Agency online: trends in a university learningcourse

International audienceThis article aims to investigate how university students perform agency inan online course and whether the collaborative nature of the course affectssuch expression. A total of 11 online web forums involving 18 students(N = 745 posts in total) were qualitatively analysed through the use of acodebook composed of five categories (individual, interpersonal, epistemic,transformative and collective) and several sub-categories purposelydeveloped for the sake of this research. The results show that each categoryfollows a specific path, although two events – the re-mixing of the groups andthe assumption of the peer-tutor role – particularly affected the evolution oftrends. Although this study needs further development, the authors believethat an in-depth understanding of the nature of agency, including how toanalyse it as well as empower it when implementing blended educationalactivities, engages relevant theoretical and pedagogical issues