When schools, high schools and universities across the world closed their doors in early
2020, digital tools quickly became the only way to keep education running. For many
teachers, this unexpected change meant learning about new platforms, answering
messages late into the evening, and experience uncertainty about what teaching should
look like online. Previous studies had described technostress as “the set of negative
emotions and attitudes caused directly or indirectly by technology use” (La Torre et al.,
2019, p. 14), but the pandemic pushed this experience into teachers’ everyday life in an
unprecedented way. In the Valencian region of Spain, where my research was cariied
out, teachers found themselves adapting at a scenery no one had anticipated.

My study explored how technostress affected secondary education teachers in this
region during the COVID-19 pandemic, in a mean of 48 teachers. The goal was not only
to understand how much technostress they experienced, but also whether factors such
as age, gender, work experience and ICT training made a difference. Although each
teacher’s story was unique, a clear pattern emerged. As Amaro (2020) pointed out, the
pandemic demanded an intense and sometimes overwhelming learning process from
teachers, who had to respond quickly to new expectations.

The results of the study showed that overall levels of technostress were moderate, but
certain dimensions stood out. Techno-overload, described as a feeling of too much
digital work, was the most significant stressor, followed closely by techno-invasion,
defined as technology blurring the boundaries between professional and personal time.
Female teachers reported slightly higher levels of technostress than their male
colleagues, and both early-career and very experienced teachers were particularly
vulnerable, though for different reasons. Teachers with stronger digital competence, on
the other hand, showed lower technostress levels, showing up the importance of digital
self-efficacy. These findings are consistent with Nang et al. (2022), who emphasizes on
the need for support systems that help teachers cope with the demands of technology
during crisis situations.

What became clear through the research is that the issue is not technology itself, but
how it is integrated into teachers’ work. When digital tools are introduced without
sufficient training or planning, they put more pressure instead of reducing it. However,
when teachers feel confident and supported, technology can make their work easier
rather than complicate it. My study support the idea that future educational policies
should prioritize useful digital training and realistic expectations for teachers.
Technology is now an inseparable part of education, but it should never come at the
cost of teacher well-being.

Raúl Llopis Verdú

University of Lapland, Faculty of Education

Master’s Programme in Media Education

The blog post is based on the master’s thesis: Impact of COVID-19 in technostress levels
of secondary education teachers in the Valencia region (Spain)

Sources:
Amaro, F. (2020). El profesorado ante el reto tecnológico durante la pandemia de
COVID-19: Perspectivas sobre la educación digital. Revista Latinoamericana de
Tecnología Educativa, 19(3), 23–41.

La Torre, G., Esposito, A., Sciarra, I., & Chiappetta, M. (2019). Definition, symptoms and
risk of technostress: A systematic review. International Archives of Occupational and
Environmental Health, 92, 13–35.

Nang, A. F. M., Maat, S. M., & Mahmud, M. S. (2022). Teacher technostress and coping
mechanisms during COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review. Pegem Journal of
Education and Instruction, 12(2), 200–212.