Exploring the Relationships Between Online Learning, Motivation, Social Presence, and Learning Efficacy

Online learning emerges as an alternative mode for students to learn remotely in response to the shutdown of campus during COVID-19 pandemic. However, students who learned online usually had higher dropout rates and easily distracted from learning. This study aimed to examine the determinants that affect students’ learning motivation in online learning. The research question is: What are the factors affecting students’ motivation to learn in online learning? It was hypothesized that preference to online learning, social presence like engaging or interacting with peers and teachers, and learning efficacy influenced students’ learning motivation. A survey was distributed to 100 Hong Kong undergraduates. The result showed that preference to online learning had a direct, positive, and significant effect to learning motivation (β = 0.295, p < 0.001). Moreover, learning efficacy demonstrated a significant interaction effect with preference to online learning to increase learning motivation (β = 0.223, p < 0.05), while social presence demonstrated a significant interaction effect to decline learning motivation (β = −0.270, p < 0.01). The findings suggested that learning efficacy and social presence play different roles on motivation in online learning, respectively. The implications were discussed.