Digital student agency: Approaching agency in digital contexts from a critical perspective

Stenalt, Maria Hvid

doi:10.14786/flr.v9i3.697

Cited by 13 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Learning environments that disregard children's active participation negatively impact their development (Berthelsen, & Brownlee, 2005) and deficit discourses that position children as lacking certain capabilities, including agency, disregard the collective forces that shape the opportunities available to children to express their individuality and particularness (e.g., Mary & Young, 2018;Carela, 2019). Stenalt (2021) argued for the need for more critical approaches to students' agency in relation to technologies used in higher education and proposed that these should take into account relational, cultural, and technological aspects of studenttechnology learning interactions. Stenalt's (2021) theoretical framework of digital student agency recognizes the reciprocity between students' and technologies' contributions to a learning situation and considers, for example, use of data or digital self-representation.…”

Section: Educational Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stenalt (2021) argued for the need for more critical approaches to students' agency in relation to technologies used in higher education and proposed that these should take into account relational, cultural, and technological aspects of studenttechnology learning interactions. Stenalt's (2021) theoretical framework of digital student agency recognizes the reciprocity between students' and technologies' contributions to a learning situation and considers, for example, use of data or digital self-representation. These insights are useful for adult students who can manage their data or choose who and when others have access to their data (Jääskelä, Heilala, Kärkkäinen & Häkkinen, 2021).…”

Section: Educational Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

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Agency in Educational Technology: Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Implications for Learning Design

et al. 2023

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Advancing learners’ agency is a key educational goal. The advent of personalized EdTech, which automatically tailor learning environments to individual learners, gives renewed relevance to the topic. EdTech researchers and practitioners are confronted with the same basic question: What is the right amount of agency to give to learners during their interactions with EdTech? This question is even more relevant for younger learners. Our aim in this paper is twofold: First, we outline and synthesize the ways in which agency is conceptualized in three key learning disciplines (philosophy, education, and psychology). We show that there are different types and levels of agency and various prerequisites for the effective exercise of agency and that these undergo developmental change. Second, we provide guiding principles for how agency can be designed for in EdTech for children. We propose an agency personalization loop in which the level of agency provided by the EdTech is assigned in an adaptive manner to strike a balance between allowing children to freely choose learning content and assigning optimal content to them. Finally, we highlight some examples from practice.

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Section: Educational Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Educational Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Agency in Educational Technology: Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Implications for Learning Design

et al. 2023

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“…According to Stenalt (2021) where teaching with technology is concerned, digital agency must be developed and supported. Here, digital agency entails digital competencies, digital confidence, self-reliance and digital accountability to function in a connected environment.…”

Section: Critical Digital Agencymentioning

confidence: 99%

New Kids on the Block? Exploring Technological Preferences of a New Generation

2023

JHETP

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With the disruptive technological changes, a new entry-level student is emerging, characterized by an increased digital imprint and is already coined in literature as the phygital generation. Framed by Critical Pedagogy models, the awareness of this phenomenon among lecturers and support staff in a Higher Education institution (HEI) in South Africa is studied. Using an interpretative design, qualitative data were collected from a purposively selected group. Findings are that participants are aware of the change but are not prepared for contemporary trends. Evidently, students prefer to learn from microcontent. Based on the findings, this study offers critical indicators to address the gap.

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“…Williams (2017) stresses that learning with agency is an entirely different cognitive and physical activity leading to powerful learners who choose to take on challenges with their whole being. Stenalt (2021) opines that where student agency generally referred to sociocultural aspects of student experiences, in a digital world this definition needs to be expanded to allow temporally constructed engagement of digital and networked environments.…”

Section: Metacognition and Metaliteracymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The study alluded to the importance of digital fluency for academics and the need to continuous reskilling and upskilling to support student agency. According to Stenalt (2021) where teaching with technology is concerned, digital agency must be developed and supported. Here, digital agency entails digital competencies, digital confidence, self-reliance and digital accountability to function in a connected environment.…”

Section: Recommendations: Indicators Towards Improved Critical Digita...mentioning

confidence: 99%

New Kids on the Block? Exploring technological preferences of a new generation

Wyk

2022

ECEL

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Over the past decades, reported research have continuously alluded to the impact of “digital natives,” “millennials,” and a range of reported “generations,” and warned about the need to adapt across all spheres, including education, educational approaches and student support. Higher education akin to these demands. Contemporary trends in student styles indicate an ever-expanding preference in using digital options. In essence, the use and application of technology and expectations hereof are changing with the emergence of each new generation. This necessitates a deepening in understanding, of inter alia, developments and application of educational technology and instructional design. With the disruptive technological changes of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), a new entry-level student, characterised by an increased digital imprint and a marked preference to using only mobile technology, surfaced and is already coined in literature as “the phygital generation”. Phygital is the concept of using technology to bridge the digital world with the physical world with the purpose of providing a unique interactive experience for the user. The term has first been introduced by the marketing and consumer industries. Here, smart and mobile technologies enable interaction and experiences for increasingly daily needs such as online purchases, traveling, learning, communication. The question is: how does this new trend affect teaching and learning? Evidently, students from this generation prefers to learn from microcontent and they are averse to voluminous content. Is there an understanding of the nature of the phygital generation, with its focus on mobile technology? Will this exacerbate the digital divide in marginalised communities? Framed by Critical Pedagogy, this paper interrogates the knowledge that a group of lecturers and their support staff in a Higher Education Institution in South Africa must accommodate a new generation of students. Using an interpretive design, qualitative data were collected from a purposively selected group of educators and support staff. Semi-structured interviews were used in this case to gauge their awareness and readiness to accommodate this new generation in their teaching and learning ecosystem. Findings are that participants are aware of the change but are not prepared for contemporary trends. Informed by critical theory, the paper offers critical indicators to address the gap.

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Digital student agency: Approaching agency in digital contexts from a critical perspective

Cited by 13 publications

References 60 publications

Agency in Educational Technology: Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Implications for Learning Design

Agency in Educational Technology: Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Implications for Learning Design

New Kids on the Block? Exploring Technological Preferences of a New Generation

New Kids on the Block? Exploring technological preferences of a new generation

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