ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN FOSTERING DIGITAL WELL-BEING

Abstract

The digital flip in education seems to have changed the role of the teacher, requiring an understanding that the teacher must go from ‘delivering’ content’ to being responsible for students’ digital well-being. This chapter hypothesizes the teacher as a “digital guardian’’, one who promotes critical digital literacy and ethical cyber-citizenship within digitally connected classrooms and self- regulated digital learning. Coupled with insights from educational psychology, digital ethics, and socio-technical perspectives, the chapter proposes that teach- ers’ roles are no longer simply to educate; they must also be able to design learning spaces that protect against digital anxieties, distractions, and cyberbullying. There are concerns related to the lack of teacher preparedness, fears of disorientation toward AI, equality, and ethics of learning analytics. It supports creating institutional climates, policies regarding student and teacher well-being, and integrated professional development in digital well-being pedagogy to support educators. In the end, preparing teachers to be digital shepherds is a fundamental part of promoting digital citizens who possess the qualities of resiliency, ethicality, and emotional-connectedness in this century.