Key characteristics in designing massive open online courses (MOOCs) for user acceptance: an application of the extended technology acceptance model

ABSTRACT

In spite of the proliferation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in higher education, factors influencing user acceptance of MOOCs are not well understood. This study is intended to investigate key characteristics of user acceptance from interface design (i.e. usability), content quality (i.e. perceived quality), and emotional arousal (i.e. perceived enjoyment) of MOOCs within the framework of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Six hundred and sixty-eight college students were invited to complete a self-reported questionnaire measuring TAM constructs and three hypothesized variables drawn from MOOC characteristics. The results from path analysis showed that all path coefficients were statistically significant. Perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment significantly affected students’ behavioral intention to use MOOCs, while both perceived usefulness and behavioral intention yielded a significant influence on perceived effective use of MOOCs. Usability and perceived quality had a strong indirect impact on behavioral intention and perceived effective use through the mediators of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment. This study demonstrated that the extended TAM with MOOC characteristics provides an effective means to understand students’ acceptance of MOOCs.

KEYWORDS:

• MOOC
• technology acceptance model
• usability
• perceived enjoyment
• perceived quality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China [grant number 2019A1515010863]; Natural Science Foundation of Shenzhen University [grant number 827000228 and 827000033]; Educational Reform Research Program of Shenzhen University [grant number JG2017070].

Notes on contributors

Da Tao

Da Tao is an assistant professor in the Institute of Human Factors and Ergonomics at Shenzhen University. He has a Ph.D. in human–computer interaction from The University of Hong Kong. His research interests lie in the social, technical and governance applications of information technology.

Pei Fu

Pei Fu is an assistant lecturer in the Department of Management Engineering, Hunan Construction Technical College. Her research interests lie in engineering education and MOOC applications.

Yunhui Wang

Yunhui Wang is an assistant lecturer in the School of Information Engineering, Heilongjiang Forestry Vocation-Technical College. Her research interests include engineering education, online learning and art design.

Tingru Zhang

Tingru Zhang is an assistant professor in the Institute of Human Factors and Ergonomics at Shenzhen University. She has a Ph.D. in human factors from City University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include human factors and its applications in information technology.

Xingda Qu

Xingda Qu is a professor in the Institute of Human Factors and Ergonomics at Shenzhen University. He has a Ph.D. in human factors from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His research interests include human factors and its applications in information technology.