Investigating the adoption of MOOCs: A technology–user–environment perspective.

In spite of the potentials promised by MOOCs (massive open online courses), the adoption rate of MOOCs is still low, especially in developing countries. Research on the adoption of MOOCs in developing countries is also limited. To fill this research gap, this research aims to study the adoption of MOOCs by extending current research on innovation and technology adoption in order to promote the diffusion of MOOCs in developing countries. Here, a conceptual framework, technology–user–environment was proposed to identify influential drivers and barriers of MOOC adoption. Eight hundred and twenty‐seven individuals in a developing country, were invited to participate in a questionnaire survey. Data were analysed by hierarchical regression, and the results show that for the (a) technological characteristics, perceived usefulness has the most significant influence, followed by lack of accessibility and performance‐to‐cost value; for the (b)user factors, self‐regulation was the most significant predictor of MOOC adoption, and female learners showed higher willingness to adopt MOOCs; and for the (c) social environmental factors, tradition and social norms and lack of information about MOOCs were negatively associated with adoption of MOOCs. Implications and suggestions are discussed at the end of this paper. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: MOOCs (massive open online courses), as educational innovations, are supposed to bridge the digital divide and promote educational equity globally.The benefits of MOOCs for learners are obvious.However, the adoption rate of MOOCs is still relatively low while the dropout rate is high, especially in developing countries.Research on the adoption of MOOCs in developing countries is still limited.What this paper adds: This research proposed a conceptual framework, namely, technology–user–environment, in order to identify influential drivers and barriers from the technological characteristics of MOOCs as well as the user and the social environmental factors.After conducting a survey among 827 learners in a developing country, it was found that perceived usefulness of MOOCs, performance‐to‐cost value, and self‐regulation are positively associated with learners' intention of adopting MOOCs, whereas lack of accessibility tradition and social norms and lack of supporting information are negatively associated with their intention of MOOC adoption.Implications for practice and/or policy: For MOOC content provider, it is necessary to enhance the usefulness of MOOCs, as perceived usefulness is ranked as the strongest predictor of MOOC adoption.Universities in developing countries should help students overcome the potential obstacles at the beginning of MOOC learning by providing instructions to learners to search for course materials and how to use MOOCs to supplement their formal learning.Governments of developing countries are encouraged to be involved and support the development and delivery as well as the usage of MOOCs. Such participation by active stakeholders in developing countries has potential to bridge the digital divide between developed and developing countries.For learners, they should be equipped with self‐regulating strategies so that they will be competent to manage challenges (e.g., distractions) while learning in MOOCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]