Review Article
Jose Alejandro Cano, Rodrigo Andrés Gómez-Montoya, Pablo Cortés
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 18, Issue 2, Article No: ep646
ABSTRACT
Educational technologies are reshaping how operations management (OM) is taught in business education, shifting from lecture-based instruction to interactive, technology-enhanced learning. This systematic review analyzes 101 peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and 2025, following the PRISMA protocol, to examine innovations in OM education across curriculum design, pedagogical approaches, technological tools, and industry-academia partnerships. Results show a growing reliance on blended and hybrid models supported by learning platforms, where simulations, ERP systems, and VR/AR foster experiential and immersive learning. Pedagogical strategies such as problem-based learning, case methods, and project-based approaches gain effectiveness when combined with digital tools that provide real-time feedback, collaboration, and authentic data-driven contexts. The literature also emphasizes aligning OM curricula with industry needs through analytics, sustainability, and digital transformation competencies, ensuring graduates are prepared for technology-intensive and sustainability-driven workplaces. To integrate these dimensions, this review introduces a SIPOC-based framework and a teaching-technology heatmap, conceptualizing OM education as a system innovation. This perspective highlights how curriculum content, pedagogical strategies, and digital technologies interact to generate transversal competencies in analytics, strategy, risk management, and Industry 4.0/5.0. The review contributes to management and educational technology research by mapping how innovations can be systematically embedded into OM courses, while identifying challenges and opportunities for future curriculum design and digital pedagogy.
Keywords: operations management education, educational technology, curriculum design, simulations, pedagogical approaches, emerging technologies
Research Article
Tor Soderstrom, Lars Hall, Tore Nilsson, Jan Ahlqvist
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 3, Issue 4, pp. 293-307
ABSTRACT
This study compares the influence of two learning conditions – a screen-based virtual reality radiology simulator and a conventional PowerPoint slide presentation – that teach radiographic interpretation to dental students working in small collaborative groups. The study focused on how the students communicated and how proficient they became at radiographic interpretation. The sample consisted of 36 participants – 20 women and 16 men – and used a pretest/posttest group design with the participants randomly assigned to either a simulation-training group (SIM) or conventional-training group (CON) with three students in each collaborative group. The proficiency tests administered before and after training assessed interpretations of spatial relations in radiographs using parallax. The training sessions were video-recorded. The results showed that SIM groups exhibited significant development between pretest and posttest results, whereas the CON groups did not. The collaboration in the CON groups involved inclusive peer discussions, thorough interpretations of the images, and extensive use of subject-specific terminology. The SIM group discussions were much more fragmented and included more action proposals based on their actions with the simulator. The different learning conditions produced different results with respect to acquiring understanding of radiographic principles.
Keywords: Educational computer based simulations, Collaborative learning, Health care education, 3D Simulations, Peer communication