Evaluating the determinants on students’ switching intentions towards distance learning: an extension of the theory of planned behavior

Abstract

With COVID-19 spreading around the world, schools have switched classes from in-person to online courses. At the same time, research on the intention to switch learning styles has received attention. Therefore, this study is based on decomposed planned behavior theory, adding perceived COVID-19 risk and infectivity, to explore the factors that influence students’ intention to switch to distance learning during the COVID-19 period. This study distributed online questionnaires to students with distance learning experience during the epidemic, collected 290 valid samples, and then applied the partial least squares method to analyze. The results show that (1) attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavior control, and perceived risk significantly affect switching intention; (2) perceived usefulness and satisfaction are important factors for attitude; (3) peer influence is the most important factor for subjective norm; (4) digital competence and facilitating conditions significantly affect perceived behavior control; (5) perceived risk is the most critical factor affecting switching intention. Finally, this study provides management implications, strategic recommendations, and future research directions for educators and educational institutions in the process of transitioning students from classes in person to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• distance learning
• decomposed theory of planned behavior
• digital competence
• switching intention
• Guangchao Charles Feng, School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong