With the progress of educational reform and the all-round development of students’ minds and bodies, the use of digital technology in education has gradually become mainstream, thus increasing demands on teachers. Based on 216 high-quality international publications and policy documents from 2014 to 2025, this study will employ a systematic review, bibliometric analysis, theoretical integration and model induction method to examine the conceptual development, measurement system, influential factors and improvement strategies of teachers’ digital teaching competence under the macro environment of educational digital transformation. Based on the above research, six core indicators of teachers’ digital teaching ability have been proposed: technological literacy, digital instructional design, technological integration capability, digital assessment competence, data literacy, and digital ethics. The six systems of influence are: policy and institutional environment, school organisational support, technological infrastructure, teacher professional development, digital psychology and attitudes, and learner characteristics. The five connected links in the strengthening mechanism are: standardisation of competence frameworks, systematic organisation of teacher training, digitalisation of teaching scenarios, data-driven assessment mechanism, and ecological support system. Further building a system for strengthening teachers’ digital teaching abilities and putting forward future research directions in this study.
