Digital innovation: addressing the teaching crisis in primary schools through enhanced literacy, teacher efficacy, and workload reduction

Australia's education system faces a significant challenge in teacher retention, driven by unsustainable workloads, declining literacy outcomes, and escalating attrition rates. Addressing this crisis through innovative solutions is critical for ensuring educational quality and teacher sustainability. This research investigates whether digital technology entrepreneurship, exemplified by the literacy-focused educational technology (EdTech) platform Scriibi, can effectively reduce teacher workload and enhance educational outcomes in Victorian primary schools. Employing qualitative research methods, including in-depth interviews with primary school teachers and decision-makers using Scriibi, this study explored the platform’s usability, effectiveness, and impact on teacher practices, assessment processes, and professional satisfaction. The thematic analysis revealed several critical insights: 1. Teachers found Scriibi significantly improved literacy instruction through structured, curriculum-aligned resources, reducing the reliance on ad hoc, improvised teaching methods. Its user-friendly, integrated design facilitated consistent instructional practices across schools. 2. Scriibi streamlined assessment processes by offering automated, objective, and clear rubrics aligned with the Victorian curriculum and the Six Plus One traits of writing, greatly reducing the cumbersome and subjective manual assessment previously employed by teachers. 3. Participants reported notable increases in teacher confidence and professional satisfaction due to the structured support and embedded professional development opportunities offered by Scriibi. The platform’s consistent methodologies and collaborative design fostered a community of practice that enhanced both new and experienced teachers’ instructional capabilities. 4. Workload reduction was identified as a significant benefit of Scriibi, described by teachers as a "one-stop-shop" that consolidated planning, teaching, and assessment resources into a single accessible platform. However, some participants expressed uncertainty about the long-term workload implications, noting initial learning curves and concerns about potential increases in workload from additional expectations. 5. Despite the clear educational and workload benefits, Scriibi alone does not address broader systemic issues contributing to teacher attrition, such as administrative burdens, complex interactions with parents, and teacher morale. While the platform eased instructional workloads, these external pressures require comprehensive policy reforms alongside technological solutions. Overall, Scriibi exemplifies how agile, human-centred digital entrepreneurship can effectively address specific educational challenges. The study concludes that while EdTech platforms like Scriibi can significantly streamline literacy instruction, improve teacher self-efficacy, and reduce instructional workload, their integration must be complemented by broader systemic support and policy reforms to comprehensively address teacher retention. Recommendations for implementation include targeted professional development, financial support for schools, continued human-centred iterative product design, and integration of EdTech solutions within broader policy initiatives.