“Teaching the power of tech can engage and motivate kids,” says sixth-grade science and math teacher Alfonso Gonzalez. “But it’s all about balance.”
As a veteran educator in Washington’s Chimacum School District, Gonzalez continues to explore new ways to mix technology with hands-
on learning. But too much technology can sometimes lead to tech fatigue,
he cautions.
When educators face constant pressure to learn, integrate, and manage new digital platforms with little to no support, this burden, along with other stressors, can lead to burnout. In a 2025 survey by the RAND Corporation, more than half of teachers reported feeling burned out. The cause of their exhaustion? Long hours and ongoing problems with student behavior were the primary drivers.
“More and more has been asked of us, and it doesn’t seem to stop,” says Connecticut teacher Joe Holloway.
Another thing on your plate
District leaders usually present educational technology as a path to more innovative instruction and streamlined processes—and it often delivers on that promise.
However, a 2024 study in the journal Teacher Development found that learning new technologies can also have a negative impact. The researchers, David T. Marshall, Teanna Moore, and Timothy Pressley, report that teachers who used a learning management system such as Canvas or Schoology reported higher levels of burnout.
“Ideally, these tools should have simplified their jobs,” the authors write on The Conversation website.
“We also thought these systems would improve teachers’ ability to organize documents and assignments.
…[But] instead of being used to replace old ways of completing tasks, the learning management systems were simply another thing on teachers’ plates.”
A 2021 study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health also found that the increased workload around tech integration—particularly self-guided integration—can have negative effects on the well-being of teachers, creating high rates of stress and anxiety.
“There are so many platforms teachers have to be on,” explains instructional specialist and author Miriam Plotinsky, who oversees secondary English and literacy teachers in Maryland’s Montgomery County Public Schools. “Expecting people to figure it out is not fair, but it is common.”
She adds, “When teachers cannot figure something out, they blame themselves. But that’s not their failure, it is someone else’s.”
A shifting digital landscape
Math teacher Dylan Kane says that at the beginning of his career, he went all-in on new technology. “I was on the earlier side of technology adoption,” he recalls. “I’d drag the Chromebook cart into my room and try everything.”
Since then, the demand has increased drastically. Teachers are expected not only to deliver instruction, but also to manage behavior and track data across multiple platforms.
Over the past five years, Kane has seen more downsides. “It does feel tiring sometimes as we push more and more of our systems online,” explains Kane, who teaches seventh grade in Leadville, Colo. “I have one website up for attendance and a second website up for entering discipline notes. I have a third website up for monitoring students’ bathroom passes and a fourth up to monitor what students are doing on their Chromebooks.”
Better training and support
It is possible to reduce tech fatigue, Plotinsky says. “Protecting teacher well-being has to do with streamlining the number of places where teachers have to complete tasks,” she notes.
More time would also help, Gonzalez notes. “Districts need to allocate time for teachers to learn and integrate technology,” he suggests. “When teachers do not have to educate themselves, there’s less burnout.”
Instead, it’s important to advocate for structure, support, and intentionality when implementing tech in the classroom.
Tech fatigue does not mean we should reject the evolving digital landscape, Gonzalez adds. He defines “true blended learning” as instruction with enhancements that are not entirely erased by technology.
