Understanding student intentions to take online courses: A theory-driven examination of adoption factors and prior experience.

Online education options have expanded rapidly, yet empirical knowledge of students' adoption choices remains relatively limited. Within higher education, it is important for both instructors and administrators to understand what students value in online courses in order to provide a quality learning experience and manage enrollment demands. The current work applies and expands on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to examine factors involved in course modality choices. Study 1 (N = 257) uses a single discipline to validate measures of online course perceptions and provide initial predictive evidence. Study 2 (N = 1257) examines adoption intentions among students in a wide range of disciplines. Performance expectancies, hedonic motivation, and flexibility emerged as the most substantial factors in student decisions about course modality. The results also reveal shifts in online course perceptions over time, including larger shifts for students with no prior online course experience. These findings expand current understanding of why students choose to take (or avoid) online courses, particularly concerning the role of flexibility in enrollment decisions. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10639-023-11823-4.

Integrating students' perspectives about online learning: a hierarchy of factors.

This article reports on a large-scale (n = 987), exploratory factor analysis study incorporating various concepts identified in the literature as critical success factors for online learning from the students' perspective, and then determines their hierarchical significance. Seven factors--Basic Online Modality, Instructional Support, Teaching Presence, Cognitive Presence, Online Social Comfort, Online Interactive Modality, and Social Presence--were identified as significant and reliable. Regression analysis indicates the minimal factors for enrollment in future classes-when students consider convenience and scheduling-were Basic Online Modality, Cognitive Presence, and Online Social Comfort. Students who accepted or embraced online courses on their own merits wanted a minimum of Basic Online Modality, Teaching Presence, Cognitive Presence, Online Social Comfort, and Social Presence. Students, who preferred face-to-face classes and demanded a comparable experience, valued Online Interactive Modality and Instructional Support more highly. Recommendations for online course design, policy, and future research are provided.