Technostress in Distance Learning: The Positive Learn Project

Abstract

During the recent Covid-19 pandemic, school education has massively shifted to online-only learning. One of the key lessons learned from the pandemic was that many teachers and students were unable to deal with new technologies in a healthy way, resulting in various psychological effects such as anxiety and stress. Technostress in online education refers to the negative effects of using technology on a person's well-being, including physical and mental health, work-life balance, and overall quality of life. It is a phenomenon that affects both teachers and students. Technostress can arise from a variety of sources, such as: difficulty of adapting to new digital platforms and tools, information overload, technical problems and feelings of isolation. This can lead to decreased motivation, burnout, and negative impacts on mental and emotional well-being, and negatively impact learning outcomes and performance. Managing this digital transformation requires developing digital readiness, resilience and capacity. There is a need for profound overhauls and changes that address wellbeing and mental health. The POSITIVE LEARN ("Distance learning positification: technostress relief and wellbeing") project starts against this background. POSITIVE LEARN aims to empower school professionals and modernise teacher education through curriculum innovation to meet the demands of the emerging online-first learning paradigm. The focus of the present paper is twofold. The first objective is to investigate how technostress is affecting Distance Learning in schools, its causes and effects. The second objective is to present the goals of the POSITIVE LEARN project and to report on early research findings.