Teachers as Forced Digital Immigrants in Post-Covid-19 Reality: Does Hybrid Identity Facilitate Successful Integration in Fully Digital Online Teaching Environments?

Abstract

The current study adopted a model from immigration literature in order to equate the transition of teachers to digital teaching environments to geographical immigration. The study focused on teachers’ hybrid (digital and traditional) identity as digital immigrants during their “immigration” process and examined the role of innovative school climate and technological training as moderators. Data was collected from 145 secondary school teachers in Israel. The findings indicated that both teachers’ digital and hybrid identity significantly predicted their objective and subjective integration process as digital immigrants, particularly when the school’s innovative climate and teachers’ digital training levels were low.