The potential of online learning: investigating pre-use expectations, intentions, actual use and post-use outcomes in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), an asynchronous form of online learning, have gained significant attention as a promising educational platform, providing widespread access to diverse learning opportunities. However, little is known about the users’ behavior towards MOOCs, especially in least developed countries (LDCs). Besides, the completion and dropout rate of MOOCs all around the world is highly criticized. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the relationships between user attitudes, intention, use, and post-usage behavior in the context of MOOCs adoption. This study extends the Technology Adoption Model (TAM) with multiple predictors and outcome variables and takes a mixed approach. Data are collected over multiple time periods with a lag of three months; 683 respondents participated in a questionnaire survey and 10 respondents participated in a Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is applied to examine the hypothesis, and the FGD results are summarized and interpreted to verify the empirical results. The findings reveal that user attitudes toward MOOCs significantly influence their intention to use these courses. A positive relationship is observed between intention and actual usage behavior. Moreover, post-usage behavior, such as knowledge acquisition and continued learning, is positively influenced by MOOCs usage.