Using a Participatory Action Research Approach to Design a Lecture Podcasting System

Although use of podcasting is increasingly becoming popular in higher education, there is inadequate research published which explores podcasting in developing Higher Education Institutions let alone the design of tools to support tasks in resource constrained environments. There are fragmented implementations of podcasting projects by enthusiastic faculty but the tools used are either proprietary, imported from the west by administrators and without any consultation with the lecturers who eventually use them. Similarly, many of these tools are normally used on a trial basis. We hypothesize that involving academics through user centered design approaches in the design of educational applications will encourage them to use the tools. This paper reflects on a Participatory Action Research approach adopted in the design of a podcasting system. The research study incorporated a cyclical action model with four distinctive stages (Analyze, Plan, Implement and Evaluate) designed to guide the constituencies involved in the study to design, test, and possibly enhance the tool. The findings reveal some of the contextual phenomena that create both challenges and opportunities for a podcasting model.