A multigroup analysis of factors underlying teachers’ technostress and their continuance intention toward online teaching

Online teaching has been implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, teaching online consumes considerable time and adds pressure to teachers' daily lives. Teachers have to not only acquire technical skills but also provide engaging instruction online. Meanwhile, privacy breaches occasionally occur in online teaching. The objective of the current study is to analyze the factors underlying the continuance intention toward online teaching beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. We use the person-environment fit theory to develop the survey for investigation. An open-ended question appended to the survey helps to gather teachers' further thoughts on sustainable online teaching. The structural equation modeling reveals that teachers' technostress is associated with their privacy concerns and self-efficacy in delivering effective instruction amid online teaching. The multigroup analysis further demonstrates that technostress, self-efficacy and school support are related to the continuance intention to teach online for teachers at distinct teaching levels to different extents. The responses to the open-ended question reveal that teachers' preference for online instruction lies in wealthy teaching resources and flexibility. Students’ learning performance and the effectiveness of assessments constitute a concern in conducting online teaching. The implications for policymakers and teachers are remarked upon at the end of this paper.