Recent times have seen drives to deepen and broaden the incorporation of digital technologies into teaching practices, and—especially in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic—to accelerate the pace of the associated change. Digital transformation is a contested and problematic term, which, having originated in other spheres, has been only awkwardly appropriated into educational research. Yet it correctly draws attention to important relationships that link this ongoing drive to innovate pedagogical practices using digital technologies with a range of other issues—institutional structures, strategies, and management; educational business models and links with stakeholders in other sectors; and changes in economic models, political agendas and associated ideologies within those broader societies in which educational systems are situated. The impact of such issues has been extensive, yet it has most often been noted with regard to educational systems and institutions.

In this edition of Studies in Technology Enhanced Learning, we wish to consider the implications specifically from the point of view of teachers, teaching and/or teaching practices. The present special issue will explore some of the varied roles, practices, forms of expertise, and identities of teachers in times of digital transformation. It will explore the implications for teaching practices, including as these are increasingly distributed across teaching teams that incorporate new professional roles. It will incorporate accounts of pedagogical change, instructional design, and the integration of new technologies into practice for particular purposes. It will acknowledge teaching as a form of labour, grappling with accounts of workload and work/life balance. And it will critique the underlying processes, agenda and ideologies from the specific “frontline professional” perspective of teachers and other staff involved in teaching practices.

The special issue is edited by

• Brett Bligh, Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom.

The issue is currently in progress. As papers from this issue are gradually released, they will be listed below. These papers have in press status (sometimes called online-ahead-of-print). They have been accepted after peer review and can be cited using their DOI number, but they do not yet have citable page numbers.