Abstract
The rapid digitalisation of education has transformed how educational institutions deliver instruction, manage students, communicate with stakeholders, monitor academic progress, and provide student support. While digital technologies create opportunities for flexible learning, personalised support, early identification of students at risk, and improved access to mental- health resources, their inappropriate or poorly governed use may contribute to anxiety, social isolation, cyberbullying, information overload, sleep disruption, excessive screen engagement, privacy concerns, and other threats to students’ mental well-being. Consequently, digital educational management should extend beyond the administration of teaching and learning to encompass the systematic promotion and protection of students’ psychological well-being. This conceptual paper examines the relationship between digital educational management and students’ mental well-being and proposes an integrated conceptual framework linking digital educational infrastructure, learning management systems, learning analytics, digital counselling and psychological support, digital well-being education, inclusive digital communication, and institutional digital governance to students’ mental well-being. The framework is informed principally by the Technology Acceptance Model, Self-Determination Theory, the Social-Ecological Model, and the Job Demands–Resources perspective, which together explain how technological accessibility, autonomy, competence, relatedness, environmental conditions, digital demands, and institutional resources can influence student well-being. Recent literature indicates that digital mental-health interventions can improve psychological outcomes among students, while learning analytics may support early identification and intervention. However, evidence also highlights concerns regarding privacy, transparency, digital inequality, problematic technology use, and the danger of replacing human interaction with technology. The paper therefore proposes that effective digital educational management should adopt a human-centred, preventive, inclusive, ethical, data- protective, and student-participatory approach. The framework contributes a basis for educational institutions, policymakers, counsellors, administrators, and researchers seeking to integrate digital transformation with student mental-health promotion.
References
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