The Achilles Heel of Technology: How Does Technostress Affect University Students’ Wellbeing and Technology-Enhanced Learning

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of technostress on university students' wellbeing and technology-enhanced learning (TEL) through the stressor-strain-outcome model. Interviews were first used to contextualize and inform the development of the survey instrument. Then, survey data from 796 participants were collected and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that technostress creators, including techno-complexity, techno-insecurity, and techno-uncertainty, were significantly associated with students' burnout in TEL, which in turn was negatively associated with their self-regulation, learning agency, and persistence in TEL. Group comparison analyses based on gender, academic disciplines, and willingness to join TEL show that the negative associations between burnout and self-regulation, learning agency, and persistence in TEL were significantly stronger for male students than female students. Similar findings were also found for students joining TEL willingly and unwillingly, with the latter being more strongly affected by burnout. In addition, the positive association between techno-complexity and burnout was greater for students from social sciences than those from engineering and natural sciences. The findings of this study can inform future implementation decisions of TEL in higher education and strategies to preserve university students' wellbeing.