Sustaining Digital Participation in Higher Education: Microlearning Satisfaction, Usage Intention, and Perceived Learning Outcomes Through an Extended IS-Success Framework

Full abstract

Read the full abstract

Digital participation in higher education increasingly depends on flexible short-format learning designs that support engagement under varied access conditions. This study examines Moodle-supported microlearning through an extended Information Systems Success (IS-Success) framework and treats sustainable digital participation as an interpretive lens rather than a directly measured construct. The model analyzes how system quality, information quality, service quality, privacy and ethics, training readiness, engagement, and barriers/access relate to satisfaction, usage intention, and perceived learning outcomes. Data were collected through a bilingual Arabic–English questionnaire from 219 undergraduate students at the University of Kassala, Sudan, and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that system quality, information quality, service quality, and privacy and ethics were positively associated with satisfaction. Satisfaction, training readiness, and engagement positively predicted usage intention, whereas barriers/access negatively predicted usage intention. Satisfaction and usage intention were positively associated with perceived learning outcomes. The model showed acceptable explanatory and predictive power. The findings suggest that perceived microlearning success depends on platform quality, ethical confidence, learner readiness, engagement, and access conditions. The results should be interpreted as perception-based associations rather than evidence of causal effects, objective academic performance, or long-term educational sustainability.