E-learning: Investigating students' acceptance of online learning in hospitality programs.

Abstract

<p>Students' perceptions and satisfaction with online learning courses have drawn a lot of attention from educational practitioners and researchers. However, an empirical study of perception and satisfaction with online learning is yet to be found in the hospitality area. Thus, this study addresses gaps in previous studies.</p> <p>This study was conducted with the participation of hospitality programs at six universities in the states of Iowa, Nevada, Virginia, Florida, and Texas. A web-based survey was developed to understand students' perceptions and satisfaction with online learning classes in hospitality. Perceived infrastructure quality (1PSQ) reflects students' experiences or perceived performance of the functional infrastructure. Perceived interaction quality (2PSQ) relates to students' experiences or perceived performance of student-instructor</p> <p>The major finding of the dominant power predicting student satisfaction with online courses is interaction-driven rather than information-and-system-driven quality. This should be a wakeup call for educational administrators or course management developers.</p> <p>This study also empirically confirmed the major propositions that Benbunan-Fich, Hiltz, and Harasim (2005) suggested on the Online Interaction Learning Theory in the context of hospitality.</p>