Mapping the Opportunities and Challenges of Digital Technologies in Educational Contexts: Topics Addressed and Research Gaps / Análisis de las oportunidades y los desafíos de las tecnologías digitales en el contexto educativo: temas abordados y brechas de investigación

Abstract

The increasing presence of digital technologies in primary education has led, in recent years, to an intensification of the discourse regarding their overall impact on children’s development. The present study aims to contribute to this debate by organising and synthesising current evidence on the main applications, pedagogical benefits and structural challenges of digitalisation. The research is built on a systematic analysis of existing academic documents. The findings show that digital technologies are consistently associated with increased student engagement, greater learner autonomy, improved collaborative practices and enhanced conceptual understanding across subject areas. However, a series of enduring limitations could reduce or even exceed these beneficial effects. The most significant challenges include cognitive overload, insufficient teacher training, infrastructural inequalities and misalignment between digital tools and pedagogical objectives. The conclusions emphasise the need for a strategic plan for digitalisation, based on carefully integrating digital technologies into instructional practice and focused on pedagogically grounded, equity-oriented approaches. Furthermore, significant research gaps were identified regarding evidence on long-term cognitive outcomes, socio-emotional impacts, pedagogical scaffolding, adaptive learning frameworks and institutional roles.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Culture and Education, 2026 · DOI ↗