In the light of platformisation, datafication and surveillance within everyday interactions on university educational spaces (Macgilchrist et al., 2022), this practitioner paper is based on survey research of teachers’ experiences and digital fatigue in teaching online, in an Irish higher education institution. It adopts a practitioner focus in problematising this dilemma, and in light of survey responses, looks towards what actions might exist, and what responses might negate some of these perceived ill effects. As higher education becomes increasingly digital, teachers’ roles and forms of academic labour are being reshaped. Successive waves of technological change are impacting on classroom dynamics and reconfiguring relationships between students and staff who teach. In this context, we examine how digitally mediated pedagogy affects teachers’ wellbeing in various ways.

Our preliminary findings indicate that digital fatigue is a common experience among teaching staff. Over 27% of respondents reported experiencing digital fatigue frequently or very frequently, while 50% reported experiencing it occasionally when teaching. The primary contributors to digital fatigue were increased and prolonged screen time. Additional contributing factors included time spent preparing digital teaching materials and managing high volumes of online messages and queries, along with juggling grading and feedback workloads. To support their wellbeing, strategies such as taking regular breaks from screens, setting clear boundaries around work, and seeking peer support were reported.

We reflect upon potential responses to this, with a focus on practical down-to-earth actions (after Birhane, 2021) that are relational and go beyond technical solutions. We invite the audience to participate, (after Benjamin, 2024; Brazier, 2024), to validate some of our explorations and dream a little.

References

Benjamin, Ruha. (2024). Imagination: a manifesto. W. W. Norton & Company.

Birhane, Abeba. (2021). Algorithmic injustice: a relational ethics approach. Patterns, 2(2), 100205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2021.100205

Brazier, Ariana. (2024). The Imagination Playbook. https://www.imaginationplaybook.com/question-game

Macgilchrist, Felicitas, Potter, John, & Williamson, Ben. (2022). Reading internationally: if citing is a political practice, who are we reading and who are we citing? Learning, Media and Technology, 47(4), 407-412. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2022.2140673