Exploring the Contribution of Disruptive Technologies to Innovation in University Education: A Prevalence Study in Pre- and Post-Pandemic Contexts

The adoption of disruptive technologies in higher education has transformed the teaching-learning process, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the real impact of these technologies on educational innovation and their variation between different contexts and areas of knowledge are not yet fully understood. It is essential to carry out studies that explore the trends and areas where these technologies have had the greatest impact, as well as to identify the less studied fields that require greater attention. By employing a quantitative approach and exploratory-descriptive scope, this study reviewed 88 studies, extracted from the Scopus database. The results show a growing and sustained trend, especially in the post-pandemic period, in the scientific production of research on technologies such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, big data, and gamification. Therefore, it is concluded that disruptive technologies have taken on a central role in the innovation of university education, in which gamification—a disruptive technology already consolidated as an effective tool to promote student motivation and commitment, even in pre-pandemic contexts—has proven to be key to transforming teaching-learning processes. However, significant gaps were identified in topics such as adaptive learning, the application of big data and fuzzy neural networks in higher education, which, although promising, have been scarcely explored. Future research could focus on determining the factors that influence the effective implementation of disruptive technologies in higher education as well as identifying good practices and ethical principles in the implementation of disruptive technologies in higher education.