MSc FT Business and Management

Marketing
2022

CHANGES IN MARKETING EDUCATION: THE

IMPACT OF NEW TECHNOLOGY ON ONLINE
COURSE DELIVERY VERSUS OFFLINE
DELIVERY

STUDENT NAME: Weiyang Zheng

STUDENT ID: 210098437

SUPERVISOR: Dr Nima Heirati

Date of submission: 2022.08.13

The name of the department and college: School of Business and

Management, Queen Mary University of London

Date:
………2022.08.13…………………………………………………………….
Personal
email: …………bs211479@qmul.ac.uk………………………………………………………
….
ABSTRACTS

The increasing introduction of online learning into university education has resulted in
much research. Meanwhile, many universities have incorporated technology
applications into the education mode further to improve the quality and experience of
the online class. Since numerous studies have focused on the student's academic
performance and satisfaction with online classes, this research focuses on another
perspective: students' attitude toward online learning and the technology for educational
purposes. Because students' attitude can affect their learning outcomes, which a positive
attitude can help students include the online study better. Therefore, this study aims to
analyze students' overall attitudes toward using technology (VIRI) in online learning,
which will include three essential aspects: technology factors, online learning
experience, and students' expectancy. In other words, understanding to what extent
these three factors can affect students' attitudes toward online classes (VIRI) will help
universities improve and develop high-quality online classes to provide a better
learning experience.

This study applies the qualitative research method and collects data from conducting
five in-depth interviews. The seven interview questions are designed following the
three influencing factors (technology, online learning experience, and students'
expectancy). Then, utilizing the thematic analysis to explore the collected data. The
research discovers that the existing technology application is mature, creating a similar
environment as offline classes by adding various teaching functions, which positively
affect students' attitudes, such as good navigation and a straightforward interface.
However, objective tech issues such as unstable internet and needed hardware may
harm students' attitudes. Hence, the university's IT department should take
corresponding solutions to update the software or increase the internet's stability. Also,
from students' previous online learning experience and their expectancy, students'
attitude is more affected by the course design, so improvement to these course-related
aspects should be made. These technology factors, students' previous online learning
experience, and students' expectancy will be further discussed, and corresponding
suggestions will be made to help university policymakers formulate the conditions that
can help improve students' attitudes toward online learning.
 Table of Contents
1.0 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................. 1

1.1 Introduction and Background .......................................................................... 1

1.2 Research Aims and Questions........................................................................... 3

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................... 5

2.1 New Technology in Online Learning ............................................................... 5

2.2 The Effectiveness of Technology Improvement in Online Learning............. 8

2.3 Factors Influencing Students’ Attitude Towards Using New Technology in

Online Learning ..................................................................................................... 11
2.3.1 Technology Factor .................................................................................... 11
2.3.2 Online Learning Experience .................................................................... 13
2.3.3 Expectancy ................................................................................................. 16

3.0 METHOD/DATA COLLECTION ..................................................................... 19

3.1 Research Design ............................................................................................... 19

3.2 Research Method ............................................................................................. 20

3.3 Data Collection ................................................................................................. 21

3.4 Data Analysis Method ..................................................................................... 21

3.5 Coding ............................................................................................................... 22

3.6 Practicalities ..................................................................................................... 23

3.7 Ethical Considerations .................................................................................... 23

3.8 Limitation ......................................................................................................... 24

4.0 RESULTS/ANALYSIS ........................................................................................ 26

5.0 COCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 34

6.0 REFERENCES..................................................................................................... 36

7.0 APPENDICES ...................................................................................................... 46

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction and Background

In the traditional course delivery model, the offline model plays a dominant role in

teaching knowledge. Teachers guide students through various teaching methods such

as heuristic and cramming (Kang et al., 2021). However, traditional classroom teaching

can be limited by geographic and time factors, so distance programs can be viewed as

an effective extension and supplement to the classroom to some extent, with the

advantages of unlimited time and space (Ross, 2020). For example, many campuses

were closed during the outbreak of COVID-19, leading to the teaching scenario

interchange between online and offline. International students cannot study onsite due

to the travel ban, so many universities offer distance learning models. Meanwhile, in

the era of information technology, technological innovations are changing the world at

an astonishing speed. The access to information and educational opportunities enabled

by technology has led to media and network development instead of confining the

traditional face-to-face teaching model. In this context, online education has become a

significant trend. The National Center for Educational Statistics (2011) analysis shows

that more than 60% of students applying for higher education degrees have previously

received online teaching tools. The advantages of online learning are its flexibility and

convenience, which can satisfy the various needs of students (Francescucci and Rohani,

2019).

Due to the popularity of online learning, many studies have focused on the effect and

difference between these two modes (Shu and Gu, 2018) and also illustrated the critical

factors on the importance of developing an online course, including planning, time

1
management, course module, learning outcomes evaluation (Limperos et al., 2015). By

comparing the performance and learning outcomes of the online and offline teaching

models, many professionals have noticed the drawbacks of online learning. Research

notes that one of the disadvantages of online learning is the lack of face-to-face

interaction (Bas et al., 2018). Chin and Osborne (2018) believe that the foundation of

learning is to ask questions and express unique ideas, but these behaviors are not always

supported in online learning (Fraser and Goh, 2003). Besides classroom instruction, a

study points out that undergraduates have a higher satisfaction rate with offline teaching

than online as the immediacy of face-to-face learning (Kemp and Grieve, 2014), that

students can receive immediate teacher feedback. Furthermore, there is no significant

difference between the two modes regarding student academic performance (Walters et

al., 2021).

To continually improve the online model, many teaching methods have incorporated

technology tools (Brown, 2016). Technology-assisted tools provide many solutions to

the teaching model (Shu and Gu, 2018), supporting and transforming the education

model in many ways. A study from Han and Ellis (2021) defines this kind of blended

course as "a systematic combination of technology-mediated interaction and the

interaction among students, instructors, and learning resources." In addition to the most

common teaching mode of distance program, it has started to integrate synchronous

communication tools into the online classroom, which is to build a synchronous

environment as offline learning by applying virtual, interactive, real-time, instructor-

led (VIRI) tools. Relying on technology-assisted learning significantly improves

students' initiative and motivation, thus forming a teaching system that organically

integrates theory and practical teaching (Kang et al., 2021).

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However, few studies have focused on learners' attitudes toward online learning and

the related new technology. Many researchers point out that students' attitudes and

perspectives toward online learning influence their learning outcomes (Jovi et al., 2017).

Moreover, students' attitudes toward online learning are essential to their inclusion in

online study (Selim, 2007). Therefore, understanding students' perspectives on the

usage of new technologies in online teaching will help education institutions improve

and develop appropriate online learning models to satisfy the demands of students. In

other words, collecting information from students about their attitudes, expectations,

and factors that influence their choice of educational modality is critical in offering a

high-quality online education.

1.2 Research Aims and Questions

The investigation of student perspectives is needed to transform the educational model

successfully. The research aims to explore learners' perceptions of applying virtual,

interactive, real-time, instructor-led (VIRI) in online learning based on their online and

offline learning experience by offering practical suggestions to help universities and

academic staff continually develop the effect of online learning. This study will focus

on the students' perspective to explore the attitudes and expectations of students to the

application of technology (VIRI) in online learning regarding the extent to which the

specific factors affect them. The study seeks to answer the below questions:

Compared with taking traditional face-to-face classes, how satisfied are students with

their experience, and what are the overall attitudes of students toward using VIRI in

online learning?

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- To what extent the technology factors affect students’ attitude towards the VIRI class?

- To what extent the online learning experience affect students’ attitude towards the

VIRI class?

- To what extent the students' expectations affect students’ attitude towards the VIRI

class?

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2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

This section contains the literature related to the research topic. It will first describe the

trend of applying new technology in education, especially online learning. Then, it will

further introduce the effectiveness of technology improvement by comparing the two

online learning modes. Lastly, three essential factors affect learners’ attitudes toward

applying new technology in online studying.

2.1 New Technology in Online Learning

Online learning is an integrated process, including instructors, students, technology,

knowledge, and the success of an education mode depends on each component of the

process (Alharthi, 2019). Focusing on the application of technology shows that

technological advances have made it possible to utilize the advantage of technology to

innovate the educational model, which has received considerable attention from

researchers and educators. Meanwhile, technology development is continuing to adapt,

which uses for educational purposes will continue to expand in the future. Online

education will become similar to classroom teaching, and the connection between these

two teaching modes will be strengthened by improving technology tools such as video

conferencing and virtual classrooms. Though many studies have compared the learning

outcomes of technology-assisted learning and traditional education, some studies have

illustrated the positive impact of using technology in education. For example, students

who used technology-assisted tools were more satisfied with the instructor and the

course than students in the face-to-face group (Johnson et al., 2000). Also, by

comparing the advantages and disadvantages of using technology in online learning,

the pros of technology play a much more critical role. For example, some studies point

out that a lack of interaction and instant communication between the instructors and

5
students harms the effect of online learning. To overcome this limitation, technological

advances have provided synchronous communication methods to increase the

interaction between students and instructors.

Research demonstrates (1983) that the media is only a vehicle and tool to deliver

knowledge, which cannot change with educational content development. In contrast,

the opinion from Kozma (1994) argues that media have different properties and

capabilities, which the profile of its features can distinguish. It will positively affect the

future of online education, but the key is to choose the right technology. Therefore,

universities and academic staff in online education must focus on selecting the

appropriate technologies to strengthen the connection between learners and instructors,

considering each technology's capabilities and properties. Rashid and Elahi (2012)

believe that new technologies will continue to emerge and be used in education, which

will play an essential role in enhancing the connection between instructors and students.

In the case of augmented reality (AR) technology, a study (Cheng, 2018) measures

students' opinions of science learning using AR by developing an instrument. The data

collected by the Likert scale survey shows that students need to rate their perception of

learning with AR in eight categories, including increasing presence, engaging attention,

developing motivation, expanding content, achieving deeper understanding, enhancing

interaction, hindering reading, and reducing imagination. The results show that there is

a positive relationship between students' perception and the usage of AR.

VIRI Classroom Technology

VIRI classroom is firstly raised by Francescucci and Foster (2013), which introduces a

pedagogical technology that can provide a virtual, interactive, real-time, instructor-led

6
(VIRI) teaching experience. The VIRI class creates a simulated F2F classroom

environment. Students can log into the VIRI classroom using their student accounts

from anywhere, including home, cafe, or campus (Francescucci and Foster, 2018). By

using the webcams and audio-enabled computers, all students participate in the VIRI

classroom and can see and communicate with their classmates and instructors in real-

time. Instructors also can use VIRI technology to simulate some of the teaching

methods they might use in offline teachings, such as small group discussions, polling,

and student-led presentations. Many vendors can support VIRI classroom technology,

such as Zoom, Skype, and Tencent Meeting. Using this application allows all the

students to participate in the online classroom simultaneously, creating two-way

communication between the students and instructors or students and students

(Francescucci and Foster, 2013). Also, VIRI technology allows instructors to host a

video and audio-enabled classroom. They can create the online classroom meeting link

in advance and send it to the students. Some online video conference developers are

devoted to technology improvement in the education industry, increasing student

participation, and learning retention.

To present the VIRI technology in detail, a representative application to achieve the

VIRI-like classroom is shown — Zoom. On the one side, students can join the classes

virtually on a scheduled date and time from any device and must use their school

education system to access the online link, which can prevent non-students enter the

class. Once logged in to the online class, students will be presented with a screen which

is consists of a presentation window, several video box at the top of the screen that

presents the other students in the same class, and a multifunction panel (security,

participants, share screen, chat, record, reactions) at the bottom of the screen. On the

7
other side, Zoom provides many methods for instructors to use in the class, including

video breakout rooms, multi-sharing, polling, and group chats to increase engagement

in virtual and online classes. To sum up, the development of VIRI technology has

successfully expanded traditional classrooms with video communications and meets the

growing needs of modern education (Zoom, 2022).

Figure 1: Picture from Zoom official website (2022)

2.2 The Effectiveness of Technology Improvement in Online Learning

As the traditional distance education method, asynchronous online learning is regarded

as a digitally-assisted learning environment that is not limited by time and place (Vu

and Nguyen, 2022), emphasizing the flexibility of online learning by sharing

multimedia lectures and student resources. The study from the University of Waterloo

(n.d) also describes the learning activities of asynchronous online learning as supported

and operated by different forms of media, including email, recorded videos, and forums,

with a significant time lag between the sender and the receiver. On the one side, students

can read the learning material regardless of time and space and then spend more time

thinking about the questions or improving their contribution. For instance, students can

8
finish their group work by emailing each other or posting on online discussion forums

(Hrastinski, 2008). On the other side, students can build their academic schedules based

on their learning progress (the University of Waterloo, n.d). SOL refers to an

educational model which applies a distance learning approach, and students are not

staying with their instructors in the same room (Schlosser and Anderson, 1994).

Moreover, synchronous learning is generally operated on live platforms such as Zoom,

Skype, and Tencent conferences. Students can communicate with instructors in real-

time and receive immediate responses (Vu and Nguyen, 2022).

Several studies have focused on analyzing SOL students to understand the features of

synchronous online education. Pintrich and Zusho (2002) point out that SOL students

have some self-regulated learning behaviors, defined as a process of active and

constructive learning. Pintrich (1995) even believes that self-regulated learning

behaviors include the students' targeted self-control on motivation and cognition for

academic tasks, which can improve work-related learning and employability. In other

words, since students can not present themselves in the classroom under online

education and do not have the opportunity to communicate face-to-face with their

teachers and peers, they will be more responsible for their academic performance so

that they need to decide when, where carefully, and how often to access learning

materials (McMahon and Oliver, 2001). As a result, they may become victims of low

academic achievement and career readiness (Alam and Parvin, 2021). Therefore, self-

regulated learning behaviors are vital when taking online courses (Wijekumar et al.,

2006). SOL effectively utilizes the technology to develop a learning environment and

requires students' self-efficacy ability. In 1994, Bandura raised a theory of self-efficacy

which consisted of four modules, including affective, cognitive, motivational,

9
perceptual, and self-regulatory. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrates that self-

efficacy is context-specific, reflecting an individual's confidence and helping them

control their construction of motivation, behavior, and environment. To further

understand this theory, effective means regulating people's emotions and emotional

responses to revelations. Then, the cognitive process involves acquiring, organizing,

and using information. Moreover, motivational processes mean the actions which can

be achieved by devoting a certain level of effort. In the case of students' academic

success, for example, they may perceive their ability to accomplish their academic goals,

which determines their motivation and desire to develop their knowledge regularly.

To some extent, SOL is different from traditional education. Research points out

(McBrien et al., 2006) that the student's performance under SOL may surpass traditional

learning since students can express ideas and ask questions more comfortably, leading

to more valuable discussions (Hrastinski, 2008). SOL students are perceived to have

confidence in their ability to conduct distance learning courses, and if they are satisfied

with their online experience, they are likely to continue this mode as their circumstances

allow. Thus, SOL students will likely achieve academic achievement based on

stimulating a positive sense of self-efficacy (Thompson and Lynch, 2003).

Comparing these two online learning modes, technological improvement makes the

synchronous learning model closer to the traditional classroom. Firstly, Watts (2016)

believes synchronous online learning with its advanced technology can strengthen the

connection between instructors and students. Also, by analyzing the experimental data

of 30 graduates in an online education program, a study conducted by Falloon (2011)

concludes that students have a favorable opinion of synchronous online interactions as

10
the immediate communication and response with others, which can improve the

learning experience and students' engagement in the online learning environment.

Secondly, online education also provides communication and task planning related to

course content to facilitate collaborative learning, similar to Face-to-Face education

(Haythornthwaite, 2002). A study (Strang, 2013) compares the asynchronous and

synchronous team meetings in a graduate management course and found that

synchronous interactions can offer more collaboration opportunities than asynchronous

interactions. Synchronous online learning can increase the sense of team by

encouraging students to interact with others, while asynchronous online learning is

more focused on individual assessment so that students can make more effort to solve

the complex task without time constraints (Hrastinski, 2008). In addition, Giesbers et

al. (2013) suggest that combining asynchronous and synchronous modes can optimize

the learning experience. For instance, students can use synchronous video conferencing

for classroom learning and asynchronous for coursework discussion. The analysis

shows that the correlation between asynchronous and synchronous communication

engagement is positive. Hence, the online synchronous model's immediate and effective

communication environment is more acceptable to students.

2.3 Factors Influencing Students’ Attitude Towards Using New Technology in Online

Learning

2.3.1 Technology Factor

Technological advances have increased our access to information so that people can

access information easily and quickly. In turn, technology development has evolved to

meet people's needs. Meanwhile, technology tools for educational purposes expand

students' skills to understand, produce and present new information. In this regard, Cole

11
et al.(2014) point out that students' acceptance of the technology is a significant factor

in determining the success of online teaching. Also, according to the study by Liaw

(2008), understanding students' attitudes toward technology for online learning is key

to increasing the effectiveness of online learning. Though many kinds of research have

focused on the traditional students' acceptance of technology, a few studies analyzed

the non-traditional students' acceptance of online learning technology. Many

universities are working on attracting new and maintaining current students, as students'

technology acceptance of online learning determines their persistence in completing

online courses (Tan and Shao, 2015). Also, understanding students' technology

acceptance of online learning is helpful for the universities and relevant education

systems developers to evaluate and design technology tools.

It can be examined by two main aspects: technology quality and Internet quality, and

prior experience and knowledge with technology. Technology quality refers to learners'

perception of applying technology in online learning, such as microphones,

whiteboards, and internet quality is regarded as learners' perception of network quality.

Some researchers indicate that technology quality and Internet quality can impact

learners' satisfaction in online learning (Webster and Hackley, 1997), as users are more

willing to use a tool with user-friendly characteristics. Empirical research conducted by

Webster and Hackley (1997) shows that the quality and reliability of the technology

and network transmission speed can impact students' learning. Besides, users are more

willing to use the tool with user-friendly characteristics (Rivard, 1987). Hence,

technology's quality and reliability can positively impact students' online learning

experience. Secondly, students' prior experience and knowledge of technology are

essential factors that may impact students' satisfaction with online courses (Kemp et al.,

12
2019). On the one side, students will achieve self-efficacy for online learning based on

previous experience with technology, and they also have expectations of the new

technology system, which will influence their attitude and ability to use educational

technology (Alghamdi, 2019). Conversely, a lack of experience with technological

problems will exacerbate students' dissatisfaction. For instance, students with more

experience in using technology are more likely to choose online courses than students

without experience (Smart and Cappel, 2006). They also believe that potential technical

problems and lack of technology experience will frustrate students as they need to spend

more time understanding and adapting the technology. These results indicate that

students with more experience in using technology have more positive feedback on

online learning and pay attention to the application of learning tools which will affect

their satisfaction with the overall quality of the online teaching.

2.3.2 Online Learning Experience

Regarding prior online learning experiences, Lee and Choi (2011) found that the

number of previously completed online courses is an important influencing factor for

students' intention to continue taking online courses. Meanwhile, the analysis result

from many recent pieces of research support this opinion (Hachey et al., 2014).

According to the survey conducted by Abdous (2019), the higher the number of online

courses students completed, the lower their anxiety about online courses, thus

increasing their acceptance of online learning technologies and their willingness to take

online learning. Anxiety is characterized as an emotional response and emotional fear

of a potentially harmful outcome. This emotional fear can negatively affect students'

academic performance, which reduces students' intention to take online courses (Chiu

and Wang, 2008). Regarding this problem, Abdous (2019) explains that students'

13
anxiety is inversely related to learning effectiveness and that negative emotions and

beliefs can hinder online students' academic persistence. Furthermore, psychological

studies have confirmed that anxiety will make students psychologically avoid stressors

or adopt exit strategies (Beaudry and Pinsonneault, 2010), diminishing the effort

required to persist in online courses. Summarizing the literature on online learning

experiences, online learning experiences can be primarily described from three

dimensions: Instructor, Course, and Environment.

The instructors' dimension can be examined from two sides: instructor response

timeliness and instructor attitudes toward online learning. On the one side, instructor

response timelines can be defined as students perceiving whether their problems are

solved timely by instructors (Sun et al., 2006). Some research indicates (Arbaugh and

Thurmond, 2002) that instructors' prompt responses can significantly impact students'

satisfaction. Since if students can receive timely assistance from the instructors when

they face problems during online classes, they will be encouraged to continue their

studies, which positively affects their learning experience (Ryan et al., 1999). Hence,

students' learning experience is positively affected by instructors' ability to respond to

students' needs timely. On another side, Piccoli et al. (2001) found that instructors'

attitudes toward online learning technology positively correlate with the result of online

learning as instructors are the primary organizer during the online learning class.

According to the social influence model of technology (Fulk et al., 1990), supervisors'

attitudes towards technology will affect individuals' perceptions, and people will adjust

their behavior patterns by observing others' emotions and actions. Therefore,

understanding and evaluating instructors' attitudes towards technology and online

learning can explain students' attitudes and intentions more thoroughly.

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From the course dimension, students' online learning experience is affected by course

flexibility and course quality. The flexibility of online learning courses is defined as

students' perception of the efficiency of taking an online class (Sun et al., 2006). The

courses' flexibility can be shown with no restrictions on time, location, and methods

(Berger, 1999). Due to the elimination of physical barriers, students have more

opportunities to communicate with instructors and classmates, facilitating their

engagement and satisfaction (Salmon, 2000). It also reduces the awkwardness

associated with F2F communication in offline courses, and students are highly willing

to express their ideas through the whiteboard or discussion group during online class

(Strauss, 1996). Furthermore, the quality of online learning courses is regarded as

another significant factor in students' learning effects and attitudes. Under the online

learning model supported by technology, the provided education tools can assist

students in establishing high-level thinking models (Leidner & Jarvenpaa, 1995). For

example, the characteristics of online learning, including student-led presentations,

course materials, and so on, can help students to develop their study management

system effectively, which can continually motivate students to choose online learning

(Piccoli et al., 2001). Furthermore, a well-designed online course can assist students

appropriately in solving their difficulties, decreasing their frustration with learning, and

improving their online learning experience (Sun et al., 2006).

From the environment dimension, the perceived interaction with others significantly

impacts students' satisfaction with the online learning class (Thurmond et al., 2002),

which interaction is an essential part of online learning experiences in both traditional

and online learning modes (Maheshwari, 2021). Many researchers support that

15
perceived interaction is essential to students' attitudes toward online learning. For

example, a study (Arbaugh, 2000) demonstrates that when learners perceive more

interaction with others, they will be more satisfied with the online class experience.

Also, Piccoli et al. (2001) found that interaction in a virtual learning environment can

improve the students' learning outcomes to some extent. For instance, students can

solve problems or raise study progress through interaction between peers or course

materials. Online learning experiences refer to students' experience of four online

interactions, including student-content, student-interface, student–instructor, and peer

interactions (Maheshwari, 2021). Thus, students' online learning experience can be

examined from these aspects. In addition, many researchers believe that the interactions

between instructors and learners have the most critical effect on online learning among

the four online interactions (Webster et al., 1997). Without noticeable interactions

between instructors and students, students are more prone to be attracted by external

factors, which are difficult to concentrate on the course materials (Isaacs et al., 1995).

2.3.3 Expectancy

The technology acceptance model (TAM) describes how users accept and use the

technology, which is affected by two essential factors: Perceived Usefulness (PU) and

Perceived Ease of Use (PEU) (Davis et al. 1992). TAM is a popular model applied in

many studies to analyze the effectiveness of online learning mode. Perceived

Usefulness (PU) is defined as users believing that the technology can positively affect

their performance, while Perceived Ease of Use (PEU) is about users thinking they can

use the technology without effort.

16
According to the TAM, the derived variables Performance expectancy and Effort

expectancy can be applied to measure how these variables affect students' attitudes

toward online learning. Performance expectancy is the degree to which students believe

using the online learning system can assist them in achieving a better academic outcome

(Venkatesh et al., 2003). Performance expectancy is similar to the perceived usefulness

of the TAM model; the research undertaken by Šumak et al. (2011) shows that

performance expectancy positively affects students' intention to use online courses.

Another study also confirms this result (Joo et al., 2011), revealing that perceived

usefulness positively and indirectly affects students' persistence in online learning.

Therefore, if the students have a high expectation of improving their academic

performance by using the online education system, they will have a solid intention to

continue taking the course, which leads to a positive attitude towards technology and

online learning. Secondly, effort expectancy is similar to the perceived ease of use of

the TAM model, which is regarded as students' perception of the degree of ease of using

the online learning system (Venkatesh et al. 2003). Research (Šumak et al., 2011)

reports that effort expectancy positively affects students' intention to choose online

learning. Also, perceived ease of use positively and indirectly affects students' intention

to persist in online courses (Joo et al., 2011b). Also, Lakhal and Khechine (2021) point

out that effort expectancy is essential to predict the persistence in online courses for the

students who have more experience rather than other groups considered in the research.

It can be explained by the fact that the online education system built by the university

is not for commercial use, so some functions are not up-to-date, and the university needs

time to collect feedback and respond to these suggestions. A certain number of students

should express these needs, and then they can be prioritized to consider and implement.

For this reason, students may perceive the online education system as not easy to use.

17
Hence, if students believe the online education system is easy to use, it may increase

their willingness to continue to choose online learning (Chiu and Wang, 2008).

From the research described in the existing literature review, it can be deduced that

students’ attitude towards the technology used in the online class affected by various

aspects. In each important topics related to online learning, technology factors, online

learning experience and students’ expectations have been analyzed by their own

practices, to analyze the relationship between the online class and students such as

performance, satisfaction, motivation and so on. However, there is a gap of research

focusing on the methods in which these three topics related to the students’ attitude

towards the technology used in the online class. Reviewing the literatures can raise the

following three research questions. To what extent the technology factors affect

students’ attitude towards the VIRI class? To what extent the online learning experience

affect students’ attitude towards the VIRI class? To what extent the students'

expectations affect students’ attitude towards the VIRI class?

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3.0 METHOD/DATA COLLECTION

This section will detail how to utilize primary research and qualitative method to collect

Information about students' online learning experiences and analyze how the students'

attitudes are affected by three factors by applying the theme analysis. It includes

research design, data collection, data analysis method, and the research's practicalities,

ethical considerations, and limitations.

3.1 Research Design

The primary methodology is applied in this study, which refers to a method used by

researchers to collect data directly, rather than relying on the data collected by previous

research (QuestionPro, 2022). Technically, primary data are collected to address the

specific research problem, which needs further analysis, using procedures that best fit

the research problem (Hox and Boeije, 2005). The research uses qualitative research to

collect students’ ideas and feedback to obtain data. Compared with quantitative

research, qualitative research requires investigators to frequently communicate with

participators to reach a conclusion, which can examine how people learn about and

make sense of themselves and how they structure and give meaning to experience (Hox

and Boeije, 2005). Utilizing qualitative interviews to conduct in-depth communication

with respondents is helpful to collect a better range and depth of information, which is

more personalized to develop relationships with subjects. Also, the interview format

and approach are flexible (Libguides, 2018). The research aims to examine students’

attitudes toward using technology in online learning and how the factors (technology,

online learning experience, expectancy) affect their attitudes by summarizing and

analyzing the massive amount of information from participants.

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3.2 Research Method

In this research, the quantitative interview is implemented, which designs seven

questions to collect students’ feedback and experience with online learning. The

designed questions contain the three essential variables related to the research questions,

ensuring practical information can be applied to the later analysis.

Interview Questions

• Q1 How many semesters of online learning courses have you taken?

• Q2 What is your attitude towards the online teaching mode, please briefly describe

your feeling of taking online course?

• Q3 Which video conference application you are using? Do you have prior experience

and knowledge of using this application?

• Q4 Combined the advantage and disadvantage of the application, please describe

how the experience of using this application affect your attitude towards the online

learning class?

• Q5 Compared to Face-to-Face class, please describe the positive aspects of your

online learning experience that affected your attitude?

• Q6 Compared to Face-to-Face class, please describe what barriers or challenges you

have encountered in the online learning experience?

• Q7 Base on your online studying experience, what are you expectation on online

learning, which may increase your willingness to choose online class?

Sampling Strategy

This study adopts a convenience sampling strategy to conduct five in-depth interviews.

Convenience sampling is a sampling method that researchers can recruit participants

20
who are easily accessible so that researchers can identify and approach the participants

with little effort (Robinson, 2014). Considering the requirement of the participants of

this study, the participants who are university students and have an online learning

experience, and convenience of geographic location and resources, this study recruits

the potential respondents by locating nearby sources such as the students studying at

the University of Queen Mary, as they may have more vital willingness to engage the

interview.

3.3 Data Collection

The in-depth interviews are conducted in June and July. Before the interview,

participants will preliminarily learn about the research by reading the Participant

Information Sheet, which gives detailed information about the background, the purpose

of the research, and the possible benefit of taking the interview. The research team will

schedule an interview time when the participants accept the invitation. As the interview

will be held online, the research team will email each participant the meeting room link

(Zoom) in advance and remind the participant that the interview may need 20-30

minutes. During the interview, the host will briefly introduce the procedure and then

ask the interview questions. After the interview, the researchers will code and analyze

the information by repeatedly reviewing the transcript. In addition, the data will be

stored in a fully anonymized format.

3.4 Data Analysis Method

The interviews will be evaluated following the thematic analysis, a data analysis

method for analyzing descriptive data (Kiger and Varpio, 2020). Theme analysis

requires identifying, analyzing, and reporting the repeated pattern by studying and

21
going through the data multiple times to find the emerging patterns, themes, and sub-

themes (Braun and Clarke, 2006). A specific benefit of theme analysis is that it can be

applied to a wide range of research designs and sample sizes, which makes it flexible

in many theoretical frameworks (Kiger and Varpio, 2020). More significantly, selecting

open coding and categorizing provides a logical structure to the research. If there are

no connections among the themes, it will not be easy to make sense of the research.

According to the research questions and works of literature, the initial analysis of the

interview information suggests that there are four themes are identified:

- Overall Attitude towards VIRI Class

- The impact of technology factor on students’ attitude towards VIRI Class

- The impact of learning experience on students’ attitude towards VIRI Class

- The impact of expectance on students’ attitude towards VIRI Class

3.5 Coding

Thematic coding is a type of qualitative data analysis that finds themes in the text by

analyzing the meaning of words and sentence structure. Manual coding will be applied

In this study. Firstly, read through the collected data to get a sense of what it looks like,

and then assign the first set of codes that each code describes the idea or feeling

expressed in that part of the text. To distinguish the code, researchers will highlight

various phrases in different colours corresponding to different codes. Secondly, based

on the first group of codes, go through the data line-by-line to keep adding new codes

in as detail as possible. These codes help gain an overview of the main points and

common meanings that recur throughout the data. Thirdly, categorize all the codes and

figure out how they can fit the theme frames, which may decide to discard some codes

22
that are too vague or irrelevant. Make sure the themes are useful and accurate

representations of the data. Fourthly, count the number of each code, identify which

themes come up the most, and achieve a final list of themes. Lastly, to write up the

thematic analysis of the data, and then answer the research question.

3.6 Practicalities

Cost: There are no costs involved during the data collection process, including

designing the interview question, inviting the participants, conducting the online

interview, and coding and analyzing the data.

Location: All the participants will join the interview via an online meeting link, which

the interview will not restrict by location, participants can engage in the interview

anywhere.

Feasibility: All participants are voluntary and free to withdraw at any time without

providing reasons and with no penalties or detrimental effects.

3.7 Ethical Considerations

When implementing the interview, coding, and analyzing the data, ethical

considerations should be considered. The participants' information is anonymous and

confidential during the interview, and the data will only be applied in this study.

Secondly, participants will decide whether to join the interview after learning about the

purpose of the research. Thirdly, during the interview, participants only need to answer

the question based on their personal feeling and experience. Fourth, the raw and coded

data will be stored in a de-identified format to reduce the risk of disclosure. After

completing the data analysis, all data will be destroyed to ensure that participants'

privacy and personal information will not be exposed. Fifth, participants are free to

23
withdraw from the study at any time. For participants who withdraw, there is no need

to provide a reason. Lastly, participants need to be provided with resources or

counseling or medical care if some issues bring up negative emotions in the participants.

3.8 Limitation

Limitation of sample size: The small sample size may restrict the results'

generalizability. Though the theme analysis can carefully study similar statements and

categorize them into different themes, additional interviews with more students may

lead to new conclusions.

Limitation of sample selection: This study has only one sample selection criteria: the

participants must be students and have an online learning experience. There are no other

requirements on participants' education level or subject area. Therefore, the research

finding may not be generalized to other populations. The quality and course design of

online learning for marketing students may differ from that of chemical students, whose

study is more complex and practical. So participants' feedback may only represent their

perceptions of online learning in a specific subject area (Daumiller and Dresel,2018).

In addition, online learning technology can meet the need of one student population.

However, it may not be suitable for transfer to another student population (Gil-Jaurena

and Domínguez, 2018; Gould et al., 2014). Therefore, students' online interaction

experiences may be unique to a particular course, and future research should be more

diverse.

Limitation of the research design: To improve and raise the effectiveness of the

research, the quantitative methodology is another proper research method. Testing the

24
relationship between the students' attitudes toward using new technology in online

learning and various factors can further affirm the result of qualitative research and

strengthen the practice of the corresponding suggestions on online education.

25
4.0 RESULTS/ANALYSIS

In this section, the interviewee’s opinions have been analyzed and grouped into similar

categories to create an overall topic. Four main themes and eleven subthemes are

identified for understanding students’ attitudes toward online learning. The results are

shown below and analyzed in-depth in this section.

Figure 2: Overall theme-category-sub-category

26
The overall attitudes of students toward using VIRI in online learning

The core of this theme is categorized into two sub-themes: positive and negative

attitudes towards online classes. Three students with negative attitudes towards online

learning mentioned the course-related character of a face-to-face class. They believed

that some courses could not be replaced by online classes, which must be presented in

the offline classroom. For instance, assuming that the course content is complex, the

student would prefer to choose the face-to-face course again since it can avoid many

problems like communicating with the professor after class and asking questions

directly. Also, they can discuss the questions with their classmates after class. Another

example is that some subjects need hands-on practice and laboratory equipment.

Students need to use the professional equipment which the college could only provide.

The knowledge and experience could not be delivered by presenting via the online class.

For example, a respondent studying chemistry said that some modules require face-to-

face teaching, they need to observe the structure of molecules with a microscope before

completing the final report, and it needs a professor to demonstrate. In this case, online

learning could not satisfy the teaching condition.

Moreover, the main reason that encourages students to choose online classes is

flexibility, broadly regarded as an essential factor contributing to students' positive

attitudes towards online education. Three interviewees perceived online education as

an enjoyable experience because of the flexible class participation time. They

emphasized that they can schedule their work and study on their own time, as they need

not spend time on transportation and can log on to the online class anywhere. In other

words, students need not get to the class in a hurry and are never late for class.

27
Besides, flexibility with a self-paced study is considered a remarkable advantage,

another positive experience noticed during the interviews. Students with part-time jobs

or internships can fully control when to study the required knowledge. Also, If the

instructor's knowledge content is too fast, students can review the recording after the

class and think about the discussion topics. One respondent said that it is convenient

for him to review the class recording video repeatedly. Since many of the things

students may not fully understand in the class, in this case, students can go through the

videos and solve them, especially if they can listen for as long as they want.

Furthermore, if they feel like something is going too fast, they can pause it, write it

down and then continue listening.

The impact of technology factors on students’ attitude towards the VIRI class

In this theme, respondents present their attitude toward technology through reviewing

their experiences. It can be formed into two categories: IT application and learning

styles. One is caused by objective issues, while the personal behaviours form another.

From the IT application, all the respondents mentioned the positive and negative

experiences related to technology, which the feedback is related to the online learning

application. Firstly, the ease of connection to the Internet can bring them positive

learning experiences. Students can easily access the Internet and log into the online

course, stimulating their interests. For example, the student can access the Internet in

the dorm and access the classes at any time, which brings lots of convenience for them.

Secondly, the well-designed online class interface makes students easy to navigate the

functions of the application and adapt to the online class. In this research, two kinds of

28
online video conference applications are used by the respondents, three students take

courses utilizing Zoom, and others use Team. Even though the designed interface of

these two applications is different, the developers have improved many functions which

try to provide a similar learning environment to the traditional classroom. For instance,

students can raise their hands to ask questions and react to instructors' teaching by

posting stickers. The result shows that all the respondents are satisfied with Zoom's

interface design and think the functions are very friendly. Some students like the group

discussion feature the most because they only can group discussions with the people

sitting next to them in F2F classes, but online classes are randomly grouped, and they

can meet new students every time. Thirdly, one student stated that another advantage

of online learning is that the application size is small and easy to install, which

impressed him with a good user experience.

However, technology also brings some unpleasant problems, such as unstable internet

connection, upload problems, and Zoom connection, which may affect the class quality

and lead to a negative impression of online learning. Two students showed that

sometimes the weak connection makes them unable to listen clearly to what the

instructor said. When the internet connection is not good, and they cannot hear some

words clearly in class, it is easy to make them feel anxious because they have to spend

more time after class studying again. Also, a similar unenjoyable experience of the

required hardware for online learning is shared by another student. The respondent

explained that once, he had a problem with his computer's microphone, so he could not

communicate with the instructor and classmates in the online course that week and had

to rely on typing in the chat window. Hence, the result infers that if students' laptops

29
meet some technical problems, or the microphone cannot be used suddenly, it would

negatively affects the learning experience.

On the other side, the technology application would influence their learning behaviors,

such as notetaking, which is an essential part of their studying methods, whether they

choose online or traditional learning modes. Two of five respondents expressed that

they disliked learning on the laptop for a long time, as one of the respondents found

that it was too strenuous to read on the monitor and that looking at a computer screen

for a long time would make the eyes tired. In contrast, another respondent expressed

that she was not used to studying and taking notes on the computer. Because when

students always focus on the computer makes their eyes feel pain so that they cannot

concentrate in class. In this case, students would quickly get distracted, and it would be

inconvenient to take notes.

The impact of online learning experience on students’ attitude towards the VIRI

class

Under this theme, the collected information can be further categorized into three sub-

themes: Engagement, Environment, and Education. From the engagement side,

communication with peers is essential to students’ attitudes. During the online class,

students have many opportunities to interact with others through messages, group

discussion, and teamwork, which can foster a sense of community. One interesting

point is that positive responses to each other can increase the closeness of the

relationship and the feeling of collectiveness. For example, when students discuss their

feelings about the course or instructor with the group, if one of the classmates expresses

30
a similar opinion, it will make them feel that someone else has the same feeling, which

instantly brings the relationship closer.

Besides, even though students can receive instant feedback from the instructor under

the synchronous online learning mode, they can send emails to ask questions, and they

do not seem confident in written communication. Also, students may feel challenged to

adapt to online learning at the beginning of the class as they are used to face-to-face

courses. One respondent also suggested that the feedback from online learning is not

“solid” since, in the face-to-face class, students can receive feedback from the physical

interaction provided by the instructor. Students can make eye contact with their

instructors and observe instructors’ expressions. Generally, instructors encourage

students when they are confused, but it is hard to achieve in virtual environments.

From the environmental aspect, respondents pointed out that studying at home is not

ideal as they are easily distracted by external factors. If the environment is too noisy,

they will have trouble concentrating on their study. For example, there are guests at

home, or parents are cooking in the kitchen. Also, studying at home is a comfortable

environment. It will challenge students’ self-regulated and focus. Due to the convenient

nature of online learning, the student can have the completed e-resources before the

class and lecture recording after the class, which gives them a feeling that it is not

necessary to focus on the online class now. They can check it later. However, one

respondent believed that the comfortable environment brought her a positive experience

in online learning, as she found the atmosphere of the F2F class usually made her

stressed. Moreover, students may get nervous when the instructor is asking questions.

31
From the education aspect, it mainly points out the educational resource problem and

online test problem. On the one side, students express their concerns about the fairness

of the online test. Generally, the online exams are administered by some extension

installed in the browser, and students can finish the exam at home. Many teachers do

not use external proctoring software during finals. They just open a meeting room, let

everyone log in, and turn on the camera. The problem is that students are free to chat

with others or search for answers on the internet during the exam, which will affect the

fairness of exams. Suppose students can discuss with others through social media

during the exam, which is not fair to students who make more effort in their studies. On

the other side, respondents are also concerned about the availability of lecture resources.

Some colleges may restrict the time the lecture recordings can be watched online so

that the education system will delete the lecture recordings after two weeks or one

month.

The impact of students' expectations on students’ attitude towards the VIRI class

The information about students' expected improvement is collected to evaluate the

relationship between students' expectancy of online learning and their attitude towards

this educational model. It found that students' expectancy is all related to the course-

related factor rather than the suggestion of technology. Two of five respondents

regarded online learning as a supplement to a traditional class, especially regarding

class size. When traditional classroom availability is limited, the university can set the

additional online classes to contain more students, breaking through the offline space

restriction. One respondent stated that online learning could increase teaching

effectiveness in small class sizes. On the one side, the smaller class can offer a more

comfortable environment. On the other side, students prefer smaller classes as teachers

32
can remember everyone's name, pay attention to each student's reaction, and give

feedback. It is different from large class size, making it hard to build a sense of

closeness to the teacher. While another respondent pointed out that online learning is

more suitable for big class sizes since the restriction of offline places cannot hold too

many people. Both respondents expressed that if the course design can be mortified due

to the class size, they would be pleased to choose the online class. Besides, in one

comment, the student suggested that teachers plan a more reasonable workload for the

course assessments.

In addition, one respondent expressed that hoping to receive more feedback from

instructors has been frequently mentioned by three respondents. In particular, if

instructors can deliver the feedback in a detailed and timely manner, they will be more

willing to choose the online courses. In order words, students' attitudes can be positively

affected by their expectancy of receiving more detailed and precise instructor feedback.

Because they think the instructors' feedback is critical to the final academic

performance, the students can fill the knowledge gap timely. Also, students hope for

quick feedback from a teacher since some professors may not check the email timely

and respond to the email after a couple of weeks. Students expect that professors can

illustrate clearly when they will respond.

33
5.0 COCLUSION

This research aims to analyze to what extent the technology factors, online learning

experience, and students' expectancy can affect students' attitudes toward using VIRI

in online learning. Using thematic analysis to analyze the five interview data, it

systematically reviewed students' experiences with online learning by identifying four

themes, eight categories, and nineteen sub-categories. This research illustrates the

impact the technology, online experience, and students' expectancy on different aspects

of students' attitudes towards online learning. It can provide implications for the study

of online learning and teaching at both theoretical and practical levels. When focusing

on the impact of the technology factor, it found that almost students are more impressed

by the objective issues caused by the online learning application, which can positively

or negatively affect students' attitudes. For example, the navigation of the application,

interface design, the stability of the internet, application size, and needed hardware.

Besides the IT application, the students' studying methods will also affect their attitude.

For instance, students who are not used to looking at the laptop and easily be distracted.

Furthermore, the analysis results also found that based on students' past online learning

experiences, the influencing factors can be grouped as engagement, environment, and

education. From the engagement and environment category, each aspect has a positive

and negative effect. Some students believe that online class helps improve the closeness

of relationship with classmates. Also, they feel less pressure when studying in a more

comfortable environment. In contrast, some students argue that the feedback from

online classes is not solid enough' when compared to face-to-face communication with

the instructor, and they are concentration poor. It should be noted that all the students

expressed their worry about the lecture resources and test fairness. It suggests that the

34
university should consider improving the fairness of tests by formulating the exam

requirements and increasing supervision. Also, the university can consider extending

online lecture resources' availability.

From students' expectancy, the analysis result is different from the existing literature,

that students' expectancy is more about the course-related aspects than their academic

performance and technology application. Students' appeal can be concluded with more

instructor feedback, reasonable workload, and small class size. At a practical level,

various specific suggestions can be made in relation to students' expectations of online

learning. For colleges, designing reasonable workload and class size may be able to

improve students learning experience resulting from course-related problems. For

instructors, responding to students' emails and answering the questions may improve

students' attitudes toward the online class to a greater extent. At the theoretical level, it

reveals how certain course-related factors should be considered when implementing

teaching methods to help students with online learning.

To sum up, this research can contribute to the growing study of online classes by

projecting the attitude of students and highlighting their voice in the online learning

experience. While the existing literature seems to advise how online education affects

students' academic performance and satisfaction, this research can shed to what extent

the technology factors, online learning experience, and students' expectancy can affect

students' attitude toward the online class. By collecting students' responses to paint a

landscape of online learning from these three sides, it can provide suggestions for

instructors and colleges to ponder over the issues and deploy the corresponding

solutions, which can benefit students' attitudes toward online learning.

35
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7.0 APPENDICES

A. Participant-Information-Sheet

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B. Consent Form

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