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With increased demands from students and ranking institutions, preparing to fulfil future needs has become an ongoing activity in higher education institutions (Srivastava et al., 2020; Neuwirth et al., 2021; Srivastava & Chavare, 2023). Leaders, decision-makers, faculty members, staff, and students are all involved in making rapid decisions and adapting technological changes to meet deadlines and course plans (Neborsky et al., 2020). Traditionally, teaching and learning were related to classroom experience. However, post-pandemic, the emphasis on continuous development and evolvement of the teaching fraternity in higher education has become the key to sustainability and personal branding. Faculty members are specifically training themselves for technology upgradation, helping them to have better classroom interactions, awareness of novel and innovative pedagogies with technological involvement, and improved student learning experiences (Benavides et al., 2020; Menon & Suresh, 2022; Ramsay et al., 2019). Even though students are in the offline classroom, faculty and leaders continuously explore ways to make the in-class experience more expressive and conducive to long-lasting learning using technology, surpassing their age and experience barriers. This highlights that faculty members in higher education institutions have become agile in adopting digital technologies (Goulart et al., 2022).
Agility refers to an individual's capacity to adapt and respond to changing needs and new challenges (Park & Park, 2021; Ivanov, 2022). It involves swift and graceful movement, creative thinking, and flexibly and effectively maintaining coordination, balance, and timely reactions to address concerns (Cegarra-Navarro et al., 2016). In line with its true essence, digital agility is a term that describes an individual's ability to adapt and respond to constant transformations in digital technology and the environment (Grover, 2022). It encompasses quickly learning and proficiently adopting novel platforms and tools (Seale et al., 2010).
Scholars have recognized the relevance of digital agility in an era where technology is altering various aspects of life, including work, thinking, learning, collaboration, and communication, all aimed at remaining competitive and relevant in the surrounding context (Salmela et al., 2022; Troise et al., 2022). Overall, possessing digital agility is essential in today's fast-paced digital world, offering an advantage in navigating the ever-shifting digital landscape (Troise et al., 2022; Jayawardena et al., 2023). However, there are three main gaps in the literature:
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Most studies have focused on qualitative understanding.
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Statistical investigations were simple cross-sectional studies, lacking generalizability and causal effects (Akkaya & Tabak, 2020)
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Few studies have employed mixed-method approaches to evaluate the factors affecting digital agility in non-business contexts.
Hence, the primary objective of this study is to employ a mixed-method approach to explore and examine the factors influencing the digital agility of faculty members in the context of higher education institutions.