The effect of blended massive open online courses on students’ perceptions of their engagement and learning outcomes = Uphenyo ngezifundo eziningi ezivulelekile ze-inthenethi ehlanganisiwe yokufunda nokusebenza kwabafundi.

Abstract

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have arisen in recent years and have sparked significant discourse regarding education. MOOCs have become firmly established in the educational landscape and have undergone various adaptations, including the emergence of blended MOOCs integrating campus-based courses with MOOCs, resulting in a more profound learning experience. Blended MOOCs enable the use of various blended pedagogies, which can be used to offset the numerous challenges facing higher education in the global south, such as 1) limited access, 2) inadequacies and obsolescence infrastructure, 3) limited resources, 4) students’ enrolment that is far beyond what they were designed to accommodate, 5) overcrowding in lecture halls, 6) shortage of lecturers, especially research-active and experienced senior academics, 7) poor quality of education to meet the needs of today’s workforce and 8) mismatch between the skills of graduates. This study examines how blended MOOCs relate to students' learning and perceived academic performance. It analyses students' acceptance and use, engagement, and factors influencing their satisfaction and perceived academic performance. This analysis incorporates the revised Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, including learning presence and the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT 2) models. An empirical study was conducted with 2875 students from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, selected via two-stage cluster sampling to accomplish this objective. The respondents were levels 100, 200, 300 and 800 students who were instructed to enrol into MOOCs as open educational resources (OERs) to supplement their campus-based for a semester. Upon the conclusion of the semester, the students were requested to complete a questionnaire. Subsequently, the collected data underwent analysis utilising SmartPLS v4 and SPSS v28 software. In general, the model demonstrates a strong alignment with the gathered data and possesses an adequate level of efficacy in elucidating the phenomenon of students’ usage acceptance (UTAUT 2) of blended MOOCs and its impacts on engagement (CoI), satisfaction and academic performance. The findings have several implications for research and EdTech integration practices among sub-Saharan nations, which were also discussed. Consequently, this study offers significant contributions to the theory and practice of active learning in a blended MOOC environment.

Iqoqa.

Izifundo Eziningi Ezivulelekile Ze-inthenethi (ama-MOOC) zivele eminyakeni yamuva nje futhi zivuse izinkulumo ezibalulekile mayelana nemfundo. Ama-MOOC asezinze aqina emkhakheni wezemfundo futhi abhekane nezimo ezihlukahlukene, okuhlanganisa ukuvela kwama-MOOC ahlanganisa izifundo ezisekelwe ekhampasini nama-MOOC, okuholela ekuhlangenwe nakho okujulile kokufunda. Ama-MOOC ahlanganisiwe anika amandla ukusetshenziswa kwezifundo ezihlukahlukene ezixubile, ezingasetshenziswa ukulungisa izinselelo eziningi ezibhekene nemfundo ephakeme eningizimu yomhlaba, njengokuthi 1) ukufinyelela okulinganiselwe, 2) ukuntuleka kwengqalasizinda kanye nesasetshenziswa, 3) izinsiza ezilinganiselwe, 4) abafundi ukubhaliswa okungaphezu kwalokho obekuklanyelwe ukukuthatha, 5) ukuminyana emahholo okufundisa, 6) ukushoda kwabafundisi, ikakhulukazi izifundiswa eziphezulu ezimatasa nokucwaninga, 7) izinga eliphansi lemfundo ukuze kuhlangatshezwane nezidingo zabasebenzi banamuhla kanye 8) nokungafani phakathi kwamakhono abafundi abathweswe iziqu. Lolu cwaningo luphenya ubudlelwano phakathi kwama-MOOC ahlanganisiwe kanye nokufunda kwabafundi nokusebenza kwezemfundo ngokuhlaziya umthelela wokwamukela ukusetshenziswa kwabafundi nokuxhumana nabo kanye nokuhlola izici ezithinta ukusetshenziswa kwabo kwangempela, ukuzibandakanya, ukwaneliseka kanye nokusebenza kwezemfundo kusetshenziswa inhlanganisela yomphakathi obuyekeziwe (CoI) okuhlanganisa ukuba khona kokufunda kanye nenjulalwazi Ehlanganisiwe Enwetshiwe Yokwamukela Nokusetshenziswa Kobuchwepheshe (UTAUT 2). Ucwaningo olunobufakazi lwenziwa nabafundi abangu-2875 abavela enyuvesi yaseGhana, abakhethwe ngesampula yezigaba ezimbili ukuze kufezwe le nhloso. Abaphendulile bekungabafundi bezinga le-100, 200, 300 kanye ne-800 ababeyalelwe ukuthi babhalise kuma-MOOC njengezinsiza zemfundo ezivulekile (ama-OER) ukuze bangezelele ekhempasini yabo ngesemester. Ekupheleni kwesemester, abafundi bacelwa ukuthi bagcwalise uhlu lwemibuzo. Kamuva, idatha eqoqiwe yahlaziywa kusetshenziswa isoftware ye-SmartPLS v4 kanye ne-SPSS v28. Ngokuvamile, imodeli ibonisa ukuqondana okuqinile nedatha eqoqiwe futhi inezinga elanele lokusebenza kahle ekucaciseni ukwenzeka kokwamukela ukusetshenziswa kwabafundi (i-UTAUT 2) yama-MOOC ahlanganisiwe kanye nomthelela wawo ekubandakanyekeni kwe-CoI, ukwaneliseka nokusebenza kwezemfundo. Okutholakele kunemithelela eminingana yocwaningo kanye nezinqubo zokuhlanganisa ze-EdTech phakathi kwezizwe eziseNingizimu yeSahara, nazo okwaxoxwa ngazo. Ngakho-ke, lolu cwaningo lunikeza iminikelo ebalulekile kuthiyori nokusebenza kokufunda okusebenzayo endaweni ehlanganisiwe ye-MOOC.