Participatory design of persuasive technology in a blended learning course: A qualitative study

Whereas blended learning can deliver several benefits to students in higher education, their achievement depends on how exactly it is designed. A participatory design is recommendable to try to meet the needs of all stakeholders. The Persuasive System Design-model can be used to motivate students during the online part of the course. In the design there has to be an optimal blend between the different parts of the course. A participatory design is used to design a blended learning course of autobiographical reflection for second year social work students. The blended course was developed in six meetings with a working group, including all stakeholders (students, teachers, instructional designers, educational experts and professionals). Almost all techniques of the first three categories of the PSD-model were used in the design of the blended course. None of the techniques of the fourth category ‘Social Support’ of the PSD-model were used, mostly because they touch on the personal process of autobiographical reflection. It was considered helpful for teachers to have a protocol that assists them in blending the different parts and this in turn could stimulate students to be engaged in the different parts of the blended learning course. In this study, we found that the participatory design approach may lead to an engaging blended learning course that encourages the use of persuasive technology with an optimal focus on content, target group, context and ethical aspects of the blended course. We suggest adding a new fifth category ‘Blended Learning Support’.