Technology Acceptance of Massive Open Online Courses in Malaysia

The past few years have witnessed the emergence of massive open online courses (MOOCs) as a learning trend in the field of open distance education. Previous studies have indicated that there are limited studies which focus on the technology acceptance of MOOCs in a South East Asia perspective. Thus, this study investigates a national MOOCs initiative where the technology acceptance of MOOCs is studied. Data was collected via an online survey distributed to 1,055 students using MOOCs. Findings were obtained based on aspects of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model that are 1) performance expectancy, 2) effort expectancy, 3) social influence, 4) facilitating conditions, 5) behavioural attention, as well as three other factors 6) attitude, 7) self-efficacy and 8) anxiety. Findings revealed that students accepted MOOCs as a technology for learning. Results also indicated that positive results were gained for four of the UTAUT factors except behavioural intention. With regards to the non-UTAUT factors, encouraging results were gained for attitude and anxiety, yet mixed results were obtained for self-efficacy. The findings of this study could be useful for understanding MOOCs from a Malaysian perspective as well as a South East Asia and global comparative perspective.