This presentation explores how in-service K–12 and postsecondary educators are engaging with emerging technologies in teaching and learning, as reflected in a dataset of short literature review assignments completed over the past five years by adult graduate students. These students, enrolled in a foundational study exploring Issues and Ethics in the Digital Age, were asked to identify and synthesize research on a self-selected topic connected with the use of technology in their own teaching practice. Their assignments offer a unique view into the evolving issues and concerns of teachers working in diverse instructional contexts during a period of rapid educational transformation.

To analyze this set of literature reviews, Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic analysis framework was used. This reflexive approach allows for moving beyond categorizing topics to identify patterns of meaning and values embedded in the educators’ writing. The aim was to uncover how teachers are interpreting the challenges and opportunities of digital change, not merely by adopting tools, but by critically researching their impact on learning and well-being. The short reviews were anonymized and reviewed holistically. Early coding tracked surface-level trends as well as deeper concerns such as learner agency and motivation, equity and access, health (social, emotional, developmental), and teacher role.

Some emerging themes included: how technologies might increase student participation and motivation, ways in which new tools can support students with disabilities or language needs, and whether AI enhances or threatens human creativity and learning. Several key insights included: teachers are critical, reflective users of technology, the most significant questions were relational, not technical, and the growing sense of both possibility and vulnerability among teachers.

This presentation aligns with conference strands related to teacher agency, digital equity, and professional learning. By highlighting the inquiries and reflections of working educators, it offers grounded insights into how educational change is being interpreted and enacted by those closest to the work of teaching.

Keywords: Educational technology, teacher agency, teacher professional development, graduate teacher education, AI and emerging technologies, research on technology in education.