Scientific Bulletin of Mukachevo State University. Series “Pedagogy and Psychology”

Vol. 12, No. 2, 2026 25.05.2026 open access Open access

Digital overload and burnout in higher education

Liudmyla Romanovska, Oksana Kravchuk*, Iryna Varis

oksana.kravchuk@kneu.edu.ua

DOI https://doi.org/10.52534/msu-pp2.2026.47 Pages 47 –64 Views 8 Views

Abstract

The study’s relevance stems from the expansion of the digital educational environment, in which students and teachers face not only intensive use of technology but also information overload, constant availability, fragmented communication, cognitive strain, and limited opportunities for recovery. The article’s purpose was to systematise the manifestations of digital overload and digital burnout in higher education, identify their stages, clarify role-specific differences between students and teachers, and determine the institutional conditions that intensify or mitigate the risk of burnout. The methodological basis of the study comprised a narrative review, conceptual analysis, comparative analysis, typological generalisation, and model building, drawing on recent research on technostress, academic and occupational burnout, online learning fatigue, videoconferencing exhaustion, digital resilience, and psychological well-being in educational organisations. The findings showed that digital burnout has a multidimensional structure encompassing emotional, cognitive, behavioural, social and physiological manifestations. A developmental continuum was substantiated, ranging from episodic digital stress to digital fatigue, digital overload and clinically significant burnout. An authorial typology of role-specific manifestations of digital burnout was developed: among students, it is associated with academic exhaustion, procrastination, declining motivation, weakened learning identity and reduced sense of belonging; among teachers, it is associated with emotional exhaustion, digital pedagogical insecurity, depersonalisation of online interaction, hidden digital labour and reduced teaching quality. The article proposed a conceptual model of digital burnout in higher education, organised by stages, role-specific manifestations, and institutional outcomes. The practical value of the study lies in substantiating differentiated prevention measures for students, teachers, and higher education administrators, with consideration of digital boundaries, workload governance, support systems, early diagnosis, and crisis-related contextual conditions

Keywords

digital burnout; technostress; academic exhaustion; teacher well-being; online learning fatigue; wartime education

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Suggested citation

Romanovska, L., Kravchuk, O., & Varis, I. (2026). Digital overload and burnout in higher education. Scientific Bulletin of Mukachevo State University. Series “Pedagogy and Psychology”, 12(2), 47-64. https://doi.org/10.52534/msu-pp2.2026.47