Action research to reassess the acceptance and use of technology in a blended learning approach amongst postgraduate business students

Abstract Although the pedagogy of blended learning in higher education has been well-accepted since 2000, its dimension has been changing, mainly due to the incessant technological innovations. The impact recorded on students’ experience has been reliant on various factors. Some of these factors are cultural diversity, technical abilities, level of organisational support, language difficulties, educational background, learning environment, and instructional design, among others. In this study, the acceptance and use of technology by international MBA students have been reassessed in the blended learning environment. The motivation for the selection of the cohort of international MBA students as a sample was to enable the inclusion of diversity as one of the focal points of the study. A two-cycle model of action research was adopted to reassess the use of technology and compare the attainment of learning outcomes between the blended and traditional learning approaches. Moreover, multiple regressions were employed using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to test the significance of each variable collected from the survey on the students’ learning experience and engagement. Our results have suggested that students’ engagement is determined by positive learning experience without any bias toward traditional or blended learning approach. Students’ age group was found to be relevant in the determination of behavioural intention, social influence, effort expectancy, performance expectancy and facilitating conditions towards the effective use of technology and blended learning. Students’ gender was an irrelevant factor in the success of a blended learning approach.


Introduction
Students' learning experience has continued to be an important yardstick for measuring the success of teaching and learning activities in higher education. In the United Kingdom, the teaching excellence framework (TEF) has recently been established to assess the higher education providers' commitment to ensuring positive students' learning experience in universities and colleges (Office for Students (OFS), 2018). The key parameters of success identified in the framework are teaching quality, learning environment, students' outcomes and learning gain. The role of teachers or instructors is indispensable in the TEF key parameters of success in the quality of teaching. For example, Kangas et al. (2017) stressed that teachers are expected to adopt various teaching methods and utilize novel learning environments with technologies to ensure a positive learning experience among students. Scholars such as Davis and Davis (1990), Kerwin (1981) and Lam and Wong (1974) have also suggested that learning satisfaction is influenced by factors such as teacher's teaching skills, contents of delivery in teaching, individual characteristics, and students' participation. Verkuyten and Thijs (2002) have added that conducive academic and social climates in the class are responsible for the positive experience on students' satisfaction with learning. In the view of Fischer et al. (2016), a positive learning experience depends on the ability of teachers to align their teaching styles to a new or evolving educational landscape. From a wider perspective, Hicks et al. (2001) highlighted that the increasing demand for higher educational institutions to cater for the need of larger and more diverse cohorts was the leading cause of the rapid evolvement in educational practice (see also Fry et al. (2008) and McKenzie et al. (2013)). This has also led to the advent of new pedagogies in the teaching profession.
The purpose of this action research is to reassess the acceptance and use of technology in a blended learning approach during the most exciting times of technological innovations. The results will be compared with those attained by adopting a traditional learning approach to the same sample. The study's novelty lies in the methodology of two-cycle action research adopted to assess the two learning approaches at different times among the cohorts under investigation. The methodology includes using the technology acceptance model in evaluating the effectiveness of the blended learning approach.

Review of literature
Blended learning approach has been increasingly adopted in higher education institutions because of its flexibility (Prasad et al., 2018). It involves both face-to-face and online teaching techniques that empower the teacher or instructor to be flexible in adopting the two approaches based on the learning needs of the students (Partridge et al., 2011). The approach has been described by Garrison and Kanuka (2004) as both simple and complex because it is seemingly an extension of the traditional face-to-face learning approach. The scholars have also argued that the inclusion of internet-based learning activities in the pedagogy of blended learning is considerably complex but not too advanced. The blended learning approach has been very successful in Western universities compared to other international higher education institutions (Prasad et al., 2018). This could be due to the differences in previous learning experiences that exist between Western and international students, which resulted in a digital inequality, as claimed by Prasad et al. (2018). The background of students in terms of their social, economic, and cultural disposition is responsible for digital inequality (Ignatow & Robinson, 2017). One of the reasons behind the success of blended learning in the Western World was the spread of the internet and technological advancement (Güzer & Caner, 2014). Since the influx of international students for various programmes in the Western universities has been significant over the years (Haggis, 2003), the undoubtful success of blended learning has been subjected to further investigations by many researchers. For example, Boelens et al. (2018) have tested the effectiveness of various designs of blended learning in relation to the growing students' diversity in the Belgian higher education. A total of twenty instructors were included in their study. The instructors were encouraged to design and implement various strategies in blended learning to address the diversity of the students. Their findings reveal three different perceptions of the instructors on implementing the blended learning approach. The first class of instructors disregarded the special needs of students in the implementation of blended learning. They employed the commonly used strategies of blended learning without any transformation. In this situation, students' satisfaction may not be positive. The second class of instructors believed that increased support in the existing blended learning would reasonably address the special needs of students. The third class of instructors believed that blended learning should be completely designed in cognisance of the special learning needs of the students, and thus achieve the optimal students' satisfaction. These findings indicate that the success of a blended learning approach depends on the perception and attitude of instructors. Mieg (2009) and Smith and Strahan (2004) have also made the same conclusion.
Case study research studies have been conducted to examine the differences between blended and traditional learning by scholars such as Nazarenko (2015) and Byers et al. (2018). Nazarenko (2015) undertook case study research on university students to assess the impact of the two approaches on students' experience. The findings indicated improved students' professional and informational competencies with the blended learning approach. Khodeir (2018) and Byers et al. (2018) have gone to the extent of changing classroom layout to reflect traditional and blended approaches, respectively. The scholars have all discovered the importance of learning spaces in effective learning.
Scholars have also investigated learners' behavioural intentions towards the use of blended learning. They primarily examined the learners' behavioural intentions towards the use of technology. For example, Erjavec and Manfreda (2022) and Prasad et al. (2018) have adopted the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model to examine the learners' behavioural intentions. The model was used to assess the importance of learners' social influence (behavioural intention), facilitating conditions (ease of use), and effort expectancy (attitude) towards the use of technology as the key to the successful implementation of blended learning pedagogy. Several scholars have similarly used technology acceptance models to assess the effectiveness of blended learning in higher education, considering the growing number of international students in Western universities and colleges. Some of these models are the theory of reasoned action (TRA) (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975), the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the technology acceptance model (TAM) (Davis, 1989;Scherer et al., 2019). Results were mixed. However, the crucial findings are that the success stories of the blended learning approach were from studies on the learning satisfaction of local (European) students (Francis & Shannon, 2013;Johnson et al., 2016;Prasad et al., 2018). Bower et al. (2014) believed that changes are needed to the existing blended learning to include skilful integration of online and face-to-face teaching materials and ensure purposeful design to address the special needs of learners. Chang and Cheung (2001) have identified a challenge to blended learning due to the barriers to international students' full acceptance of technology (see also Kennedy et al., 2008). The mixed results and the failure to consider blended learning as a challenge-free pedagogy justify the need for this research.

Theoretical framework and hypotheses development
The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) has been formulated to assess user intentions towards the use of technology in learning by Venkatesh et al. (2003). The model has been extensively validated by many scholars (for example, see Taylor and Todd (1995); Kennedy et al. (2008); Lin and Anol (2008). Amongst the key strengths of the model was the use of social factors to predict actual use. However, scholars such as Bagozzi (2007), Van Raaij and Schepers (2008) and Jerry (2020) have criticized the model for restricting the variables used in predicting behaviour.   (Alkhowaiter, 2022;Venkatesh et al., 2003). tested using the survey responses from the action research undertaken (see Appendix 1 and 2 for questionnaires administered).
The summary of the research hypotheses to be tested are as follows: H 012-The state of the learning environment dictates the success of the blended learning approach in the higher education sector.
H 013 -The quality of instructional design is a key to achieving positive students' experience through a blended learning approach.

Action research
A two-cycle model of action research was adopted, as in Mertler and Charles (2008), to assess the use of technology and the effectiveness of a blended learning approach among international MBA students. According to Muir (2007), each of the two cycles of the action research will consist of actions of planning, executing, intervening, analysing, reflecting and findings. We intend to have an initial observation of the current situation before the commencement of the first cycle of the action research. Our reflection and findings from the first cycle will guide us in planning our activities for the second cycle.

Survey method
Questionnaires were administered among two different cohorts of students enrolled for an International MBA degree. Class sessions used for the action research were arranged to be undertaken separately using different learning approaches. The duration of the class sessions was planned to be seven hours each for teaching and learning activities based on traditional and blended learning approaches, respectively. A total of 84 surveys were completed, and two were excluded due to incomplete responses.

Data analysis
Data collected from the two cycles of the action research were analysed based on a survey research method. In the data analysis, descriptive statistics and multiple regressions were employed to test the significance of the variables collected, as in Prasad et al. (2018). The aim was to assess the postgraduate students' engagement with Information Technology platforms such as Moodle and Mahara using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model (Venkatesh et al., 2003). The adoption of UTAUT was motivated by the intention to investigate the readiness and efforts of different cohorts of postgraduate students in adopting the systems of Moodle and Mahara in blended learning. A triangular model was also adopted to test students' satisfaction in a class session based on a traditional learning approach by using three key areas of the traditional learning environment (TLE), learning experience (LE) and students' engagement (SE). A two-way multiple regression analysis will be carried out to assess whether traditional learning environment (TLE) and students' engagement (SE) as independent variables can be responsible for a positive learning experience (LE) as a dependent variable. Similarly, TLE and LE will be used as independent variables and SE as a dependent variable. The extent of relationship between the three variables will equally be assessed.

Action research
The following results are from the two-cycle action research model (Mertler & Charles, 2008;Muir, 2007 (i) Teaching and learning activities were planned to be undertaken based on a traditional learning approach where information technology was limited or absent (Dovey & Fisher, 2014).
(ii) Learning instructions were to be given to students in the class sessions. Students were expected to take notes on their notebooks instead of computers, laptops, mobile or any IT gadget (Byers et al., 2018).
(iii) Assignments (in-class and homework) were to be given in the class, and students would be asked to bring back assignments in the following week for marking. The aim was to limit the adoption of wider pedagogies that facilitate technology-enhanced learning (Dumont & Istance, 2010).
(iv) Classes were arranged based on the traditional classroom layout, with all students directly facing the board (Byers et al., 2018;Hidalgo-Cabrillana & Lopez-Mayan, 2018).

Action.
(i) The approach of teaching adopted by a lecturer was based on a traditional teaching style dominated by class instructions, including instructions on class exercises and other learning activities during the class session (Hidalgo-Cabrillana & Lopez-Mayan, 2018).
(ii) Students were asked to limit the use of IT equipment and internet facilities during the class session. Although scholars such as Shute and Rahimi (2017) and Straub (2009) have strongly argued that incorporating the use of technology in teaching is a tool that facilitates learning, we decided to test the effectiveness of teaching without technology. Jeffrey * and Craft (2004) have contrarily argued that the success of teaching depends on teachers' ability to identify students' learning abilities.
(iii) A pedagogy based on traditional approach of teaching was implemented in the class session (Reynold, 2009).
(iv) Students' engagement was observed during the class session. In the following week, questionnaires were also administered among the students to assess their views on the traditional learning approach adopted in the past week.

Evaluation.
(i) Questionnaires were administered among 44 International MBA students (30 from Asia; 9 from Europe; 4 from Africa; 1 from North America) to evaluate their responses to the traditional learning approach adopted.
(ii) A summary of their responses has shown that 70 per cent of the respondents agree that the learning environment was conducive to learning even without the use of any IT equipment. Out of the remaining respondents, 11.4 per cent were neutral and 13.6 per cent disagree with the statement.
(iii) The learning experience was described as very positive by 54.5 per cent of the respondents, 31.8 per cent responded that it was just positive, and 13.6 per cent of the respondents stated that it was not positive.
(iv) Students' engagement was also examined. From the responses, 88.7 per cent of the students believed that they had the opportunity to participate in the class discussion. Seven questions were asked to assess the extent of students' engagement in the class. In addition to the opportunity for participation, other areas covered in the assessment were an opportunity for academic and social interaction, student-teacher interaction, collaborative learning, the opportunity to learn from colleagues and a motivating delivery style (McCormick et al., 2013). In all cases, over 75 per cent of the students have responded positively about the key areas of students' engagement.

Reflection.
(i) The class session was observed to be successful with a positive level of student engagement and active teacher-student interactions. In the general comment section of the questionnaire, 43.2 per cent of the students described the traditional learning approach as particularly good.
(ii) Due to the absence of technology in the session, the teaching effort demonstrated in the class was characterised by the teacher's innovation, control, and domination (Jeffrey * & Craft, 2004). Students were only acting on given instructions.
(iii) Unsurprisingly, more than 50 per cent of European students were unhappy with the use of traditional approach. A particular respondent from Europe commented that: "The lecturer prevented students from using laptops to make notes. Not very nice for people with handwriting issues, dyslexia, etc".
Another respondent stated that: "It was not very motivating as in this day and age, learning with technology is more interesting, and I can learn better with visuals".
(iv) However, students from Asia and Africa were pleased with the traditional approach adopted.
More than 60% of them commented positively about it. Some of these comments stated that: "I love it better than IT/slides usage". "I like that because it's kinda give me new experience". "It was perfect and more practical". "It was nice and engaging, free from distractions. I liked it".
(v) The mixed responses have justified the implementation of the second cycle of the action research (Mertler & Charles, 2008).

Findings.
(i) Students were very engaged during the class session. There were no distractions from the use of phones or other IT gadgets.
(ii) It was discovered that lecturers must put in more effort during the class session to ensure that all instructions are clear and understood by students. It was an absolute instructor-led training or session (Woodall, 2010). Previous studies show that students were more satisfied with the traditional learning approach if clear instructions were given (Chen & Jones, 2007).
(iii) Most students from the European states seem to be dissatisfied with the session based on the traditional approach. The students' critical issue was the limited use of IT facilities in the session (Prasad et al., 2018).
(iv) Most of the students from the African and Asian states were very satisfied with the traditional approach because of the absence of distraction from using personal phones or laptops. According to Ignatow and Robinson (2017), this was due to digital inequality caused by previous learning experiences which were different from that of local (European) students. The difference in learning experiences between the local and international students was explained to be due to the diverse social, economic, and cultural status (Myers & Klein, 2011 (i) A blended learning approach was planned to be adopted in the following week after adopting the traditional learning approach. Students' feedback on the features of the blended learning approach will be collected from the administered questionnaires and analysed accordingly to appreciate the impact of the two learning approaches on students' experience (see also Nazarenko, 2015).
(ii) Both online and classroom activities will be involved in the learning process. The method will also be designed to incorporate different modes of delivery, including the optimal use of resources to maximise the students' learning outcomes (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004;Graham, 2006).
(iii) IT facilities will be fully utilised. Specifically, online learning platforms and software applications such as Moodle, Mahara, Excel and Socrative will be encouraged.
(iv) Since the components of blended learning approach consist of three elements of learning environment, instructional activities, and use of media (Kaur, 2013), the learning environment will be made to reflect a conducive atmosphere that enhances optimum use of resources to attain instructional goals and learning objectives (Holden & Westfall, 2006). For this reason, the instructor will change the class arrangement to be in a ring-form with mini-groups of at least four students in each group to encourage collaboration and efficient use of resources among the students (Byers et al., 2018;Hidalgo-Cabrillana & Lopez-Mayan, 2018).

Action.
(i) Before the class sessions, instructions on learning activities were sent to students by email and placed on Moodle to encourage learning without the students having to be face-to-face with the lecturer (Kaur, 2013).
(ii) Students were instructed to use laptops and phones during the class sessions. Most of the lecturer's instructions were by visual tools. It was the combination of various modes of delivery, including some of the traditional learning techniques. It involves direct lecturing, open discussions, self-learning by students, use of visual aids, Socrative application and other online platforms such as Moodle (Khodeir, 2018).
(iii) Communication with students was based on both in-class and out-of-class feedback to ensure learning activities were undertaken irrespective of location (Khodeir, 2018).
(iv) In the Socrative application, students were directed to download the software application on their laptops and phones. This is to provide answers to practice questions that were framed in line with the given learning objectives of the session (Guarascio et al., 2017). Group activities were also organised on the Socrative application, and students participated according to the mini groups formed based on their sitting arrangement.
(v) Students were also instructed to explore the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to provide answers to some of the practice questions formulated.
(vi) Students were given a survey after the session to determine their preferences from the two different teaching approaches adopted and also assess the success or effectiveness of the blended learning approach.

Evaluation.
(i) A cohort survey was conducted among 38 International MBA students (26 from Asia; 6 from Europe; 5 from Africa; 1 from North America) to evaluate their responses on the effectiveness of the blended learning approach adopted.
(ii) Students' digital learning abilities were assessed in the survey. According to the responses, 82.5 per cent of the students have basic computer capabilities, 80 per cent agreed they have above-average computer capabilities, and 57.5 per cent believed they are computer knowledge experts. A significant proportion of the students at 65 per cent have agreed that the level of computer knowledge directly influences their academic performance.
(iii) It was observed that students are not confident in using Moodle or Mahara, as only 42.5 per cent agreed that they do not need the support of the University's IT staff in using the online platforms. This result has been proven by the responses of only 40 per cent agreeing that they must use Moodle to pass their modules. Up to 32.5 per cent of the students have stated that they do not like using Moodle.
(iv) The acceptability of the Socrative application among the students has also been assessed. The responses show that 82.5 per cent of the students agreed that the application was relatively easy to use. On the same note, 80 per cent of the students indicated that using the software application during class sessions was helpful.
(v) The learning experience was described as positive by 85 per cent of the respondents compared to the 86.3 per cent recorded adopting the traditional learning approach.
(vi) The responses have also shown that 85 per cent of the students believed they had the opportunity to participate in the class activities compared to the 88.7 per cent recorded on the adoption of the traditional learning approach. Up to 82.5 per cent of the students have agreed that there was an opportunity for academic and social interactions during class sessions. And 85 per cent indicated they were motivated by the delivery style adopted during the class session.

Reflection.
(i) Teachers' expertise plays a vital role in the success of any teaching-learning style adopted among international students (see also Mieg, 2009;Smith & Strahan, 2004).
(ii) Students' learning experience can be positive depending on their learning abilities and the delivery style of instructors (see also Smith & Strahan, 2004).
(iii) Digital inequality might not explain the gap in the usage of the internet and IT facilities between the students from the third world and developed countries, as suggested by many scholars such as Ignatow and Robinson (2017).
(iv) Students across four continents of the seven continents of Asia, Africa, North and South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia, as included in the survey, were all very satisfied with the blended approach. There were no students from South America, Antarctica, and Australia in the sample of students.
(v) Some students from Asia and Africa have commented as follows: "I will prefer blended learning".
"It's a good way of learning approach".
"I like the approach as this develops the basics ion the subject, and it develops the passion towards subject. After that, we can solve problems using any method".
"It was a good challenge which encouraged class participation". "It was useful".
(vi) A few students from Asia and Africa have indicated that their learning experience was better under the traditional learning approach. Some of the general comments they provided are shown below.
"There was much less interaction between tutor and student. Prefer the traditional method".
"Please leave more textbooks available in the library as it's always difficult to find the appropriate one for private study".
(vii) Expectedly, European students were also very satisfied and quested for more of the blended approach. Some of their comments are: "Use more Excel, isn't it?" "Mix it up".

Findings.
(i) Students in higher education have different characteristics in terms of previous educational experiences, interests, expectations, and readiness for learning that determine the quality of their learning experiences (see also Fry et al., 2008;Räisänen et   (ii) Students were satisfied with the blended learning approach adopted irrespective of their countries of origin. This could be attributed to the integration of various teaching methods aimed at satisfying students' needs, challenging them to attain learning outcomes in a conducive environment (see also Garrison & Kanuka, 2004;Picciano, 2009).
(iii) Students were excited and engaged during the class session. The excitement could be because of the use of phones, laptops and learning software applications such Socrative. Another reason could be due to the age bracket of the survey respondents. Over 90 per cent of the respondents were in the age bracket of between 20 and 29 years. Banerjee and Duflo (2018) have argued that young people are more likely to be engaged with technology, although this has been contradicted by Van Dijk (2005). Chen and Jones (2007) believed that students in blended learning classes were satisfied because of the perceived improvement in their analytical skills.

Analysis of measurement models and hypotheses testing
The summary of the data collected is presented in Tables 1 and 2 below. The data was used in the analysis of the measurement models and hypotheses testing.
The correlation matrix of the coefficients in the UTAUT model, as presented in Figure 2, is depicted in Table 4a-c. Table 3 represents the correlation of the coefficients in the triangular model for the traditional learning approach shown in Figure 1.

Triangular model for traditional learning approach
The results shown below are the coefficients for the two-way multivariate regression analysis. The details of the results were provided in Table 5.
Our results indicated that only the module's structure and learning approach determine students' positive learning experience. In reference to H 01 , it suggests that the attributes of the traditional learning environment, such as conducive learning environment, classroom arrangement or layout and achievement of learning outcomes, have no direct relationship with students' positive learning experience. In testing H 02 , we discovered that class layout or arrangement and students' perception of the opportunities for academic and social interaction are directly related to                      students' engagement. Also, student-teacher interaction and collaborative learning were found to be strongly significant.

SE-PELA SE-GSTI SE-OCL SE-ELC SE-PDS
The results of the unified theory of acceptance and use of the technology model are presented in Table 6. In most cases, students' gender was insignificant in determining their behavioural intention towards the effective use of technology and the blended learning approach. There was also no evidence that gender determines the state of their performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence. However, we found a positive relationship between gender and student's perception of the relevance of using Moodle in achieving the module's pass mark.
We tested H04 to assess whether age group is a significant factor in the determination of behavioural intention, social influence, effort expectancy, performance expectancy and facilitating conditions towards the effective use of technology and blended learning approach. We found some evidence of a relationship between effort expectancy, performance expectancy and the perception of students on facilitating conditions. In effort expectancy, Moodle's easy use was determined by students' age group. The extent to which students tried to develop expertise in using Moodle was also by their age group. In performance expectancy, the possession of basic computer capabilities was determined by age group. We found a strong correlation between students' age and their perception of the relevance of facilitating conditions for effective use of technology and blended learning.
We tested the influence of students' work experience on their behavioural intention towards the effective use of technology and the blended learning approach. There was no evidence of a relationship except in collaborative learning and the usefulness of Socrative application. We found a positive relationship between students' work experience and their effort toward collaborative learning, and the acceptance of the importance of learning software applications such as Socrative (Ormerod et al., 2022;Tinnion et al., 2021). Based on H06, we found no evidence to suggest any relationship between students' voluntariness of use proxied by their preference and the effect of social influence on their behavioural intention towards the effective use of technology and blended learning.
The testing of H07, H08 and H09 was to assess whether performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence affect the students' behavioural intention towards the effective use of technology and blended learning. From the numerous sub-hypotheses tested, we found that most students possess basic computer capabilities and do not expect IT help in using Moodle to achieve learning objectives. Surprisingly, the sub-hypothesis of Moodle's irrelevance in achieving the module's pass mark (H07(iii)) was found to be significant. Students believe that learning objectives and pass mark can be achieved without using Moodle. We have not investigated further to find the factors behind this finding. Our results have also indicated the significance of having easy access to Moodle (H08 (i)); spending at least 3 hours on the internet in every 24 hours, using Moodle or Mahara daily, and the relevance of Socrative application in learning activities (H08 (ii)). Social influence was also found to affect students' behavioural intention towards effective blended learning contrary to findings of Erjavec and Manfreda (2022). If students have never seen or used Moodle in the past (H09 (iii)), they seek the assistance of their classmates to submit assignments on Moodle or Mahara. It has been discovered that many of the students have personal laptops and feel part of the community of staff and students (H09 (ii)). Students were also found to have mentors that assisted them in using Moodle and Mahara facilities.
We have also tested whether facilitating conditions such as a conducive learning environment and adequate library resources determine students' use of technology behaviour towards effective blended learning. The results of our analysis show that only the use of Moodle and the assistance offered to students by tutors in addressing IT issues are significant in the influence of their use of technology behaviour towards effective blended learning. However, students' enthusiasm to engage with any innovation in IT has been found to be relevant in determining the use of technology behaviour towards effective blended learning. We found no evidence to suggest that the state of the learning environment using proxies such as classroom layout and conducive atmosphere for learning dictates the success of the blended learning approach. Contrarily, the quality of instructional design in terms of the availability of library resources and the coordination of Moodle and Mahara are key factors for achieving positive students' experience through a blended learning approach. We also discovered that students from developing countries were not conversant with IT facilities, and that affected the attainment of learning objectives (see also Adnan & Anwar, 2020;Burki, 2020).

Conclusion
Action research was undertaken to reassess the effectiveness of a blended learning approach among International MBA students. It was discovered that students were very engaged during traditional learning sessions without distractions from using phones or other IT gadgets. Most of the students from the European states seemed to be dissatisfied with the session. The critical issue for the students was observed to be the limited use of IT facilities in the session. Contrarily, most of the students from the African and Asian states were very satisfied with the traditional approach because of the absence of distraction from using personal phones or laptops. It was also discovered that students in higher education have different characteristics in terms of previous educational experiences, interests, expectations, and readiness for learning that determine the quality of their learning experiences. Students were satisfied with the blended learning approach adopted irrespective of their countries of origin. On the same note, students were very excited and engaged during the blended learning session. The results show a significant relationship between age and students' performance expectancy, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions. Although most respondents are within the age bracket of 20 to 29, we found evidence that the younger the students, the more important those factors will be in facilitating their effort to associate with technology for successful blended learning. It also indicates that students' engagement is determined by the positive learning experience. Specifically, a well-organized module structure and learning approach are the key factors responsible for the positive learning experience. Students' gender coefficients were found to be insignificant regarding performance, effort, social influence and other facilitating conditions that determine students' engagement with technology towards effective blended learning.
Areas of further research could be in assessing students' engagement and experience regarding alternative learning methods that could be incorporated into the blended learning approach. These learning methods include open discussions, self-learning presentations and posters, storytelling, real-life case studies, guest lectures and game-based learning. It will also be meaningful to explore further the impact of students' economic, social, and cultural backgrounds on their learning achievements. The acceptability of different online learning resources and software applications among international students should be investigated.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Citation information
Cite this article as: Action research to reassess the acceptance and use of technology in a blended learning approach amongst postgraduate business students, Muhammad Surajo Sanusi, Cogent Education (2022), 9: 2145813.