Examining Factors Influencing Students’ Acceptance of Online Learning during COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Thailand

Chek Kim Loi; Attapol Khamkhien; Norazah Mohd Suki; Songyut Akkakoson; Hock-Ann Lee

doi:10.47405/mjssh.v8i1.1524

Chek Kim Loi Pusat Penataran Ilmu dan Bahasa, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. Jalan Sungai Pagar, 87000 Labuan, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan, Malaysia.
Attapol Khamkhien Thammasat University, Language Institute Building 99, Moo 18, Paholyothin Road, Klong Luang, Rangsit, Pathumthani, 12121 Thailand.
Norazah Mohd Suki Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business (OYAGSB), Universiti Utara Malaysia (Kampus Kuala Lumpur), 27-1B, Tingkat 1, Wisma Sri Muda (UUMKL, Menara 2), Jalan Raja Muda, Abd Aziz, Kampung Baru, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Songyut Akkakoson King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB),1518 Pracharaj 1 Road, Wong Sawang Bang Sue, Bangkok 10800 Thailand.
Hock-Ann Lee Labuan Faculty of International Finance, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan Sungai Pagar, 87000 Labuan, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan, Malaysia.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v8i1.1524

Keywords: Online Learning, Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Usefulness, Motivation

Abstract

This study examines factors influencing students’ acceptance of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand. A self-administered questionnaire gathered from 398 students from two universities in Thailand was analysed via multiple regression analysis using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. This approach was utilized to evaluate eleven hypotheses. The results revealed that perceived usefulness was the predominant factor that affected students’ actual use, readiness, and motivation to use online learning. The findings indicate that when the online learning system and online content are of good quality, students will perceive online learning as valuable, which will result in more actual usage. These students would accept that it is a suitable method for completing homework, obtaining information from the Internet, and learning the English language. This study makes significant contributions to advancing the understanding of factors influencing students’ acceptance of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand by applying the technology acceptance model (TAM) as the guiding principle. Thailand's online learning delivery system could benefit from these empirical findings, which could be used to develop guidelines to improve its effectiveness. Directions for future research are also presented.

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Author Biographies

Chek Kim Loi, Pusat Penataran Ilmu dan Bahasa, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. Jalan Sungai Pagar, 87000 Labuan, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan, Malaysia.

Chek-Kim Loi is a senior lecturer at the Universiti Malaysia Sabah. She obtained her PhD in linguistics from the University of Otago, New Zealand and pursued a post-doctoral program in the United Kingdom. She has published research articles in some international journals such as English for Academic Purposes, Discourse Studies, Journal of Pragmatics, Sage Open, Ib´erica (Spain). Her research interests include genre studies, intercultural communication, academic witing, discourse analysis and bilingualism.

Attapol Khamkhien, Thammasat University, Language Institute Building 99, Moo 18, Paholyothin Road, Klong Luang, Rangsit, Pathumthani, 12121 Thailand.

Attapol Khamkhien is affiliated with the Language Institute, Thammasat University, Thailand. He received a PhD in English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics from the University of Warwick, UK. His research interests include corpus linguistics, focusing on academic and professional discourse, genre-based analysis, vocabulary instruction, semantics and pragmatics, and ELF instruction.

Norazah Mohd Suki, Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business (OYAGSB), Universiti Utara Malaysia (Kampus Kuala Lumpur), 27-1B, Tingkat 1, Wisma Sri Muda (UUMKL, Menara 2), Jalan Raja Muda, Abd Aziz, Kampung Baru, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Norazah Mohd Suki is a Professor of Marketing & E-Commerce at Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia. She is the recipient of Malaysia’s Research Star Award 2018, Highly Commended Paper in the 2015 and the 2017 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence, etc. She has published more than 300 papers.

Songyut Akkakoson, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB),1518 Pracharaj 1 Road, Wong Sawang Bang Sue, Bangkok 10800 Thailand.

Songyut Akkakoson is an assistant professor of English at the Department of Languages, Faculty of Applied Arts, King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB), Thailand. He obtained his PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. His research interests lie in learning styles, reading strategies, reading in EFL, English for business communication, English speaking anxiety, ESP genre analysis and World Englishes.

Hock-Ann Lee, Labuan Faculty of International Finance, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan Sungai Pagar, 87000 Labuan, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan, Malaysia.

Hock-Ann Lee is an Associate Professor at Labuan Faculty of International Finance, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. He received a PhD in Economics from the University of Nottingham. His area of research is primarily in financial economics and international finance. He has published articles in journals including Oxford Economic Papers, Applied Economics Letters, Global Economic Review and Economic Bulletin. He teaches courses on Financial Markets and Institutions, and International Financial Economics.

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