A scoping review of contemporary frameworks, challenges, and future directions on educational technology for digital generations

This study is a thorough scoping review that seeks to thoroughly delineate the existing frameworks, difficulties, and prospective trajectories of educational technology for digital generations. Utilizing the technique established by Arksey and O’Malley (2005), a systematic search was conducted for English-language studies published between 2016 and 2025 in the WoS and Scopus databases, resulting in the inclusion of 46 publications in the analysis. The results show that technology acceptance models (TAM and UTAUT) (19 studies) are the most common in the field of educational technology. These models were established during the X-Y generation period and do not fully reflect the realities of digital generations. Digital learning infrastructures (n = 29) and mobile-social learning ecosystems (n = 22) were recognized as the predominant technological categories. The study revealed that the digital divide has intensified since the epidemic (28% lack Internet access), shortcomings in teacher preparedness constitute the principal obstacle to technological integration, and adaptive learning methods exhibit moderate to substantial impact sizes. The results underscore the necessity for the formulation of novel theoretical frameworks that encapsulate the inherent technology interaction patterns of digital generations, pedagogy-oriented technology integration, and holistic digital equity initiatives. © 2025 by authors;.