Understanding the MOOCs continuance: The role of openness and reputation

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are classes delivered in an online environment with several features that are different from previous approaches to online education. The effectiveness of MOOCs is an open question as completion rates are substantially less than traditional online education courses. The objective of this study is to identify factors that enhance an individual' intention to continue using MOOCs, which a limited amount of research has previously explored. A research model based on the information systems continuance expectation-confirmation model is proposed and tested with data collected in a large-scale study. The research model explained a substantial percentage of the variance for the intention to continue using MOOCs, which is significantly influenced by perceived reputation, perceived openness, perceived usefulness, perceived, and user satisfaction. Perceived reputation and perceived openness were the strongest predictors and have not previously been examined in the context of MOOCs. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.