Abstract
Online informal learning (IL) spreads quickly in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Studies have predicted that both online and workplace IL have potential value to individual and organization development, whereas the study on its link with innovation remains scarce. IL is an individualized learning pattern different from formal learning, and its functioning mechanism on innovation will deepen our understanding of the relationship between learning and innovation. Self-efficacy and autonomous motivation are considered as two streams of motivational mediating mechanisms to innovation. However, previous studies have proceeded largely in separation from each other. Researchers highlight the need to develop a more fine-grained theory of motivation and innovation. In addressing these literature gaps, this paper takes college teachers as the sample and focuses on the motivational mediating mechanism between online IL and innovation. The results showed that teachers IL could positively predict innovative teaching performance. Personal teaching efficacy and autonomous motivation played as sequential mediators on the link between IL and innovative teaching performance. This study extends the literature of IL–innovation relationship and enriches understanding of cognition-oriented motivation theory, highlighting one's internal autonomous construction is the key to innovation. Theoretical and practical implications for psychological empowerment are discussed.
Highlights
Online education became ubiquitous due to the COVID-19 Pandemic during 2020 (Li et al, 2020; Quezada et al, 2020; Tian et al, 2020)
In terms of construct validity, based on the two-step procedure (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988), we first performed a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test the fitness of the measurement model to the research data before examining the structural relationships among four variables
The measurement model results showed an excellent data fit [χ 2 = 437.362; df = 163;χ 2/df = 2.683; comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.951; goodness of fit index (GFI) = 0.912; Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) = 0.943; SRMR = 0.044; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.049]
Summary
Online education became ubiquitous due to the COVID-19 Pandemic during 2020 (Li et al, 2020; Quezada et al, 2020; Tian et al, 2020). Making good use of the Internet for education remains problematic (OECD, 2020). Teachers need to learn and innovate in their work. China’s Ministry of Education required colleges to organize teachers to learn online teaching methods and provide some free and open teaching resources across regions and colleges (China’s Ministry of Education., 2020) to cope with online teaching, which lasted half of the school year. Some teacher communities of online informal learning (IL) formed throughout the country. Teachers’ online IL usually includes selecting learning resources (video conference/seminar, reading), communicating with other teachers to solve problems, discussing
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