Emerging Technologies as Sociotechnical–Immersive Systems: A Framework and Research Agenda for K–12 Online Learning

Citation

Beck, D., Elmendorf, D. & Morgado, L. (2026). Emerging Technologies as Sociotechnical–Immersive Systems: A Framework and Research Agenda for K–12 Online Learning. Journal of Online Learning Research, 12(1), 121-138. https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/2128790/

Abstract

K-12 digital learning is increasingly shaped by emerging technologies layered onto existing digital infrastructures. In practice, the technologies that dominate attention, especially generative and assistive AI, arrive bundled with new assessment tensions, data flows, acquisition constraints, and inequities in access and support. This article proposes a practitioner-oriented framework for understanding emerging technologies as sociotechnical-immersive systems rather than standalone tools. The framework connects three lenses: (1) a macro sociotechnical circle that foregrounds policy, markets, equity, and governance; (2) a meso environment-design circle that analyzes how learning experiences are configured through system, narrative, and agency; and (3) a micro educational-approaches circle that focuses on the instructional activities educators enact within those environments, using the Immersive Learning Brain (ILB) as a map of practice and strategies. We developed this framework through practitioner sensemaking grounded in practitioner focus group data and aligned it with recent research syntheses on emerging technologies. We illustrate the framework through one worked example and two comparative mini-cases. We conclude with an agenda for researchers and practitioners focused on assessment, equitable infrastructure and support, data stewardship, and environment-design descriptions that move beyond technocentric labels.

Authors

• Beck, Dennis
• Elmendorf, Doug
• Morgado, Leonel

Reference Type

Journal

Keywords

• Educational technology
• K-12 online learning