This study explores students’ attitudes toward online open elective courses, recognizing the transformative shift in the field of online education. Open electives offer students the flexibility to explore personal interests or complement their primary studies, with online courses aligning syllabi with traditional counterparts. The study's objectives include understanding the factors influencing students’ attitudes, studying the relationships between these factors, and developing a validated model for exploring these relationships. Conducted from April to June 2023 with 531 students across Karnataka, the study employs the Measure of Online Communication Attitude (MOCA), developed by Ledbetter in 2009. The MOCA, with 31 items across dimensions like self-disclosure and social connection, demonstrates high reliability and validity. It serves as a diagnostic tool, providing insights into individuals’ online communication attitudes and influencing their behaviour. The study systematically delves into theoretical dimensions, constructs a conceptual model validated through hypotheses testing, and assesses relationships between constructs. Through meticulous statistical analyses, the study confirms the presence of latent constructs and meaningfully correlates key elements. The path analysis visually encapsulates these relationships, offering a holistic understanding of the study's objectives.