International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM) – eISSN: 1865-7923 – Vol 17 No 07 (2023) Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During COVID-19 Pandemic https://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v17i07.30093 Abubakar Mu’azu Ahmed1,2(*), Nor Athiyah Abdullah1, Mohd Heikal Husin1, Hassan Bello1 1 School of Computer Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia 2 Department of Computer Science, Kaduna State University, Kaduna, Nigeria abubakarmuaz11@student.usm.my Abstract—Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have been introduced over the past few decades to account for the twenty-first-era education and recent COVID-19 pandemic trials driven by the spread of internet-based technology on the internet. This research seeks to give an extended model investigating the in- tention to use MOOCs based on students at public universities in northwestern Nigeria. The extended TAM model was tested via PLS structural equation mod- elling using data collected from 451 students at public universities in northwest- ern Nigeria. The research findings indicated that the proposed extended model delivers a 72.0% descriptive effect. The creative technology acceptance TAM model establishes a strong signal for the effects of PU, PR, PEOU, SN, and TA on intentions to practice MOOCs technology among students in Nigerian public universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The outcomes present practical and theoretical implications that MOOC developers can use to justify why MOOCs are not high within public universities in Northern-western Nigeria. The findings also indicated that PU, PEOU, PR SN, and TA significantly impact students' in- tention to use MOOCs. The research has provided insight into extended TAM in Nigerian learning environments to discover the issues influencing students' in- tention to use MOOCs. Dissimilar to preceding empirical reviews, this research broadly investigated the intention to participate in MOOCs of public University students in northwestern Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic, delivering cru- cial discoveries and commendations for impending research openings. The find- ings could practically enlighten administrators, instructors, developers, and poli- cymakers in making informed decisions. Keywords—intention, MOOCs, public university, Nigeria, COVID-19, pan- demic iJIM ‒ Vol. 17, No. 07, 2023 97 Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… 1.1 Overview Throughout the ages, the massive open online courses (MOOCs) sector has become among the fastest expanding worldwide due to individuals' continuous and comprehen- sive broadening. MOOCs aid by giving open access to learning and offering generous learning openings to the world, which helps reduce the accessibility rate to become higher throughout the globe. In turn, MOOCs are considered a stimulating global learn- ing environment and thus among the modern electronic learning technology. MOOCs are also considered a disruptive technology in the Industrial Revolution era, developed to educate students on a large scale. MOOCs provide a means for anyone whose cir- cumstances make traditional face-to-face learning difficult or impossible to access and study. In contrast, others utilize it to complement the conventional university learning system. MOOCs have the potential to expand higher education in developing countries, where there is a greater demand for higher education and where the provider's capacity is restricted, especially public universities. Global MOOCs Marketplace is estimated at USD 67.18 by 2027, from USD 7.34 Bn in 2020, expanding at a CAGR rate of 37.2% from 2021 to 2027 [1]. Nigeria is known as the country with the highest population in Africa, which serves as its strength. Therefore, the education sector, mainly the public universities, performs a significant role in developing countries growth, especially in achieving sustainable development goals. MOOCs are rapidly influencing individual student behaviour, as evidenced by the expansion of ICT in recent years. Thus, MOOCs is a free electronic-based distance learning programs intended for vast groups of stu- dents worldwide. MOOC usage in the United States and other developed countries is comparatively mature, mainly focusing on improving users' continued use of the MOOC platform[2]. In the Malaysian context, online education has been widely uti- lized across institutes and campuses to transfer knowledge to more than 1.2 million students [2]. The usage of online devices on campuses during the COVID-19 pandemic is understood as an aid to online transformation among the university’s students. There- fore, factors influencing the intention to use massive open online courses will be exam- ined in this study (MOOCs). Students at specified Nigerian universities in Nigeria's northwestern states will be questioned for the research. In the context of this research, the epidemic brought uncertainties among university individuals, with a lack of infor- mation on how long the consequence of the virus will take nor the significant effects, and how the recovery phase will be. 2 Literature review This part offers a comprehensive review of existing research associated with MOOCs technology, which summarizes the relevant established individual information technologies theories related to the acceptance behaviour of MOOCs and related tech- nologies. The literature review intends to comprehensively assess existing research as- sociated with using MOOCs during the COVID-19 pandemic and further summarises the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The literature has documented 98 http://www.i-jim.org Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… that the effect level of COVID-19 has an impact on the students' intention to participate in MOOCs. Universities' use of online tools during the COVID-19 pandemic was per- ceived to increase [3]. Thus, the pandemic necessitated students to adopt MOOCs tech- nology. The psychological hardship linked with COVID-19 increased the sense of in- tention to use MOOCs [4]. The additional adverse effect of COVID-19 is that numerous scholars have been forced to endure learning online from home due to the shutting of universities and to deny face-to-face lessons [5]. However, the pandemic denied indi- viduals the ability to work face-to-face. The transition from face-to-face to online education has fetched digital disparity to the fore for economically underprivileged students [5]. Many individuals need access to technological apparatuses and enabling conditions to influence the adoption of MOOCs technology. Based on the above view, 56 million children in sub-Saharan Af- rican countries experience digital inequality, as the mobile networks do not provide adequate service, which results in experiencing problems daily [6]. Thus, in several advanced countries, it is indicated that millions of students stay in their homes with no Internet service (Jung et al., 2021). The need for internet access tends to hinder the adoption of online learning. Additional space disparity in access to university education brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has added to the number of out-of-school individuals globally, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. MOOCs' intention adoption in China, their research model, tested the effect of Use- fulness, Performance-to-cost, Interactivity, Accessibility, Self-Regulation, Experience, Gender, and Social Environment: Learning Tradition, Peers' Impact, Instruction, and Publicity on the intention to adopt MOOCs, data was collected from 870 students; they infer that MOOC use in developing countries is still low[7]. In this regard, the findings of linked studies published in the literature revealed that attitudes about MOOCs and perceived behavioural control (PBC) remained considerable elements of intention to utilize MOOCs [8]. Though the literature from Asia revealed that attitudes impact the intention to use MOOCs in countries like China, that is different in developing coun- tries, where facilitating conditions and other factors drive the intention to use MOOCs. Therefore, the theoretical framework is developed based on the issues identified in the literature review, which has assisted in developing the research question. Therefore, two research questions were formulated to seek empirical evidence of the following research question: 1. What is the level of the student's intention to use MOOCs? 2. What factors may influence Nigerian students' intention to use MOOCs during the COVID-19 pandemic? iJIM ‒ Vol. 17, No. 07, 2023 99 Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… Fig. 1. Research framework In Chinese university students' adoption of MOOCs, researchers found that individ- uals' attitudes regarding MOOCs and perceived behavioural control influence their de- sire to utilize MOOCs [8]. However, [9] extended UTAUT2 to see what factors influ- enced their acceptance of multimedia-enhanced content based on long-term usage. The findings indicated that facilitating conditions gave a meaningful positive result of 14.8 per cent on the acceptance of the technology. The above findings are contrary to the findings based on the literature from the context of China, where the facilitating condi- tion does not negatively affect the intention to use MOOCs. Therefore, the incon- sistency based on the findings has necessitated the need to investigate the intention to use MOOCs, which could fill the identified gap in the literature. From Taiwanese uni- versities, the findings revealed that students' decision-making process and learning be- haviour in MOOCs needed to be adequately investigated in the literature[10]. Despite the significance of investigating individuals' behavioural intention to use MOOCs, pre- vious findings have indicated a wide gap in that aspect that needs to be addressed by previous scholars. Findings based on previous literature have focused on the level of MOOC technol- ogy implementation between users and adopted several theoretical models to under- stand users' behaviour in adapting to MOOCs. Among these theories, TAM has fre- quently been utilized to study the plan to use MOOCs[11]. Besides, the TAM is effi- cient in conquering the limitations of TRA, and the TAM can forecast technology ap- proval in mandatory and voluntary backgrounds[12]. Furthermore, several investiga- tions also revealed that TAM could be employed in forecasting various technologies. Subsequently, the epidemic brought uncertainties among university individuals, with a lack of information on how long the consequence of the virus will take and how the recovery phase would be, which necessitated the increase in intention to use MOOCs 100 http://www.i-jim.org Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… during the Pandemic [13]. Many prior findings were aimed at the organizational context (i.e., government agencies, civil service, instructors, and administrators). Conse- quently, other research looked into how MOOCs technologies were adopted to promote knowledge and influence performance at work [14]. Hence, the principal drive of the present research is to undertake an empirical investigation of research with an emphasis on massive open online courses or e-learning intention to use during COVID-19 and make recommendations to scholars and administrators concerning impending in the context of Nigerian public universities. Consequently, the current study attempts to em- ploy TAM to understand better how users interact with MOOCs. In an attempt to use the TAM from the Nigeria perspective, this research includes factors such as perceived reputation (PR), subjective norm (SN), and technology aware- ness (TA) in the model, perceived reputation (PR), subjective norm (SN), and technol- ogy awareness (TA). These factors are considered to have a substantial consequence on behavioural intention to practice MOOCs. Therefore, by adding perceived reputation (PR), subjective norm (SN), and technology awareness (TA) in the extended TAM, the current study examines users' behaviour intentions to use MOOCs in the context of Nigeria, filling in gaps in the literature. 2.1 Perceived usefulness (PU) Perceived usefulness (PU) is described as emotional settlement and belief that tech- nology is beneficial to achieve the belief. Perceived usefulness (PU) is among the var- iables that affect technology acceptance[15]. The perception of PU affects the end-users impression of innovative innovation, and it is the most potent factor that defines if ac- ceptance or adoption of a new technology product[16]. PU has reflected an encourage- ment to use information systems. From the background of online learning (MOOCs) research, PU has been the subject of various studies to increase users' willingness to use technology. For example, [17] focused on PU predicting scholars' intention to adopt MOOCs. Likewise, PU is chosen as it serves as a construct in MOOC adoption inves- tigations and encourages people to follow through on their intentions [18]. Comparable to most technological tools, MOOCs provide access to students anywhere, anytime, as far as the internet is available [19]. Notably, previous findings clarified the association between perceived usefulness and intention to use technologies in the discipline of in- formation systems [20]. Therefore, PU will be used to investigate the intention of public university students in northwestern Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic to partici- pate in MOOCs. H1: PU of MOOCs positively correlates with the behavioural intention to use MOOCs during COVID-19 Pandemic. 2.2 Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) The user-friendliness and simplicity of interaction when utilizing MOOCs are the emphasis of this study.MOOCs should be simple to use, fulfilling the individuals’ be- liefs and hopes, especially in learning with MOOCs [11]. PEOU in MOOCs can reveal the individuals' impression of MOOCs, which can assist in accomplishing their goals iJIM ‒ Vol. 17, No. 07, 2023 101 Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… smoothly [21]. Thus, PEOU positively impacts the mindset of using the learning man- agement system. PEOU has been considered a critical gauge of intention to use MOOCs[22]. H2: PEOU of utilizing MOOCs has a positive connection with the behavioural in- tention to use MOOCs during COVID-19 Pandemic. 2.3 Perceived Reputation (PR) The universities/institutes establish their suitable representation across the value of activities. Perceived reputation plays a significant role in users' behavioural intentions to use MOOCs since they profoundly rely on any program's reputational position[23]. Perceived reputation is a theme studied in different disciplines [24]. Perceived rep- utation is a significant and indefinable variable that influences an individual's choice of a university[25]. Thus, a university's reputation is a subjective expression of the insti- tution's excellence, impact, and dependability. MOOCs platforms associated with rep- utable institutions are expected to obtain direct credibility. Thus, this research hypoth- esis that: H3: Perceived Reputation will positively influence the user's intention to utilize MOOCs technology during the COVID-19 pandemic. 2.4 Subjective Norm (SN). Prior literature shows that subjective norms (SN) influenced the intention to use e- learning. The student's behavioural intention toward online learning could be motivated by people near the individual, such as family members, friends, and others [26]. Sub- jective Norm was conceptualized as the extent to which a student perceives pressure from associates in his or her environment to use e-learning systems[27]. The effects of subjective norms on will play any responsibility in forming judgments regarding be- havioural intention[28]. Subjective Norms' impact on learners' e-learning approval has been examined intensively in the literature [29]. Likewise, the subjective norm is generated based on others' significance of their in- tentions to participate in MOOCs. In the context of M-learning, Subjective Norms (SN) are strongly associated with the acceptance intention for an M-learning policy[30]. Sub- sequently, the subjective norm is also expected to affect the intention to use new tech- nology[31]. Hence, people might employ specific technology if suggested or encour- aged by contemporaries, relatives, lecturers, parents, etc. [32]. Thus, the impact of oth- ers (social and peer) is essential in how valuable the online system is perceived [33]. Therefore, the study suggested that social peers could influence Nigerian university students to use MOOCs technology. Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed. H4: Subjective norms will influence the intention to use MOOCs during COVID-19 Pandemic. 102 http://www.i-jim.org Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… 2.5 Technology Awareness (TA) Technology Awareness (TA) could be well-defined as the extent of knowledge[34]. Technology awareness is crucial in innovation adoption. Likewise, preceding empirical findings have shown that technology awareness was an important influence in the in- tention to adopt m-government and e-government[35]. It is established that one of the most significant aims for users' hesitancy to adopt innovative technology is their una- wareness of its services and benefits. Based on the above, technology awareness has been tested in a different context. It could be replicated in Nigerian university students to determine its influence on the student's intention to use MOOCs. Technology aware- ness denotes stakeholders and their understanding regarding services' availability, ben- efits, and use [36]. Thus, technology awareness is a crucial factor in the innovation adoption procedure. It is concluded that technology awareness has a significant positive effect on adopting new technology [37]. Technology awareness is the knowledge of the significance and value of technol- ogy[38]. Several types of research maintained that technology awareness is vital and positively influences the intention to use MOOCs. Thus, technology awareness drives behavioural intention to adopt/use new technology [35]. Thus, technology awareness has proven to be significant and capable of determining the use intention of MOOCs established on the experimental findings of previous authors. This paper's hypothesis is that: H5: Technology Awareness will positively impact user intention to use MOOCs dur- ing COVID-19 Pandemic. 3 Methodology The participant of the current study is the individuals in Nigeria. The participants were Nigerians students at public universities (Ahmadu Bello University, Kaduna State University, Bayero University Kano, Kano State University of Technology, Federal University Dutsima, Umaru Musa Yaradua University Yola, Usman Danfodio Univer- sity Sokoto, Sokoto state university, Federal University Kebbi, Kebbi State University, Federal University Gusau, Zamfara state university, etc.). The purposive sampling method was utilized in the current research to choose the respondents. In deciding in- dividuals that satisfied the conditions placed by the investigators, a question is placed to screen the participants in the survey. The sum of 451 people responded to the ques- tionnaire online. This result has no problem with common method bias, given that the total variance extracted by one factor is 46.486%, which is lower than the mentioned limit of 50%. Furthermore, the unrotated solution does not merge into a single factor. The research's target population comprises students from fourteen public universities in the Northwest states of Nigeria; the purposive sampling technique will be embraced for this study. The justification behind using (non-probability) sampling; judgmental (purposive) sampling is the following reason. Due to confidentiality rights for purposive (non-prob- ability) sampling, obtaining a name list for all the 106,561 students from the fourteen public universities in northern Nigeria is challenging. The study variables exhibited iJIM ‒ Vol. 17, No. 07, 2023 103 Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… satisfactory reliability, with Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.880 to 0.904, showing that the appropriate variables were selected for the research. The experiment size must meet the power of 0.80 in the G*Power 3 software with an effect size of 0.15, a margin error of 5%, power of (1-β) = 80%, and four predictors were utilized [39]. The questionnaire contains four segments, in which respondents are to assess their answers on a 5-point Likert Scale (1 = "strongly disagree" and five = "strongly agree"). The dimensions for the current analysis are modified from dependa- ble resources, such as five items on PU [40], four items on PEOU[40], four items on PR[41], three items on the subjective norm[8], four items on technology awareness[42], four items on Behavioral Intention to use [40]. In addition, demographic elements of the respondents and MOOCs' knowledge (level of technology awareness) were in- cluded in this study. The IBM SPSS Statistics and the Smart PLS software packages were used to generate the analysis of the records. The reason for utilizing Smart PLS software is to simultaneously discover the direct and indirect connection between the latent variables and endogenous variables. The findings will extend the scope of inten- tion to use MOOCs during the Pandemic of COVID-19. The contributions are helpful for future research. Furthermore, the study also added novelty to TAM by proposing perceived reputa- tion, subjective norm, and technology awareness as additional variables in studies on MOOCs adoption. Finally, it further provided a better understanding of the critical in- novation characteristics as determinants of Nigerian public university students' inten- tion in the context of studies on MOOCs adoption during the Pandemic of COVID-19. 4 Findings According to the data, the standard construct validity through a substantial loading value fluctuated from 0.732 to 0.945, more significant than the suggested loading value of 0.5 [43]. Items with a loading value of less than 0.5 were eliminated. The concurrent validity result of the measurement model (e.g., loadings, average variance extracted, and composite reliability) indicators are shown in Table 1. The loadings are more sig- nificant than 0.70, which according to the literature, is regarded as acceptable [44]. The AVE values varied from 0.843 to 0.968, implying satisfactory convergent validity. As a result, the CR varied from 0.587 to 0.883. PEOU, PR, PU, SN, and TA can support users' intentions. PEOU (ß = 0.131 p < 0.05) was discovered to be positively related, and so was PR (ß = 0.328, p < 0.01), PU (ß = 0.291, p < 0.01), SN (ß = 0.279, p < 0.01), SN (ß = 0.279, p < 0.01) and TA (ß = 0.235, p < 0.01) also remained to be positively associated to intention to use. This im- plies that higher perceived usefulness will increase users’ intention to use MOOCs. The result is consistent with the TAM theory and existing literature [45], even though con- trasted with some studies on MOOCs/e-learning adoption. These findings suggest enhancing and improving individuals' intention to use MOOCs technology. This implies that perceived ease of use is essential to users' inten- tion to use MOOCs. Thus, in exploring Students' acceptance of E-Learning, PEOU was found to influence students' intention to use it [11]. Perceived reputation significantly influenced the intention to use MOOCs. The study is consistent with previous studies on MOOCs; for example, [24] found that intention 104 http://www.i-jim.org Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… is significantly influenced by perceived reputation. In the same vein, [36]. This outcome implied that subjective norms encourage users to use MOOCs technology. The findings in this study are supported by previous research that revealed subjective norm influ- ences entrepreneurial intention among public higher educational institutions (PHEI) in Malaysia [46]. Correspondingly, from the Saudi Arabian context, technology aware- ness is among the key factors significant to students' intention to use the E-Learning system at King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia [47]. The above findings align with the outcome of this research that found that technology awareness influences the intention to use MOOCs technology. 4.1 Convergent validity In establishing convergent validity, consideration was given to the outer loadings of a construct. AVE as a criterion is defined as the grand mean value of the squared load- ing of the indicators associated with the construct or the sum of squared loading divided by the number of indicators. In the same rule of thumb, [48] recommend that an AVE of a particular construct be higher than 0.50 to establish convergent validity. Table 1. Convergent Validity Variable Items Loadings CA rho_A CR AVE Intention to Use ITU1 0.842 0.724 0.744 0.843 0.642 ITU2 0.793 ITU3 0.767 Perceived Ease of Use PEOU1 0.808 0.814 0.815 0.878 0.642 PEOU1 0.810 PEOU1 0.831 PEOU1 0.732 Perceived Reputation PR1 0.933 0.956 0.956 0.968 0.883 PR2 0.937 PR3 0.945 PR4 0.945 Perceived Usefulness PU1 0.749 0.787 0.831 0.849 0.502 PU2 0.796 PU3 0.777 PU4 0.746 PU6 0.754 Subjective Norm SN1 0.878 0.873 0.873 0.922 0.797 SN2 0.891 SN3 0.909 Technology Awareness TA1 0.843 0.835 0.838 0.890 0.670 TA2 0.806 TA3 0.832 TA4 0.792 Note: PU5 is deleted due to low loading iJIM ‒ Vol. 17, No. 07, 2023 105 Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… 4.2 Discriminant validity The fornell-Larcker criterion [49] and cross-loadings [50]were the dominant ap- proaches used in testing discriminant validity in the past. [51] argued that the Fornell- Larcker criterion and cross-loadings are inadequately sensitive to detect discriminant validity in the variance-based PLS-SEM, particularly with multiple constructs. Instead, they recommend a heterotrait-monotrait ratio of correlations (HTMT) to assess discri- minant validity in variance-based PLS-SEM better. A two-way assessment was applied using the HTMT [51] in discriminant validity assessment. First, the HTMT is used as a criterion to compare with a predefined threshold value. When the HTMT value of a construct is higher than the predefined threshold values, the construct is concluded as lacking discriminant validity. The threshold values sug- gested in the literature are 0.85 [52], whereas others suggested 0.90 [53]. Table 2 illus- trate the Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio (HTMT) based on this study. Table 2. Discriminant Validity INT PEOU PO PR PU SN TA INT PEOU 0.516 PO 0.738 0.696 PR 0.474 0.595 0.664 PU 0.532 0.767 0.646 0.506 SN 0.447 0.547 0.746 0.787 0.488 TA 0.581 0.775 0.721 0.510 0.726 0.536 Note that the diagonal represents the AVE, while the others represent the correlation. As shown in Table 2, the HTMT ratio of all the constructs was below the conservative threshold value of 0.85. Therefore, the constructs of the study are distinct, and hence discriminant validity is not a challenge within the research. Overall, all measurements, as shown in Table 2, all computations yielded values below the threshold value of 0.85. The criteria were met and supported the measure's reliability and validity. 4.3 Structural model evaluation Before assessing the links among latent variables, collinearity issues in the structural model must be addressed to test the bias of the path coefficient in cases where the pre- dictor constructs are significantly collinear. The hypotheses testing of the latent varia- bles is shown in Table 3 from the structural model evaluation of this study. 106 http://www.i-jim.org Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… Table 3. Structural Model Evaluation It is noteworthy that the results attained from the [54]method suggested that PEOU, PR, PU, SN, and TA in this study have direct impacts on the users’ intention to use MOOCs, as shown. 4.4 Assessment of the structural model As for the VIF, corresponding to Table 1, the VIF is lower than 5 for all constructs. Thus, this shows the absence of collinearity troubles amongst the constructs of this study. A bootstrapping technique with 5000 resamples was applied to obtain the critical t- value for the one-tail test with a significance level of 5% To establish the significance of path coefficients and evaluate the hypothesized relationships of this study [55]. Table 1 summarises the results of the structural model evaluation for this study. Table 1 re- veals the result of the bootstrapping for the direct relationships. Specifically, perceived ease of use (H1: β = 0.100, t = 2.554, p = 0.005), perceived reputation (H2: β = 0.215, t = 4.537, p = 0.000), perceived usefulness (H3: β = 0.061, t = 1.715, p = 0.043), sub- jective norm (H4: β = 0.164, t = 3.464, p = 0.000), technology awareness (H5: β = 0.213, t = 5.280, p = 0.000). The results indicate that relationships among perceived ease of use, perceived reputation, perceived usefulness, subjective norm, technology awareness, and intention to use MOOCs were all significant and in the proposed direc- tion. Hence, H1, H2, H3, H4, H5 were all supported. 4.5 Coefficient of determination The coefficient of determination measures the structural model's predictive accu- racy. R2 values usually fluctuate from zero to one. A considerable R2 value represents the greater predictive power of the structural model. As revealed in Table 1 and Figure 2, the PLS path model of the analysis has an R2 value of 0.720. This demonstrated that the combined effects of the proposed determinants account for 72.0% of the variance in the intention to utilize MOOCs by the students. [56] have classified R2 values of 0.720 as moderate—accordingly, the PLS path model of this study exhibit moderate explanatory power. The following table indicates the Hypotheses testing. To determine the indirect effect, a bootstrapping study was suggested to be per- formed on the sampling distribution [48]. Likewise, the [54] method improves PLS Hypothe sis Relationship β t-values P-values Decision R 2 Q2 f2 VIF H1 PEOU -> INT 0.100 2.554 0.005 Endorsed 0.720 0.464 0.021 2.408 H2 PR -> INT 0.215 4.537 0.000 Endorsed 0.088 2.629 H3 PU -> INT 0.061 1.715 0.043 Endorsed 0.008 2.210 H4 SN -> INT 0.164 3.464 0.000 Endorsed 0.051 2.610 H5 TA -> INT 0.213 5.280 0.000 Endorsed 0.079 2.823 iJIM ‒ Vol. 17, No. 07, 2023 107 Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… structural equation model-ling (PLS-SEM) analysis since it does not assume the divi- sion of variables. Furthermore, it can be used with modest sample sizes [48]. It is note- worthy that the results indicated that PEOU, PR, PU, SN, and TA directly affect the users’ intention to use, as demonstrated in Table 4. Table 4. Hypotheses Testing Hypothesis Relationship Β SD t-value p-value Decision H1 PEOU -> INT 0.131 0.047 2.809 0.003 Supported H2 PR -> INT 0.328 0.052 6.291 0.000 Supported H3 PU -> INT 0.072 0.038 1.923 0.028 Supported H4 SN -> INT 0.279 0.047 5.889 0.000 Supported H5 TA -> INT 0.235 0.045 5.240 0.000 Supported Fig. 2. PLS Algorithm Structural Model Result 108 http://www.i-jim.org Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… 4.6 The main effect model's effect size (f2) The R2 value determines if the construct has a significant impression on the endog- enous constructs. This measure is the effect size of (f2) [48]. The effect size is assessed as little if f2 equals 0.02, average once f2 equals 0.15, and large when f2 equals 0.35 [57]. In further categorization, [57] argued that 2% of effect sizes are small although satisfactory, 5-10% moderate, while 11% and beyond as significant. Perceived reputa- tion has the greatest effect, with a value of 0. 088. As expected, four exogenous varia- bles (PU, PEOU, SN, and TA) affect endogenous variables. The rule of thumb to eval- uate effect size: f2 values of 0.02, 0.15, and 0.35 represent an exogenous construct's small, medium, or significant effect on an endogenous construct. Accordingly, it re- vealed that all the independent variables (PEOU, PR, PU, SN, and TA) have small ef- fect sizes on the dependent variable of this study (INT). 4.7 Predictive relevance (Q2) The same as shown in Table 1, the Q2 value of intention to use is 0.464, indicating that the endogenous construct of the analysis has predictive relevance since the value is greater than zero. The Q2 value of 0.464 portrayed that the PLS path model of the research gives a medium predictive relevance in line with [44]. 5 Discussion This is one of the first studies examining MOOCs' acceptance in public universities within the northwestern states of Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research findings showed that expanded TAM account for 61.4% of intention to use MOOCs. Contrasted to the empirical findings of the TAM model, which account for about 36% of the variations, the extended TAM model in this survey demonstrates substantial en- hancement in the model's explanatory and predictive (analytical) power. The research findings indicated that the proposed extended model delivers around 72.0% descriptive effect. The creative technology acceptance TAM model establishes a strong signal for the effects of PU, PR, PEOU, SN, and TA on intentions to practice MOOCs technology among students at Nigerian public universities in the Northwest context. This research empirically extended the TAM by including perceived reputation, sub- jective norm, and technology awareness which are inherent variables in MOOCs whose importance has been overlooked or neglected by the previous study on MOOCs. In the extended TAM, all constructs remain predictors of behavioural intention. The impact of perceived usefulness on behavioural intention is significant. These findings confirm that individuals tend to develop an interest in using the technology in the future when they believe the MOOCs technology will be helpful to them and assist them in improv- ing their academic performance. The result is consistent with [20], which indicated per- ceived usefulness of E-Learning influences Behavioral Intention. Particularly, students tend to use a technology they believe is convenient to accomplish the target outcome. Moreover, prior findings indicated that the connection between perceived usefulness iJIM ‒ Vol. 17, No. 07, 2023 109 Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… and intention in computer technologies and information systems[58] indicated that PU directly affected and influenced mobile learning acceptance in higher education. At a distance, PEOU directly influences behavioural intention. The findings con- curred with previous findings that concluded that ease of use ultimately affected the use of MOOCs/ E-Learning [20]. PEOU has a positive impact with a significant impact on learners using internet-based technology[59]. The findings remained endorsed by nu- merous preceding literature [60]. These findings confirm that students consider the eas- iness of using MOOCs. They develop intentions to use the MOOCs technology since the individuals have used similar technology. Thus perceiving using MOOCs will be easy. Moreover, the impact of perceived reputation on behavioural intention is significant. The researchers found that perceived reputation is positively connected with behav- ioural intention, which was in harmony with earlier findings' results [24]. Perceived reputation is among the significant predictors with a positive connection toward utiliz- ing MOOCs and directly influencing behavioural intention. Students who perceive MOOCs offered by highly reputable universities/institutions tend to use MOOCs as a tool for learning. These findings confirm that students consider the reputation of the institutions that offer MOOCs and the renowned professors driving the courses. More- over, the present study found that SN positively correlates with behavioural intention. This finding was consistent with the previous studies, which revealed that SN Subjec- tive Norm has a significant positive relationship with Behavioural Intention and is the most critical factor that affects university students' behavioural intention on E-Learn- ing[61]. Technology awareness has positively influenced behavioural intention in utilizing MOOCs. The technology awareness of massive open online courses among academic librarians in Ogun state, Nigeria, influences the behavioural intention to use the tech- nology[62]. Thus, technology awareness is a significant determinant of student's inten- tion to use MOOCs, and technology awareness of the individual determines students' perception. Overall, the proposed extended TAM model of the current study sheds particular light on improving the Education sector in developing countries and Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Based on this perspective, the current study results are supported by TAM. The revision and extension of TAM are based on different con- texts, which incorporate other variables. Notably, the theoretical connections were em- pirically established and supported. The present study successfully confirmed the fac- tors influencing users' intention to use MOOCs. Most significantly, the results particu- larly emphasized the position of PR, SN, and TA and behavioural intention. The current research findings are promising efforts to analytically examine the intention to use MOOCs among students at public universities. Concerning the practical contribution, the present research results provide insights into students' behaviour toward using MOOCs technology. The actors (developers and policymakers) must know the importance of MOOCs in the education sector. MOOCs are indispensable for individuals who favour electronic learning to complement the conventional learning system. Understanding the considerations that affect student be- haviour or the actors (developers, policymakers) might bring the programs to create a 110 http://www.i-jim.org Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… viable MOOCs learning approach, which can attract students globally to use the tech- nology. Furthermore, the encouraging response to the user's ease of use helps a student learn using MOOCs. Individuals could use MOOCs technology that is useful and easy to use (learn), with the MOOCs. MOOCs' key players / public institutions must also be conscious of the influence of perceived reputation. A high perceived reputation regard- ing the MOOCs will increase behavioural intention to use the MOOCs technology dur- ing the pandemic, and vice versa, for a negative/low perceived reputation could de- crease oral behavioural intention to use MOOCs. Therefore, perceived reputation is of paramount value as the perceived reputation may be constructive (when the MOOCs are linked to reputable institutions or unrepeat- able institutions) to the MOOCs' companies/ public institutions. The current research also suggests that it is essential to increase the perceived reputation of MOOCs by col- laborating with reputable institutions and professors with a high pedigree. The present study found that subjective norm is a strong predictor of oral behavioural intention to use MOOCs and the crucial role of technology awareness of MOOCs as a powerful tool for oral behavioural intention to use MOOCs technology. The subsequent section will discuss the conclusion and implications of the research. 5.1 Conclusion and implications The findings of this research offer numerous implications for scientists, software developers, and administrators in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The goal of this study was to enhance the explanatory, and predictive power of the TAM model in MOOCs' intention in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic has been achieved. A significant contribution of the current research is that it highlights the perceived use- fulness's vital role in adopting MOOCs. Perceived ease of use has strong direct effects on the intention to use MOOCs of the model. Additionally, the current study contributes to the literature on TAM research by showing the impact of perceived reputation on the intention to use MOOCs. This noteworthy discovery indicates that if users perceive the reputations of institutions offering MOOCs before, they will not start using them. Our findings show that subjective norm influences the intention to use MOOCs among pub- lic university students in northwestern Nigeria. Likewise, the more influence from fam- ily and friends the students, the more they develop more interest in using MOOCs. For, technology awareness significantly impacts their perception regarding the intention to use the technology. Similar results emerged for the subjective norms. Another contribution of this research is developing and validating perceived reputa- tion, subjective norm, and technology awareness behavioural oral intention model. Per- ceived reputation, subjective norms, and technology awareness are essential in devel- oping a positive intention to use MOOCs. MOOCs' perceived usefulness makes people use the technology, and the perceived ease of using the technology, the pleasure and easiness of using the technology that, makes students develop a positive intention to- wards MOOCs. There is a high individual perceived reputation of MOOCs due to highly reputable Professors as resource persons, and the reputation of the institutions over time is essential in determining the intention of individuals to use MOOCs tech- nology. However, subjective norm attributes are sufficient to drive positive intention to iJIM ‒ Vol. 17, No. 07, 2023 111 Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… use MOOCs; indeed, individuals seek the opinion of people close to them before mak- ing decisions. Technology awareness is related to the intention to use MOOCs. It indicates users' knowledge of the MOOCs technology, increasing the perceived intention to use it. If individuals perceive MOOCs as practical, accessible, offered by reputable institutions, and understandable, they are more likely to use the system. Theoretically, this adds to TAM research by highlighting that as the new technology's usefulness, ease, and sub- jective norm increases, the intention toward MOOCs technology will become more positive during the pandemic. Therefore, MOOCs developers should ensure that the system is easy to use. They should also emphasize technology awareness when market- ing MOOCs systems to individuals. This theory is valid in the context of MOOCs. Subjective norm is a significant pre- dictor of behavioural intentions. In the context of MOOCs, Subjective norm influences and triggers behavioural intentions as people are more likely to use MOOCs if their family and friends develop an interest in using MOOCs. Conclusively, the research questions were answered with empirical evidence that indicated the level of the stu- dent's intention to use MOOCs during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently in- dicated the factors that influence the intention to use MOOCs among Nigerian students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The finding of this study provides a guideline for MOOCs developers in making informed decisions. 5.2 Limitations and future studies The current paper has some limits. This study was performed in the Nigerian context, so the research results may not correspond to respondents from other topographical regions/countries. Thus, it is necessary to imitate this kind of study in other geographic locations to augment the narrative. Future research may be extended to a broader geo- graphic space. In addition, a cross-sectional approach was utilized in the current re- search, in which the data was gathered at a specific time (i.e., within one month). There- fore, it is also proposed to utilize longitudinal research in future studies. On one side, this research did not consider the role of a moderator in behavioural intention connec- tion. A future study looking into other potential moderators is crucial to find thorough insight into the drivers of behavioural intention to use MOOCs during the Pandemic. Moreover, the study did not consider moderating variables such as the facilitating con- dition and perceived openness to intention to use MOOCs, which are overlooked by previous studies. Also, further research may consider facilitating conditions and per- ceived openness as potential moderators. The results of this study should promote fu- ture research. The applicability of this model to other contexts would be a possible area of research. Future research might consider adding other antecedents of behavioural intention. Future studies are also advised to sample more users and compare the differ- ences in various cultures. Thus, this sample may only represent part of the populace of Nigerian public university students and may not be sufficient to generalize the whole 112 http://www.i-jim.org Paper—Intention to Participate in MOOCs: Case of University Students in Northwestern Nigeria During… population of Nigeria. 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T. Babalola, “Awareness and use of massive open online courses among academic librarians in Ogun state, Nigeria,” Inf. Impact J. Inf. Knowl. Manag., vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 1–11, 2018. https://doi.org/10.4314/iijikm.v9i1.1 8 Authors Abubakar Mu’azu Ahmed is undertaking his PhD in the School of Computer Sci- ence, University Sains Malaysia (USM) at the time of writing. He had his first degree in Business Information Technology (BIT), and master is in management information systems from Coventry University, United Kingdom. He is currently a Lecturer at the School of Computer Sciences, Kaduna State University, Nigeria. His research interests are IT Policy development, Human-computer interaction (HCI), Management Infor- mation Systems (MIS) and knowledge management. Dr Nor Athiyah Abdullah is a senior lecturer and head of the Service Computing cluster at the School of Computer Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). She holds tertiary qualifications in Software Engineering, a master's in computer science and a PhD in Software and Information Science in 2009, 2011 and 2016, respectively. Her research interests include social media, human aspects of HCI, usability studies and disaster communication. She teaches courses in Software Engineering, Computer Sciences and Informatics. She has published in numerous international journals and delivered presentations at international conferences. She is a senior lecturer at the School of Computer Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, under the service computing research cluster. She is involved in various research related to her expertise and area of interest, particularly the psychological influence of HCI, human behaviour in social media, survey research, social informatics, requirement engineering, usability studies, and social media. Dr Mohd Heikal Husin, Ts. is a senior lecturer at the School of Computer Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). He holds tertiary qualifications in BA (Hons) in Mul- timedia Computing, Coventry University, UK / INTI International University, Malay- sia.MSc in e-Commerce, University of South Australia, Aus. PhD (IT), University of South Australia, Aus. Respectively. His research interests include Organizational im- pacts of socially based applications, IT Policy development, Semantic web / Data min- ing, and Management Information Systems (MIS). Hassan Bello is a PhD candidate at the School of Computer Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). He received his Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics and Mas- ters's Degree in Computer Science from Bayero University Kano, Nigeria. His research interests include E-assessment, E-learning, and Information Systems Management. Article submitted 2022-02-13. Resubmitted 2022-11-03. Final acceptance 2022-11-17. Final version pub- lished as submitted by the authors. iJIM ‒ Vol. 17, No. 07, 2023 117