Supporting Student Agency Through Intentional Design: Moving from Understanding Agency to Building It in the Online Classroom

Student Voice and Shared Ownership of Learning

Redesigning my Unit 12 lesson from a corporate group of students I was teaching led me to think more deeply about student voice. While the ISTE+ASCD course I took with the US State Department through the American Embassy in San José, Costa Rica focuses primarily on agency, my reflections naturally connected with the work of Dana Mitra, whose Student Voice Framework illustrates how students gradually move from simply expressing opinions to becoming partners in educational improvement.

Mitra (2004, 2024) describes this progression through three interconnected levels: a) being heard, b) collaboration with adults, and c) building capacity for leadership. Initially, I interpreted student voice as collecting students' opinions through surveys or end-of-course evaluations. Although these practices remain valuable, I now recognize that they represent only the beginning of a broader process. The redesigned role-play activities I now have as part of my lesson plan demonstrates this progression. Students are no longer limited to responding to a scenario selected entirely by the teacher. Instead, they participate in choosing the professional context that best matches their interests, experiences, or career aspirations. Their voices influence the learning process before the activity even begins. This seemingly small design decision changes the classroom dynamic considerably. Students are not simply completing an assignment; they are participating in shaping how they will achieve the learning objective.

Looking ahead, I can also envision extending this idea beyond the lesson itself. At the conclusion of the unit, students could evaluate which innovation challenge contributed most to their learning and propose additional scenarios for future classes. These suggestions could then become part of subsequent versions of the course. In this way, students move beyond participating in learning activities toward contributing to the continuous improvement of the curriculum itself.

For me, this is perhaps one of the most powerful ideas emerging from both the ISTE+ASCD course and Mitra's work: agency is not about giving away instructional responsibility. Rather, it is about inviting students to share responsibility in meaningful and purposeful ways.

Why Structured Agency Matters

Another important lesson from the ISTE+ASCD course is that meaningful agency requires structure. The course materials emphasize that educators often understand the importance of student ownership but struggle to translate that belief into practical lesson design. As the module explains,

"The gap between believing in student agency and actually building it into a lesson is where most educators get stuck. Choice boards, checklists, and playlists are not just organizational tools; they are design structures that make it possible to open specific avenues of agency in a controlled, intentional way." (ISTE+ASCD Learning Academy, 2026)

This statement resonated with my own experience.

Like many teachers, I have occasionally worried that increasing student choice might reduce academic rigor or make classroom management more complicated. The course helped me understand that this concern often arises because agency is mistakenly associated with unlimited freedom. Instead, structured agency provides carefully designed boundaries within which students make authentic decisions.

This perspective is consistent with Toshalis and Nakkula (2024), who argue that students benefit most when they exercise meaningful ownership within a clearly defined framework. Too much teacher control limits autonomy, while unlimited choice can overwhelm learners and reduce instructional coherence. The challenge for educators is to design experiences that balance flexibility with purposeful guidance.

Reflecting on my own lesson redesign, I realize that the Choice Board accomplishes precisely this balance. Students do not choose whether to meet the learning outcomes. They choose how they will demonstrate them. Every pathway requires the same linguistic objectives, similar cognitive demands, and identical assessment criteria. The learning goal remains constant. And the learning journey becomes personalized.

Student Agency and Adult Online Learners

Teaching college young adults and corporate working adults has also influenced the way I interpret student agency. Much of the literature on student voice originates in elementary and secondary education. Although the underlying principles certainly apply across educational contexts, adult learners bring characteristics that deserve special consideration.

My students enter the virtual classroom with extensive professional and personal experience. Many manage projects, coordinate teams, negotiate with clients, analyze data, or make important decisions as part of their daily work. Consequently, learning environments that restrict every instructional decision may unintentionally overlook the expertise students already possess. Allowing learners to exercise meaningful agency acknowledges these experiences while maintaining academic expectations.

This perspective also aligns with Self-Determination Theory developed by Deci and Ryan (2000). Their research identifies autonomy, competence, and relatedness as three essential psychological needs that support intrinsic motivation. 1) Student agency directly addresses autonomy by allowing learners to make authentic decisions. 2) Competence develops as students demonstrate learning through meaningful tasks connected to their strengths and professional experiences. 3) Relatedness is strengthened when students collaborate, negotiate ideas, and learn from one another rather than relying exclusively on teacher-directed instruction. Taken together, these principles suggest that agency contributes much more than engagement. It encourages learners to become increasingly self-directed, reflective, and responsible for their own learning.

For adult learners studying online, these qualities are particularly valuable because independent learning plays such an important role in their academic success.

Reflection as a Tool for Continuous Improvement

One unexpected outcome of this course has been recognizing the close relationship between student agency and reflective practice. Throughout my career, I have considered reflection an essential component of effective teaching. Donald Schön (1983) argues that professionals improve their practice by systematically examining their decisions and using those reflections to guide future action.

The ISTE+ASCD course encouraged me to apply this same principle to instructional design. Rather than simply evaluating whether a lesson was successful, I now find myself asking additional questions:

These questions represent a subtle but important shift in my professional thinking. Previously, I often reflected on whether students appeared engaged. Now, I also reflect on whether they experienced genuine ownership. This distinction has transformed the way I analyze my lessons. Engagement remains important, but I now recognize that meaningful engagement often grows from opportunities to participate actively in shaping one's own learning.

Implications for My Teaching and Curriculum Design

As both an online instructor and a curriculum designer, I believe the ideas presented in this course extend beyond individual lesson planning. They encourage educators to reconsider the purpose of instructional design itself. Rather than asking,

"How can I make this lesson more engaging?"

I now ask,

"Where can students meaningfully influence their own learning while still achieving the intended learning outcomes?"

Although the wording appears similar, the two questions lead to different design decisions. The first focuses primarily on increasing motivation. The second focuses on distributing ownership. This distinction has already influenced the way I think about assessment, collaborative learning, project design, and classroom interaction. More importantly, it has reinforced my belief that teachers remain essential, not because they make every decision, but because they intentionally design environments where students can make meaningful ones.

Conclusion

Completing the ISTE+ASCD course Designing Online Learning Experiences has prompted me to rethink one of the most fundamental questions in education: Who owns the learning? My reflections have shown that authentic student agency is not synonymous with differentiation, unlimited choice, or reduced instructional structure. Instead, it emerges when teachers intentionally create opportunities for students to exercise meaningful ownership while maintaining clear learning goals.

Redesigning my Unit 12 innovation lesson illustrated this principle in a practical way. By replacing a single teacher-directed role-play with a Choice Board, I preserved every linguistic objective while allowing students to select professional contexts that reflected their interests and experiences. A relatively small design change transformed students from participants following identical instructions into learners making authentic educational decisions. This experience has also reminded me that agency is not a destination but a continuous design process. Every lesson offers opportunities to ask where ownership can be expanded, how student voice can be strengthened, and which instructional structures best support meaningful learning.

Ultimately, I now see my role not simply as someone who delivers carefully designed lessons, but as someone who intentionally designs opportunities for students to become increasingly reflective, autonomous, and responsible learners. In my context of teaching college young adults and corporate working adults online, that may be one of the most meaningful contributions I can make, not only to their language development but also to their lifelong capacity to learn.

San José, Costa Rica

Sunday, September 20, 2026

Blog Post #587 

📚 References

Acuña Solano, J. (2026). Reflective journal: Supporting student agency through intentional design [Unpublished course reflection]. ISTE+ASCD Learning Academy, Designing Online Learning Experiences – U.S. Department of State course.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01

ISTE+ASCD Learning Academy. (2026). Designing Online Learning Experiences – U.S. Department of State [Professional learning course].

Mitra, D. L. (2004). The significance of students: Can increasing "student voice" in schools lead to gains in youth development? Teachers College Record, 106(4), 651–688. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9620.2004.00354.x

Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books.

Toshalis, E., & Nakkula, M. J. (2024). Student agency and structured ownership in digital learning. In ISTE+ASCD Learning Academy, Designing Online Learning Experiences course materials.

Introduction

Few works of Spanish Golden Age (Siglo de Oro Español) theater have captured readers' imagination as effectively as El galán fantasma. At first glance, the play appears to offer all the ingredients expected of a seventeenth-century comedia de capa y espada: hidden identities, secret passages, romantic intrigue, jealousy, and a mysterious figure who seems capable of appearing and disappearing at will. For centuries, literary criticism has understandably focused on these elements, interpreting them through the conventions of the Baroque, the culture of honor, or the theatrical fascination with illusion and deception. Yet what if the true source of mystery in Calderón de la Barca's play is not the existence of a ghost (el fantasma), but rather the unequal distribution of information among its characters?

This essay, my 586^th post on my blog, proposes that El galán fantasma can be fruitfully reread through the lens of information ecology, an interdisciplinary field that examines how information is created, shared, concealed, and interpreted within complex systems. Although thinkers such as Luciano Floridi, Manuel Castells, and Bruno Latour wrote more than three centuries after Calderón de la Barca, their ideas provide an illuminating vocabulary for describing dynamics that have always existed in human societies. Information has never been merely a collection of facts; it is a resource that shapes decisions, relationships, and power. In this sense, Calderón de la Barca's play portrays a remarkably sophisticated network in which every action depends less on physical movement than on the circulation, or interruption, of knowledge.

This perspective does not seek to modernize Calderón de la Barca artificially or suggest that he anticipated contemporary theories of communication. Instead, this essay argues that literature often reveals enduring patterns of human behavior long before later disciplines develop terminology to describe them. The hidden corridors, clandestine meetings, and carefully orchestrated misunderstandings that sustain El galán fantasma function as mechanisms for controlling information. The so-called ghost becomes convincing because different characters possess different versions and interpretations of reality, while the audience gradually pieces together connections unavailable to those within the dramatic world.

Seen from this angle, the play is not simply a comedy about mistaken appearances; Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s drama is an exploration of how societies operate when knowledge is fragmented, strategically concealed, and unevenly distributed. Playwright Calderón de la Barca invites us spectators to experience uncertainty not because reality is supernatural, but because information itself becomes unstable and subjectively interpreted by the characters in the story.

Information Ecology: A Contemporary Lens for a Baroque Play

The concept of information ecology emerged from the recognition that information never exists in isolation. Rather than understanding it as a static collection of data, contemporary scholars describe information as part of a dynamic environment in which people, institutions, technologies, and cultural practices continuously interact. Although the terminology belongs to the twenty-first century, the underlying phenomenon is as old as civilization itself. Every society develops mechanisms for deciding who knows what, when they know it, and under what circumstances knowledge may be revealed or withheld.

Among the scholars who have contributed significantly to this field, Luciano Floridi (2011) argues that information should be understood as one of the defining elements of contemporary existence. Human beings do not merely inhabit physical environments; they also inhabit what he calls the infosphere, a space composed of informational relationships that influence perception, ethical choices, and social interaction. While Floridi's framework was designed for an age shaped by digital communication, its broader insight, that reality is mediated through access to information, extends far beyond computers and networks.

A similar emphasis on relational structures appears in Manuel Castells' (2010) description of the network society. Although Castells focuses primarily on modern communication technologies, his work highlights an enduring principle: power increasingly belongs to those who control the circulation of information. Networks are not simply collections of individuals; they are systems through which information flows unevenly, creating positions of advantage and vulnerability. Knowledge, therefore, is never distributed equally, and the imbalance itself becomes a source of social power.

Bruno Latour (2005) offers another useful perspective by questioning the traditional separation between human actors and the material world. According to Actor-Network Theory, social realities emerge through networks composed not only of people but also of objects, spaces, and material conditions. Doors, corridors, letters, windows, and buildings do not merely provide passive settings; they participate in shaping human interactions by enabling or restricting particular forms of communication. Such an approach proves especially valuable when examining Calderón de la Barca's theater, where architecture consistently influences the possibilities of concealment and revelation.

At first, applying these contemporary ideas to a seventeenth-century drama may seem unconventional. After all, Calderón de la Barca neither spoke of networks nor imagined an information society. However, literary criticism has long recognized that theoretical frameworks often illuminate aspects of texts that their authors could not have conceptualized in modern terms. Feminist criticism has enriched the study of classical literature without requiring ancient authors to have identified as feminists. Likewise, ecocriticism has revealed environmental dimensions in medieval and Renaissance works without suggesting that their writers anticipated contemporary climate debates. The value of theory lies not in claiming historical influence but in expanding the range of questions we can ask.

From this perspective, El galán fantasma becomes particularly intriguing because its dramatic tension depends almost entirely on the management of information. The audience quickly discovers that events unfold not because supernatural forces intervene, but because knowledge is carefully compartmentalized. Certain characters know the existence of secret passages; others remain unaware. Some interpret mysterious appearances as evidence of ghosts, while others recognize them as carefully orchestrated encounters. Every misunderstanding originates in unequal access to information rather than in irrationality.

This observation subtly transforms the play's central mystery. The audience is encouraged to ask not, "Is there truly a ghost?" but rather, "Who possesses the information necessary to explain the ghost?" The answer changes from scene to scene, producing a shifting landscape of certainty and uncertainty. Characters act according to the information available to them, even when that information is incomplete or misleading. Their decisions appear irrational only from the privileged perspective of spectators, who occupy a broader informational position.

In this respect, Calderón de la Barca demonstrates an extraordinary awareness of a timeless social reality: information is never neutral. It can protect, deceive, empower, isolate, or manipulate. More importantly, its value often depends less on its content than on who has access to it. Long before the vocabulary of information science existed, El galán fantasma dramatized the consequences of living within unequal informational environments. The mysterious apparition at the center of the play may therefore be understood less as a supernatural phenomenon than as the visible effect of invisible informational structures, a theatrical reminder that reality itself often depends on what people know, what they ignore, and what others deliberately choose to conceal.

The Ghost as an Information System

If El galán fantasma is approached solely as a comedy of mistaken identities, the apparent ghost remains little more than a clever dramatic device. Yet from the perspective of information ecology, the mysterious figure acquires a more complex function. Astolfo, the play’s main character, does not become "ghostly" because he possesses supernatural qualities; rather, he appears supernatural because he occupies a privileged position within the play's informational network. He knows routes, spaces, and circumstances unavailable to others. His advantage lies not in extraordinary powers but in superior access to knowledge.

This distinction changes the way the play can be interpreted. Throughout the drama, Calderón de la Barca repeatedly demonstrates that perception depends upon available information rather than objective reality. Characters construct explanations using only the fragments they possess, and those explanations often seem entirely reasonable from their limited perspective. When unexpected appearances occur, the conclusion that a ghost is involved becomes less an expression of irrational superstition than an attempt to organize incomplete evidence into a coherent narrative.

This mechanism closely resembles what communication scholars describe as information asymmetry, a condition in which different participants possess unequal knowledge about the same situation. Modern economists often use the concept to explain financial markets, while communication theorists employ it to analyze institutions and organizations. Calderón de la Barca, however, illustrates the phenomenon dramatically through theatrical action. Every major misunderstanding in El galán fantasma emerges because one character knows something another does not.

The audience occupies an especially interesting position within this structure. Unlike many of the characters, spectators gradually acquire enough information to recognize that the ghost is an illusion sustained by secrecy and architecture. Nevertheless, Calderón de la Barca carefully controls the pace of revelation. The audience is never granted complete knowledge immediately; instead, information arrives progressively, inviting spectators to revise their own interpretations as each scene unfolds.

In this respect, the audience participates in the same informational process as the characters. The difference is merely one of degree. Calderón de la Barca transforms spectators into investigators, asking them to reconstruct invisible connections between events rather than passively receiving a complete explanation. The pleasure of the play therefore derives not simply from romantic resolution but from solving an informational puzzle.

One of the most remarkable aspects of this strategy is the absence of malicious deception for its own sake. Concealment frequently serves practical purposes: protecting lovers, avoiding violence, preserving honor, or navigating dangerous social expectations. Information is not hidden merely to confuse others but because disclosure carries consequences. In this sense, secrecy functions less as a moral failure than as a social necessity within the world Calderón de la Barca portrays.

The famous hidden passages illustrate this principle particularly well. Traditionally, critics have discussed these architectural features as examples of Baroque fascination with illusion or theatrical spectacle. While these interpretations remain convincing, they may also be understood as components of an informational infrastructure. Corridors do more than connect rooms; they regulate visibility. Doors do more than separate spaces; they determine who may acquire particular knowledge. Architecture itself becomes an active participant in communication.

Latour's (2005) Actor-Network Theory provides an illuminating vocabulary for describing this phenomenon. Rather than treating buildings as passive scenery, Latour argues that material objects participate in shaping social relationships. Although Calderón de la Barca obviously did not conceive his theater in these theoretical terms, his dramatic construction repeatedly assigns agency to physical space. Walls conceal conversations, corridors enable unexpected encounters, and private chambers restrict access to crucial information. Without these architectural actors, the informational network sustaining the ghost would immediately collapse. The ghost, therefore, is not simply Astolfo. The ghost is the product of a system composed of architecture, secrecy, timing, movement, and interpretation. Every element contributes to maintaining uncertainty.

Information, Power, and the Fragility of Social Order

Viewing the play through information ecology also sheds new light on the relationship between knowledge and power. Discussions of Calderón de la Barca frequently emphasize honor as the central organizing principle of social life, and rightly so. Reputation determines marriages, friendships, political alliances, and personal identity throughout the Spanish Golden Age. Yet honor itself depends upon information. A reputation exists only because certain stories circulate while others remain hidden. This observation reveals that information is not simply a supporting element within the honor code; it is one of its fundamental conditions. Individuals struggle not only to protect their virtue but also to manage how others perceive that virtue. Consequently, controlling information becomes inseparable from preserving social standing.

Castells (2010) argues that power operates through the capacity to organize communication networks rather than through physical force alone. Although his work addresses contemporary societies, this insight resonates unexpectedly with Calderón de la Barca's dramatic universe. Few conflicts in El galán fantasma are resolved by violence. Instead, characters negotiate uncertainty, reinterpret appearances, and gradually reconstruct more accurate understandings of reality. Whoever controls the flow of information temporarily controls the direction of events. At the same time, Calderón de la Barca avoids presenting information as an instrument of absolute domination. Knowledge remains unstable because it constantly circulates. Secrets eventually emerge, misunderstandings are corrected, and concealed relationships become visible. Information resists permanent ownership. The very strategies designed to preserve secrecy ultimately generate new complications that require further acts of concealment, creating an ongoing cycle that propels the dramatic action.

From this perspective, the play reflects a surprisingly modern understanding of communication. Information cannot simply be possessed; it must continually be interpreted, negotiated, and verified. Every revelation alters the informational environment, forcing characters to revise previous assumptions. The social world depicted by Calderón de la Barca is therefore remarkably dynamic. Reality itself appears provisional because each new piece of information changes how earlier events are understood.

This reading also invites a reconsideration of the title El galán fantasma. The adjective fantasma traditionally directs attention toward Astolfo's mysterious appearances, but perhaps the true ghost haunting the play is information itself. Invisible yet powerful, information determines behavior, shapes emotional responses, and governs social relationships without ever becoming a visible character. Like a ghost, it moves silently through the dramatic world, leaving tangible consequences wherever it passes.

Conclusion

Approaching El galán fantasma through the framework of information ecology does not replace traditional interpretations centered on Baroque aesthetics, theatrical illusion, or the culture of honor. On the contrary, it complements them by revealing the informational mechanisms that make those themes dramatically effective. Calderón de la Barca's achievement lies not only in creating an entertaining sequence of disguises and misunderstandings but also in constructing a sophisticated system in which knowledge itself becomes the principal dramatic force.

The apparent supernatural events that have fascinated audiences for centuries emerge, upon closer examination, from unequal access to information rather than from the intervention of extraordinary powers. Astolfo succeeds because he occupies a privileged position within an intricate network of spaces, secrets, and perceptions. The audience, meanwhile, experiences the same uncertainty as the characters, gradually assembling scattered pieces of evidence until the invisible structure supporting the mystery becomes visible.

What makes this interpretation particularly rewarding is that it demonstrates the continuing vitality of classical literature. Calderón de la Barca could not have anticipated the vocabulary of information philosophy, yet his dramatic imagination captures patterns of communication that remain strikingly recognizable today. Information continues to shape institutions, relationships, and public life just as decisively as it shaped the intrigues of seventeenth-century Madrid. By examining El galán fantasma through this lens, we discover not a playwright who predicted the digital age, but one who understood a timeless truth about human societies: whoever controls information profoundly influences the realities that others are able to perceive. 

San José, Costa Rica

Friday, September 11, 2026

Blog Post #586

📚 References

Calderón de la Barca, P. (2014). El galán fantasma. Ediciones Cátedra. (Original work published 1629–1637)

Castells, M. (2010). The rise of the network society (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.

Floridi, L. (2011). The philosophy of information. Oxford University Press.

Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network-theory. Oxford University Press.

 Análise de Ecologia da Informação em El Galán Fantasma

Click to enlarge the infographic 2