Pedagogical Innovation in Digital Environments: A Systematic Review Focused on Higher Education

This systematic review analyzed the evidence published between 2020 and June 2026 on pedagogical innovations, digital environments, and experiences and outcomes in higher education. The PRISMA 2020 guidelines were followed and Scopus, Web of Science, SpringerLink, ScienceDirect, SciELO and other sources were consulted. Of 1279 records identified, 51 studies met the eligibility criteria, with a cumulative sample of 15,188 participants. The corpus included 27 quantitative studies (52.9%), 14 mixed (27.5%) and 10 qualitative (19.6%). Methodological quality and risk of bias were assessed using JBI Analytical Cross-Sectional, ROBINS-I, JBI Qualitative, and MMAT 2018. Due to the heterogeneity of designs, populations, interventions and results, a narrative synthesis and a deductive-inductive thematic analysis were carried out. Studies suggest favorable associations with motivation, participation, self-regulation, satisfaction, and certain competencies; however, these results were not uniform nor were they always accompanied by improvements in academic performance. The findings indicate that the educational value of technologies depends on pedagogical design, teacher accompaniment, digital skills, institutional capacity and access conditions. Risks related to digital inequality, data surveillance, algorithmic bias, privacy, platform dependency, and institutional sustainability were also identified. In conclusion, digital innovation can contribute to improving certain training experiences, but the available evidence does not allow us to attribute generalizable causal effects to it or to consider it transformative in itself. Longitudinal, comparative, and experimental studies are required to distinguish between acceptance, use, and effective learning.