Pathways to Realizing Teacher Emotional Support Through Technology Empowerment

Abstract

With the rapid advancement of educational informatization and artificial intelligence technologies, teachers today face prominent dual challenges in their daily teaching practices: on one hand, they must fulfill students’ growing emotional support needs amid digital interactions; on the other, they need to continuously develop proficient skills in applying diverse digital tools. This study adopts a rigorous mixed-methods approach: it quantitatively analyzes 300+ teachers’ frequency, depth, and effectiveness of using smart educational tools in both in-person classroom and online teaching scenarios; concurrently, it conducts semi-structured in-depth interviews with 50 representative teachers to uncover their real demands for emotional exchange with students and professional growth in tech integration. The research reveals the intrinsic mechanism through which technology empowerment enhances teachers’ capacity for emotional support. It further constructs a three-dimensional coupling model — “technology-driven, emotional support, professional growth” — clearly delineating differences in technology usage habits and emotional support needs among teachers of different ages, subjects, and teaching seniority. Based on these findings, it proposes actionable, differentiated training strategies and implementation pathways. Ultimately, this research provides solid evidence-based decision support for educational administrators and schools, effectively advancing the systematic, digital, and personalized development of teacher-led emotional support in modern education.