Embracing Digitalization: Student Learning and New Technologies

Digital change is like a fast-moving tsunami, with the digitalization of many business practices creating new relationships between businesses and customers and altering the marketing landscape. We provide an overview of several of these emerging digital innovations and their evolving impact on marketing activities. It is imperative that college students gain exposure to such cutting-edge technologies and ingrain the conceptual, inquiry, critical thinking, creativity, and integrative learning skills needed to add value in a world where machines will work alongside human professionals. We suggest that by embracing rather than banning technology, faculty enfranchise students through increased sensory experiences and enhanced digital activities, which will lead to greater learning. We contend that vested stakeholders—institutions of higher education, professional associations, publishing companies, and technology companies—need to support and strengthen faculty efforts in embracing technology to continuously enhance learning.