Emerging Technologies and Innovation Learning Ecosystems

This study examines how emerging technologies reshape competency development within innovation learning ecosystems in higher education. Drawing on innovation ecosystem theory and experiential entrepreneurship education, we conduct an interpretive qualitative single-case study of three cohorts (75 undergraduate students) in an entrepreneurship and innovation course at a Brazilian business school. Data from interviews, focus groups, classroom observations, and course artifacts were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Findings show that emerging technologies act as infrastructural enablers, transforming experimentation practices, shifting pedagogy from execution to orchestration, and fostering community-driven competency formation. These dynamics give rise to a Digital Innovation Learning Ecosystem, in which learning emerges through sociotechnical interaction. The study identifies a shift from execution to orchestration-centered learning, in which students assume responsibility for coordinating hybrid-technology processes. The study also contributes to research on information systems and innovation education by demonstrating how technological mediation reconfigures learning architectures and capability development.