Remote learning and exploring the factors affecting students' adoption of behavioral intentions toward conference applications

Purpose

The authors investigated whether remote learning and its associated factors affect students’ adoption of Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Blue Jeans and other conference applications.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a quantitative design; data were collected by surveying B-school students in Hyderabad using a questionnaire prepared adopting the validated scales. About 33 items were used to measure nine reflective constructs: remote learning, performance expectancy, adoption behavioral intention, institutional support, ecological acceptance, habit formation, hedonic motivation, attitude towards conference apps and social influence. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were carried out, and hypotheses were tested using IBM SPSS and AMOS version 28.

Findings

A 61% variance in students’ adoption behavioral intentions and a 37% variance in students’ attitude towards conference apps are accounted for by remote learning, performance expectancy, institutional support, ecological acceptance, habit formation, hedonic motivation and social influence. The exogenous constructs of institutional support, environmental acceptance, habit formation and social influence are statistically significant and influence students’ adoption and behavioral intentions toward conference applications. The attitude towards conference apps fully mediated the relationship between students’ adoption behavioral intentions and performance expectancy. However, the constructs of environmental concern, social influence and habit formation are partially mediated. This study provides empirical evidence that attitude towards conference apps, environmental acceptance, performance expectancy, institutional support, habit formation and social influence are the key predictors of remote learning and students’ adoption of and conference applications.

Research limitations/implications

This study was limited to the B-schools of Hyderabad city, an Indian metro. To encourage students to adopt remote learning through conference apps, academicians should appropriately illustrate the idea of remote learning. To enable students to learn while on the go, educational institutions should offer intuitive applications with enhanced reading layouts. Second, since internet access is required for remote learning, this study is crucial for service providers. To make it simpler to obtain educational resources, the internet should be more widely accessible. Third, since technology is linked to remote learning, this type of study is essential for the education sector since devices need to be developed.

Practical implications

The pandemic has caused restructuring of the educational system, necessitating new strategies for distance and virtual learning for teachers. In the future, teachers will adopt techniques centered around the use of virtual platforms, social media and video production. The government should establish sufficient infrastructure to facilitate online education and assist instructors in becoming more knowledgeable and proficient in the use of technology, especially when creating, executing and assessing online instruction.

Originality/value

The purpose of this study is to determine how beneficial it is to use online/remote learning with Zoom, BlueJeans, Microsoft Teams and other conference software in particular. Both the online/remote learning method itself and the learners' capacities and capabilities for adjusting to new normal scenarios should be developed in educational environments.