Music students’ behavior on using learning objects closer to the domain characteristics and the social reality

•Students are more motivated when using social and domain related integrated resources.•Perception of learning opportunities, social influence, ease of use and hedonic motivation lead to usage intention.•Qualitative research analysis confirms the influence of usage intention constructs.•Sound resources influence the perception of learning opportunities, social influence, ease of use and hedonic motivation.•Sound and social resources influence the learners’ intention on using a learning object/activity and a learning environment.

In this paper we analyze the behavior of music students on using learning objects that are closer to the domain characteristics and to the learners’ digital social reality. A model for supporting the development of learning objects with these characteristics is described and a case study was conducted with high school students that performed a music activity that was created using the proposed model in order to demonstrate the applicability and benefits of our approach. Results show the importance of considering the proposed model on guiding courseware development for education, especially on the music education context. Moreover, we noticed through a qualitative analysis that the students seemed to be more motivated when using social and sound manipulation integrated resources because of their perception of learning opportunities, social influence, ease of use, hedonic motivation, facilitating conditions and usage intention.