical designs. The findings suggest that emerging technologies contribute to learning when they are embedded in intentional, ethical, and contextualized pedagogical designs oriented toward cognitive engagement, meaningful collaboration, formative feedback, responsible personalization, and student autonomy. However, the evidence also shows that technology adoption does not guarantee innovation by itself, since it may reproduce inequalities, reinforce transmissive practices, intensify data surveillance, or reduce university education to performance indicators if it is not accompanied by teacher development, institutional governance, adequate infrastructure, and equity criteria. The article concludes that educational innovation in Latin American higher education should be understood as a pedagogical, cultural, and institutional process in which technology acquires transformative value only when it expands learning opportunities, strengthens teacher mediation, and promotes holistic education aligned with contemporary social, digital, and professional challenges.