role of learning-related emotions, emotion regulation and technology acceptance in learner engagement with online professional development

Abstract

People have different attitudes toward taking professional training courses online despite the post-pandemic movement towards e-learning in adult education. Limited studies have linked adult learners’ emotions with their attitudes towards technology (i.e., technology acceptance) and investigated their impacts on adult learners’ engagement in online professional development. This study aims to fulfil this gap by testing the mediating effect of technology acceptance between learning-related emotions and online learning engagement in professional development, and the moderating effect of emotion regulations therein. The study draws on the theoretical grounding from Control-Value Theory, Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), and the Process Model of Emotion Regulation. After collecting data from 254 higher education faculty through an online questionnaire, the study applied a partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) for its results. The findings show that learning-related emotions are associated with technology acceptance and emotion regulation moderates those associations. Furthermore, the results suggest that technology acceptance mediates between learning-related emotions and online learning engagement. These findings strengthen the need to attend to affect in adults’ online learning and stress the importance of emotion in embracing technology for enhancing learning engagement among adult learners.