Persuasive technology to support self-directed learning in adult learning programs

Abstract

The field of human resource development struggles with the rapid changing business environment it operates in. ’Learning needs’ keep on changing and for human resource developers it is hard to keep up with these ever growing learning needs. Research on human resource development points towards self-directed learning as a solution for this challenge. This introduces the question how members of an organization can become self-directed learners. The aim of this thesis is to explore the possibilities of using persuasive technology to persuade people in activities that support self-directed learning. To achieve this, three research activities have been conducted to gather requirements for a system that should persuade peoplein becoming self-directed learners . From these requirements a prototype has been created to test this conceptual premise in a real-life situation. The first literature study is performed on the behaviour that is required for people to be self-directed learners. Second, a literature study is performed on the concept of persuasive technology to get the requirements on how technology can persuade people in doing partic-ular behaviour. The third research activity is a case study on an adult learning program that uses technology to persuade people in becoming self-directed learners. The case study and interviews with experts on learning and development created input to see what the require-ments were for the currently used technology. To determine if it is possible to use persuasive technology to persuade people in becoming self-directed learners the requirements were verified in an experiment. Two prototypes were tested that differ in their principle to persuade people to reflect on their learning activities and stimulate social interaction. Results from experts and literature have indicated that these two types of behaviour are important for self-directed learning. The persuasive principles on social comparison and social learning are integrated into the prototype to persuade people to reflect on their learning activities. The two prototypes have been used for 35 days by 18 participants of an adult learning program . After this, they were interviewed and usage of the information system was registered and evaluated. From the experiences of the users the general conclusion can be drawn that the social persuasive design principles has a positive influence on the usage of a tool to support self-directed learning. However, some participants notice demotivating behaviour on the long run because of the two persuasive principles used. Improvement of social interaction among the participants has not been measured. Within the prototype only three reports could be made of actual dialogues between participants via the information system.

This study did not provide clear evidence to show that persuasive technology can support self-directed learning. However, the insights from design process add to our understanding of the linkage between the persuasive technology and self-directed learning. The design part of this research has given more empirical evidence on the usability of design methods for persuasive technology and this is a contribution that is of importance for the information science discipline. This can be used as a base for further interdisciplinary research between the HRD research and research on persuasive technology