Teachers and Technology in Rural Malaysian Classrooms: Insights from the T4 Teachers and Technology Global Survey

This technical report examines how teachers in rural Malaysian classrooms experienced and used educational technology during the Covid-19 pandemic, drawing on a secondary analysis of responses from 287 Malaysian teachers who participated in the T4 Teachers and Technology Global Survey. Framed within broader debates on digital inequality and rural education, the report foregrounds structural and contextual factors shaping technology use, professional learning, and learners’ experiences. The findings show that rural teachers faced persistent infrastructural constraints, including unstable internet connectivity, limited access to devices, and insufficient institutional support. In response, teachers demonstrated adaptive professionalism by prioritising low-bandwidth and widely accessible tools. Teachers’ perceptions of learners’ needs further reveal that learning loss was shaped by socioeconomic disadvantage, household constraints, and unequal access to technology. The report concludes with recommendations for context-responsive professional development that supports low-bandwidth pedagogies, curricular adaptation, and greater professional autonomy, along with increased curricular flexibility, and sustained structural investment. Keywords: educational technology; teacher development; Malaysia; rural schools; connectivity; learning loss An output of the EdTech Hub, https://edtechhub.org/