The Influences of Blended Learning Platforms on Students’ Satisfaction-An Empirical Study at a College in Southern China

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Background and Aim: Although research on blended learning is expanding, studies on Rain Classroom’s role and its impact on student satisfaction remain limited, especially given rapid advances in information technology and the "Internet + Education" policy. Social software like QQ and WeChat has transformed classroom dynamics and increased student interest. Despite its significance, blended learning models often remain theoretical and lack practical application. Rain Classroom, a leading smart teaching tool in China, represents a new phase in educational informationization but is not fully understood. This study explores Rain Classroom’s use, analyzes factors affecting satisfaction, develops and validates an assessment model, and proposes strategies to enhance satisfaction, offering guidance for future educators. Materials and Methods: China's private undergraduate institutions play a key role in higher education. This study surveyed 3,793 students from four programs at a private university's School of Intelligent Manufacturing in southern China, with a final sample of 528. The programs included Electrical Engineering, Electronic Information Engineering, Mechanical Design, and Computer Science. The research explores the relationship between student satisfaction with Rain Classroom and factors such as Perceived Playfulness (PP), Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Ease of Use (PE), System Quality (SQ), and Information Quality (IQ), using the ACSI model and a modified TAM. Cognitive Engagement (CE) mediates and Satisfaction (STA) is the dependent variable. The study's questionnaire was evaluated, pilot-tested, and analyzed with CFA and SEM, revealing strong correlations among the variables. Results: This study involved 528 students from a southern China university. Cognitive Engagement (CE) was the dependent variable with an R² of 0.491, meaning Perceived Playfulness (PP), Perceived Usefulness (PU), and Perceived Ease of Use (PE) explained 49.1% of its variance. Satisfaction (STA) had an R² of 0.416, with PP, PU, PE, System Quality (SQ), Information Quality (IQ), and CE explaining 41.6% of its variance. All p-values were below 0.05, indicating significant effects. Conclusion: This study proposes six hypotheses to examine factors affecting student learning satisfaction, such as perceived interest, usability, ease of use, cognitive engagement, system quality, and information quality. The subjects are freshmen to seniors at a private university in southern China who have used Rain Classroom for at least six months. Using a quota sampling method, the study ensured validity through expert-tested IOC and a pilot test with 30 respondents. Data from 528 valid questionnaires were analyzed using CFA and SEM to assess validity, reliability, and the impact on satisfaction.