A Study of Technostress Levels of Secondary School Teachers in Malaysia During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The study examined the level of technostress of teachers in secondary schools in Malaysia. The COVID-19 pandemic altered human life patterns, and the Movement Control Order restricted most community activities. Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Ministry of Education had exposed teachers to online learning and encouraged them to use it. This study focused on five sub-variables of technostress, that is orientation towards the learning-teaching process, profession, technical issues, individual and social orientation. A total of 1,185 teachers from 13 states were selected as a study sample using a stratified sampling technique. Items for each variable were constructed, based on literature related to technostress and expert validation. Findings show that teachers’ technostress levels are high (M=3.670, SD=4.30), and the results of the t-test analysis show that there were no significant differences in technostress of secondary school teachers in Malaysia in terms of gender (t (1185)=1.762, p>0.05) and location (t (1185)=1.962, p>0.05). Understanding technostress and how technology affects individuals may help to reduce the potential physical and psychological harm that could be caused by technostress.