Factors affecting students’ intentions to undertake online learning: an empirical study in Vietnam

Abstract

Educational institutions worldwide had to shift the teaching delivery mode from face to face to online teaching during COVID-19. Most of the universities in Vietnam were based on face to face learning until the sudden outbreak of COVID-19. This research study was conducted with 145 respondents and Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used for data analysis. The participants were undergraduate and post-graduate students in public and private universities who studied online during the pandemic in Vietnam. The purpose of this study was to understand what factors have an impact on students’ intentions to study online. The results show that institutional support and perceived enjoyment (satisfaction) affects the students’ intentions to study the course online in the future. Perceived enjoyment (PE) affects the online learning intentions (OLI) and PE is affected by ICT infrastructure and internet speed and access. Hence, this research adds new research variable defined as extrinsic factors (ICT infrastructure and access to the internet), which indirectly influences students’ intentions to learn online. Given the increased use of smart phones with this generation, it is advisable to integrate mobile technology in online learning and QR codes can be one of the ways to integrate that in the course materials. It is further recommended that to increase the perceived enjoyment of the students with the online learning, the lecturers might be encouraged to use videos, audios and instant messaging to contact and provide the feedback to the students. It is important for universities to prepare for any such future crisis. This study results will provide a useful insight to design the online courses effectively by considering all the factors impacting students’ intention and satisfaction.