Measuring Parents’ Perceptions About Adolescents’ Interactive Online Learning: A Case of the Vocational Enlightenment Education Online Program in a Middle School

Abstract

Background and Aim: Traditionally, vocational schools in China have been perceived as educational institutions for adolescents with poor abilities. In contrast, the Vocational School Union middle school has implemented a new education path that employs the Vocational Enlightenment Education online program (VEEOP) as the carrier. This study investigates the factors influencing parents' interest, adolescents’ interaction, and parents' attitudes toward using VEEOP. Materials and Methods: This study emphasizes the critical role of VEEOP in education and the need for vocational enlightenment education to cultivate the artisan spirit. Despite the program's significance, research on Chinese parent's perceived vocational initiation education is limited. Therefore, this study is based on the theory of family resource management, the planned behavior theory, and the social learning theory. A quantitative research design was employed to investigate parents' perceptions of the usefulness, quality, and home environment of VEEOP after establishing the study context through a literature review. Results: The results of the structural equation model show that the content quality of VEEOP was relatively stable on the whole, parents' perceived content quality (PPCQ), parents perceived Adolescents' intention to use (PITU), parents' perceived home environment (PPHE), social influence (SI), which significantly influences parents perceived Of Adolescents' Interactive Online Learning. Social influence (SI) and parents' perceived usefulness (PPU) significantly affected parents' perceived adolescents' intention to use (PITU). Parents’ perceived adolescents' intention to use (PITU) has a mediating effect on parents' perceived usefulness (PPU) to parents' perceived adolescents' interactive online learning (PPIL). Parents’ perceived adolescents' intention to use (PITU) has a mediating effect on social influence (SI) on parents perceived adolescents' interactive online learning (PPIL). Parents' perceived home environment (PPHE) has no significant influence on parents' perceived of adolescents' interactive online learning (PPIL). Conclusion: Vocational enlightenment education is an important way for teenagers and children to better understand and explore careers, and a basic link to promote individual socialization and free and comprehensive development. It is of great significance in helping and guiding individuals to improve career cognition, cultivate career interests, design career planning, and promote career development. The findings reveal that parents hold distinct expectations regarding the quality of educational content, social influence, home environment, and interactive online learning. These expectations significantly influence their attitude towards their adolescents’ use of these platforms and their level of support. Parents expect educational content that is both engaging and educational, promoting overall development. Parents' perception of social influence and the impact of peers play a crucial role in their educational decisions. Therefore, it is imperative to disseminate positive educational messages through social channels. The study highlights that the home environment is critical to adolescents’ online learning, and factors such as parents' educational background, family economic status, and family education concepts affect adolescents’ online learning experience to varying degrees. Thus, it is essential to consider these factors when designing and implementing online education strategies that better meet different families' needs.