Understanding MOOC Learners from Different Levels of Study: An Investigation of Hospitality and Tourism

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceedingConference article published in proceeding or bookAcademic researchpeer-review

Abstract

Despite the increasingly severe manpower shortage in the hospitality industry and the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, different levels of learners of Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) in hospitality and tourism education have been largely neglected in literature. This study explores different levels of hospitality and tourism education learners' perceptions, motivations, obstacles, and perceived outcomes of MOOCs in Hong Kong. Data were collected from five focus group interviews. The findings show that MOOC learners could be categorised into 3 groups: i) Sub-degree and undergraduate learners who lack self-motivation, prefer flexible timing and with English as the main barrier to learn via MOOCs. ii) Postgraduate learners who have moderate motivation to learn via MOOCs, with the key determinants of knowledge acquisition, flexible learning, and electronic communication. They are capable and can self-regulate their learning paces. Lastly, iii) hospitality and tourism in-service learners have high motivation to learn via MOOCs, which provides a shortcut and flexibility for satisfying both employee and employer's requirements.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2022 IEEE Learning with MOOCS (LWMOOCS)
PublisherIEEE
Pages90-95
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)978-1-6654-2486-8
ISBN (Print)978-1-6654-2487-5
Publication statusPublished - 29 Sept 2022

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