STUDENT AGENCY IN DIGITALLY MEDIATED PERSONALIZED LEARNING: VOICES FROM INDONESIAN EFL STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
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Abstract
This study uses a student agency framework to examine the enactment of agency dimensions and levels within digitally mediated personalized learning (DMPL) in an Indonesian EFL bichronous (synchronous and asynchronous) setting. This qualitative case study triangulated classroom observations with an open-ended questionnaire administered to 21 undergraduates from a Content Writing course in the English department of a private university in Jakarta, who are participating in an internship program and enrolling in courses. The analysis involved a thematic investigation of individual, relational, and contextual dimensions of student agency, as well as the student agency level. The results show that students primarily demonstrated high agency, with minimal occurrences of low agency across the three project-based activities (QUEST, Playlist, and Genius Hour). It implies the need for instructional design, a sociocultural perspective, and for the teacher to set up a dynamic system of empowered learning in DMPL within the EFL writing classroom. For future direction, it suggests a longitudinal study of multicultural classrooms to examine the development of student agency over time and across courses and to discover potential factors that boost and sustain it.
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