Why people do not use MOOCs: an innovation resistance perspective
| Date | 02 January 2025 |
| Pages | 259-285 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-05-2024-0046 |
| Published date | 02 January 2025 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library & information services |
| Author | Gábor Pörzse,Zsófia Kenesei |
Why people do not use MOOCs: an
innovation resistance perspective
Gábor Pörzse
Department of Social Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary, and
Zsófia Kenesei
Institute of Marketing and Communication Sciences, Centre for International
Higher Education Studies, Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
Abstract
Purpose –Even though the pandemic years resultedin a significant increase in massive openonline courses
(MOOCs), there are still countries where penetrationis low. The rejection of MOOCs can inhibit individual
and societal advancements.The purpose of this study is to explore what is behindthe resistance to MOOCs in
these regions.Using the theoretical framework of innovation resistance theory,it defines the factors that inhibit
the adoptionof MOOCs.
Design/methodology/approach –The research is based on two studies. In the first study, in-depth
interviews were used to explorefactors that may cause barriers to adoption. Following the resultsof the first
phase, a survey wasconducted to investigate resistance to MOOCs, includingboth users and nonusers of such
platforms.
Findings –Structural equationmodeling revealed the presence of functionaland psychological barriers, with
the most significant being usage and value-related barriers. The lack of information and the need for
interactionwere identified as the main factors contributing to thesebarriers.
Originality/value –The results help increase the acceptance and effective integration of MOOCs into
differenteducational environments, especiallyin countries with high resistance.
Keywords MOOC, Resistance, Information, Interaction, Self-regulation, Life-long learning
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The popularity of massive open online courses (MOOCs) increased significantly during the
pandemic period. Based on the expectations of industry experts, MOOCs were expected to
break new ground and continue to grow (Shah, 2021). However, although the number of
registered users and the number of published courses continues to grow, data for 2022
suggests that the dynamics have been interrupted and instead of the expected positive
scenario, industry players are facing serious problems, as evidenced by valuation drops and
layouts (Shah, 2023). This raises the question of what the prospects might be for further
expansion of MOOCs and consolidation of the providers’market position. One of these
opportunities is to engage users who have not considered MOOCs an educational
opportunity.There are many countries where MOOCs have not gained significant popularity
Acknowledgments and funding: This research was supported by the the Hungarian National Research,
Development, and Innovation Office,financed under the OTKA funding scheme, No. K-145937.
Disclosure statement: No potential conflict of interest was declared by the authors.
Ethics approval: The research has ethical approval.
Data availability: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding
author upon reasonable request.
Information and
Learning Sciences
259
Received8 May 2024
Revised15 October2024
Accepted29 November2024
Informationand Learning
Sciences
Vol.126 No. 3/4, 2025
pp. 259-285
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2398-5348
DOI 10.1108/ILS-05-2024-0046
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/2398-5348.htm
and the number of users is low. In the EU in 2021, there were countries where the use of
e-learning material among people was almost 50% (Ireland, Finland and Sweden), while at
the other end, countries like Romania and Bulgaria reached 10% and 12%, respectively
(Eurostat, 2022). MOOCs offer an exceptional opportunity for learners to deepen their
learning and gain access to knowledgevia the internet, knowledge they would otherwise not
have access to in a traditional educationalstructure (Palacios Hidalgo et al., 2020). However,
research shows that MOOCs are not being adopted by their original target audience, but
rather by well-educated students fromdeveloped countries (Christensen et al., 2013). Based
on research, it is evident that the acceptanceof MOOCs is influenced by cultural (Loizzo and
Ertmer, 2016), linguistic (Stratton and Grace, 2016) or institutional (Langseth et al., 2023)
domain-specific factors. Although the popularity of MOOCs is growing, even in countries
where adoption is higher, the low completion rate can be a problem (Zhu et al., 2020b;
Baikadi et al., 2018). In countries where MOOC adoption is very low, not only should the
completion rate be the subject of study, but it is also necessary to identify the factors that
stand in the way of adoptionand thus prevent people from benefiting from MOOCs.
Much of the research on MOOCs relates to adoption; very few articles have examined
resistance. This is quite natural, considering that research has been conducted in countries
where MOOCs are already well accepted (Zhu et al., 2018;Zhu et al., 2020a). As there are
numerous countries where these typesof courses are not particularly popular, it is important
to also investigatethe reasons for the resistance. This research aims to understandthe reasons
for the resistance to MOOCs andthe barriers that prevent their adoption.
The main theoretical basis of this research model is the innovation resistance theory
(IRT). The theory is a psychological construct that seeks to explain the barriers and
reluctance individuals may have toward adopting innovations. It distinguishes between
functional and psychological barriers and incorporates use, value, risk, tradition and image
barriers. IRT has been widely used across various contexts and for various technologies in
the past few years to understandand address resistance to adopting a new technology (Leong
et al., 2021b). Kaur et al. (2020a,2020b) investigated the barriers to using food delivery
applications; Yu and Chantatub (2016)studied resistance to mobile banking, while Musyaffi
et al. (2022) used the theory to explain SMEs’resistance to using digital payments. Though
in other contexts, IRT has proven its potential, its application in the field of education has
been relatively scarce. There is limited research on the application of IRT in an educational
context, with only one identified study that specifically addresses the theory’s use in
MOOCs. With the help of the IRT framework, based on a qualitative inquiry, Ma and Lee
(2019b) explored the factors that can serve as an obstacle to enrolling in a MOOC. While
resistance to adopting MOOCs has not been systematically researched so far, researchers
have addressed the barriers to MOOC adoption. Based on the literature, Terras and Ramsay
(2015) identified the psychological challenges posed by MOOCs, while Henderikx et al.
(2018) or Ma and Lee (2020) create factors of barriers. Based on the so far existing research
on barriers to MOOC adoption, IRT’s potential to reveal the challenges and barriers to
MOOC adoption is evident.
The objective of this research is to build on the theoreticalbase of IRT to explore in more
depth the resistance to MOOCs and to identify the factors that hinder the adoption of this
learning method. This researchhas two important contributions to MOOC adoption research:
on the one hand, it applies the IRT frameworkto identify the factors that hinder the adoption
of this form of learning and uses a quantitative method to test their impact. The second
contribution of the research is that it not only investigates the impact of factors already
existing in the IRT literature but also sheds light on their source through exploratory
research.
ILS
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