Digital Technologies and its impact on learner agency

As I continue to reflect on my inquiry and the big question... Can digital technologies impact Learner Agency. I found this blog reading interesting to help me further understand learner agency and to view what other schools are already doing in this area:

Reflections on Learner Agency blog:

Scott McKenzie, senior syndicate leader at Hampden School, explains that agency is when students are actively involved in their learning and they have choice, control and power over their learning.  A key question was asked “how do we reduce the reliance of the teacher? “and “how do the students own their learning?” (Ministry of Education, 2016). At the same time Claire Amos, deputy principal at Hobsonville Point Secondary School, maintains that agency is directly related to students having ownership of their learning. In a motivating excerpt, a student in Hobsonville Point Secondary, states that at their school there is “no irrelevant learning” and “everything has a purpose” (Ministry of Education, 2016).  Could this be the model of learner agency to follow?

In addition, Hobsonville Point Secondary School have created a school culture that encourages partnerships between teachers and students, which has resulted in an increase in student agency. In doing so the school is showing evidence of students having a say over the modules (curriculum) that they will learn. Amos (2016) reiterates that students come to school with a variety of skills to achieve agency but require purposeful teaching in order to be able to achieve this. Through deliberate scaffolding, students develop the future focused skills that they need to be able to manage themselves and their learning. Students are preparing for tomorrow's world where the 21st Century workplace will require people to work with minimal supervision, plan their own work, design their own work products and incorporate feedback to improve the quality of products.



Reference:

Ministry of Education. (2016, November 15). Learner Agency. Retrieved April 29, 2017 from TKI | Te kete ipurangi: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-resources/NZC-Online-blog/Learner-agency