Adoption of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for Health Informatics and Administration Sustainability Education in Saudi Arabia

Introduction: The educational landscape has been expanded to disadvantaged and distant areas through online courses. These online courses have gained extensive interest yet there are limited studies available in the literature. The emergence of massive open online courses (MOOCs) has allowed sustainability educators to glimpse the light. Online education is gaining popularity and, with the introduction of MOOCs, would be beneficial for knowledge building and sharing, and the development of learned society. Objective: This study investigated the mediating (indirect) effects of media richness and user-based use motives on the extended UTAUT model, use behavior (UB), and actual use (AU) of MOOCs on health informatics and administration sustainability education among educators and students in Saudi higher learning institutions (HLIs). A theoretical model based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and Channel Expansion Theory (CET) was used to investigate the factors that affect the adoption of MOOCs in health informatics and administration education. Methodology: A survey design approach was applied. Cross-sectional data were collected from health informatics educators and students from HLIs in Saudi Arabia. A non-probability convenience sampling technique was used for sampling. Data were collected online using Google Forms. A total of 145 completed questionnaires were used in the analysis. PLS-SEM(Version 4.1.1.2) was used for statistical analysis. To investigate the reliability and validity, a measurement model was developed and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted. To test the hypotheses, a structural model was run using bootstrapping, coefficients, standard errors (SE) t-values, p values, and lower and upper-level confidence intervals. Results/Findings: The findings were that system quality and user satisfaction is an important factor in the UTAUT model and the inclusion of media richness and user-based use motives significantly mediated between the expanded UTAUT model and the UB and AU of MOOCs. Moreover, media richness and user-based use motives were found to be dominant factors in the overall study model to predict use behavior and actual use of health informaticians in Saudi Arabia. Conclusions: The combination of these two theories i.e., the UTAUT and CET, can effectively enhance the adoption, use behavior, and actual use of MOOCs in the emerging field of health informatics in Saudi Arabia.