Reclaiming Digital Agency in Higher Education: A Case Study in Ethical Infrastructure
The digital landscape of higher education is at a crossroads. Universities continue to deepen their reliance on commercial platforms—Microsoft Teams, Turnitin, Google Workspace—while rarely engaging critically with the power dynamics such dependencies entail. For years, I’ve advocated for a pedagogical approach grounded in critical digital education, where students and staff retain control over their content, identities, and communities. The recent surge of interest in federated, decentralised platforms has reignited my hope that a different future is possible.
This post introduces a fictional-yet-feasible case study, The Federated University, an imaginary research focused UK university, could take meaningful steps toward a more ethical, open, and values-led digital infrastructure. But first, I want to briefly set out the thinking that brought me here.
Digital Platforms, Power, and Pedagogy
My views are shaped by a longstanding concern that higher education has, in many cases, outsourced its digital infrastructure to corporations whose primary interests are neither education nor equity. As Selwyn (2016) observes, “the increasing presence of commercial platforms in education raises fundamental questions about autonomy, ownership, and the public role of the university.” In recent years, I’ve seen this concern deepen—particularly as universities scrambled to deliver emergency remote teaching through tools never designed for critical pedagogy.
At the same time, scholars such as Watters (2021) and Knox (2020) have urged us to think beyond the tools we use. They argue for a reconceptualisation of educational technology, one that resists technosolutionism and centres human relationships, context, and justice.
The Fediverse — a constellation of interoperable, open-source platforms — is one space where such reconceptualisation is already taking place. Unlike commercial platforms, Fediverse tools like Mastodon, PeerTube, and WriteFreely are not designed to extract value from user data. Instead, they are shaped by a philosophy of federation, allowing multiple communities to interconnect without a central authority.
This leads to a compelling question: What would it look like for a university to take these tools seriously—not as novelty, but as infrastructure?
Case Study: The Federated University
This fictional-yet-feasible case study imagines how the The Federated University, an imaginary research focused UK university, could implement a suite of Fediverse platforms to support ethical, authentic, and decentralised teaching and learning across the institution.
The Vision
The Federated University has launched a university-hosted Fediverse network as part of its strategic commitment to digital equity, critical digital pedagogy, and ethical innovation in higher education. This network includes:
- Mastodon: for academic discourse and announcements
- WriteFreely: for reflective writing and open scholarship
- Pixelfed: for hosting photography and graphic design assignments and research outputs
- PeerTube: for hosting video assignments and research outputs
- Bookwyrm: for collaborative reading and annotation
- Lemmy: for course-based debate, student Q&A, and informal peer learning
Teaching and Learning in Action
In a First-Year Philosophy Course:
- Students follow a course-specific Mastodon channel to receive prompts, readings, and participate in asynchronous seminar debates using hashtags (e.g.
#Phil1001TruthDebate). - Weekly, each student posts a WriteFreely reflection on a reading — visible to the class, optional for the wider Fediverse.
- One student uploads a PeerTube video essay comparing Foucault’s idea of power to algorithmic recommendation systems. The video is watched and critiqued by peers and external academics.
- A discussion continues in Lemmy, where students debate whether decentralised networks embody more democratic ideals than traditional state institutions.
In a Final-Year Creative Arts Course:
- Students create visual journals via Pixelfed, sharing photography and graphic design responses to themes like identity and surveillance.
- Their final projects are exhibited on PeerTube, with reflective artist statements blogged on WriteFreely and federated to a network of partner universities.
Stakeholder Benefits
Students
- Gain digital agency through hands-on experience with federated platforms.
- Build public-facing scholarly identities without surveillance or monetisation.
- Retain ownership of their digital portfolios post-graduation.
Lecturers and Tutors
- Facilitate more authentic, discursive learning.
- Model scholarly practice and digital ethics.
- Collaborate across institutions via federation.
Researchers
- Publish open reflections and research diaries to WriteFreely.
- Disseminate video content through PeerTube.
- Build transdisciplinary communities of practice.
Alumni
- Remain active participants in federated academic discourse.
- Mentor current students through themed Mastodon channels.
- Engage in lifelong learning via Bookwyrm reading clubs.
Broader Impacts
Philosophical
- Enacts critical pedagogy by positioning learners as public participants in knowledge creation.
- Encourages democratic epistemologies and decentralised authority.
Political
- Challenges commercial monopolisation of digital infrastructure.
- Models ethical public service infrastructure within higher education.
Educational
- Supports constructivist and authentic assessment models.
- Builds real-world digital literacies.
Conclusion
This vision is not a Utopian fantasy. It is a critical intervention that aligns with principles already present in university mission statements: autonomy, public good, ethical leadership. By hosting federated platforms, the university would not only promote digital literacy but also foster what Friesen (2020) calls “platform education”—where the conditions of knowledge production are themselves part of the curriculum.
The answers we give—technically, pedagogically, and politically—will shape not just our tools, but our futures.
References
Friesen, N. (2020). The technological imaginary in education: Critical perspectives on new pedagogical platforms and practices. Springer.
Knox, J. (2020). Artificial intelligence and education in China. Learning, Media and Technology, 45(3), 298–311.
Selwyn, N. (2016). Is technology good for education?. Polity Press.
Watters, A. (2021). Teaching Machines: The History of Personalized Learning. MIT Press.