{"id":1100,"date":"2024-11-05T14:55:14","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T14:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/learning-matters\/?p=1100"},"modified":"2026-03-26T10:14:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T10:14:50","slug":"new-proposals-for-digital-pedagogies-student-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/learning-matters\/2024\/11\/05\/new-proposals-for-digital-pedagogies-student-agency\/","title":{"rendered":"New Proposals for Digital Pedagogies: Student Agency"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This blog is part of a series on \u2018New Proposals for Digital Pedagogies\u2019 that launches the Sussex Digital Pedagogies Toolkit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This toolkit conceptualises new ways to think through digital teaching and learning, gathering data from members of the University of Sussex community who shared their thoughts, fears and hopes about digital pedagogy. This toolkit has been created collaboratively by a staff-student research team and uses material from a series of online workshops with members of the Sussex community, including faculty, professional services and students. Those who took part will be introduced as \u2018participants\u2019 to emphasise their active participation in knowledge production for this project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post will explore the challenges and proposals for teaching and learning with technologies in relation to student agency, as well as some questions for reflective practice and resources to explore these ideas further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2018Students don’t have any autonomy in their learning journey.\u2019<\/p>Workshop participant<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Challenges in Student Agency<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When considering digital pedagogies, the role of the student in the classroom is vital: how might students be more critical or involved in their learning and education? Participants noted a certain amount of passivity in students. This passivity was not necessarily in terms of engagement or class participation, but rather something that arose from the structure and content of student’s education, which is often entirely reliant on the teacher. The student is usually only assessed through quantitative data, such as attendance and grades. Yet it was pointed out that this method of recording data does not actually reflect students’ own academic and personal journey at university. The quantitative data produced primarily serves the needs of the university and the teacher as opposed to the student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proposals for Student Agency<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Participants suggested a range of solutions to re-engage students and encourage them to reclaim agency in their education. Participants felt it was important to place students in an active role, where they would be able to take agency in recording their own learning journey (Gibson et al., 2016). A digital model was suggested as a space where students could explore their learning journey. Students could:<\/p>\n\n\n\n