Teachers’ Agency in Technology for Education in Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Periods: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Technology has become an indispensable element in education that challenges conventional teaching. The pandemic significantly forced a paradigm shift in education from traditional methods to digital platforms. Emerging technology expanded the teacher’s role faster than predicted, and technology has become a significant criterion in defining 21st-century teachers. Teachers had to upgrade education and act as change agents in creating and managing technology-enhanced learning environments requiring teachers to be digitally literate. Considering teachers as significant stakeholders, this paper investigates how literature contributes to the knowledge of their perceptions of digital literacy in education by systematically investigating 59 research articles searched in EBSCO discovery services, covering commonly included 80 different databases in the default search. The review focuses on how teachers use technology, their challenges, and what teachers expect from successful technology integration. Results revealed a contradiction between expectations for technology integration into education before the pandemic and the experience after the lockdown. Even though teachers are confident using basic technology, many have observed a disconnect between technology and pedagogy that emphasises digital literacy’s need. Teachers struggle with technology integration due to lack of knowledge, accessibility, cost, disconnection, infrastructure, time, workload, and technology anxiety Therefore, teachers expect institutions to play a significant role in integrating technology by assisting them in mitigating challenges that require defining the institutional role of a technology-integrated learning environment.