Teaching preparedness and digital instructional practices in technology-enhanced learning environments: testing a moderated mediation model within the ability-motivation-opportunity framework

Although teaching preparedness is widely recognised as a key antecedent of teachers’ technology integration, less is known about the psychological and contextual conditions under which preparedness is associated with teachers’ digital instructional practices in technology-enhanced learning environments. Drawing on Ability–Motivation–Opportunity (AMO) theory, this study examines a moderated mediation model in which digital teaching self-efficacy mediates the association between teaching preparedness and digital instructional practices, and teacher autonomy moderates the pathway from self-efficacy to practice. Using data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024 for Shanghai, China (N = 2548 teachers nested in 205 schools), we estimated the model in R with complex survey weights and school-cluster-robust standard errors. Teaching preparedness was positively associated with digital instructional practices; digital teaching self-efficacy partially mediated this association, accounting for approximately 61% of the total effect; and teacher autonomy strengthened the link from self-efficacy to practice. Sensitivity analyses with an outcome focused on interactive learning environments, alternative and reverse mediation models, and a latent structural equation model confirmed the robustness of these findings. The results provide contextual evidence for applying AMO theory to teachers’ digital instructional practices in a centralised, non-Western education system.