{"id":12906,"date":"2026-08-12T19:51:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T23:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/online.suny.edu\/dev-ot\/?page_id=12906"},"modified":"2026-08-12T20:01:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T00:01:17","slug":"successful-online-learners","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/online.suny.edu\/dev-ot\/supporting-online-learner-success\/successful-online-learners\/","title":{"rendered":"What Successful Online Learners Do"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"white-space: normal;\">\n<p>Successful online learners do more than complete course requirements. They actively manage how they learn: they plan their time, organize information, shape their learning environment, seek help, monitor their progress, reflect on feedback, and adjust their strategies when something is not working.<\/p>\n<p>These behaviors are associated with <strong>self-regulated learning<\/strong>. They are not simply traits that learners either have or do not have. Faculty can make these strategies visible, model them, build opportunities to practice them into a course, and connect learners with the supports that help them use the strategies effectively.<\/p>\n<aside style=\"margin: 28px 0 34px 0; border-left: 6px solid #1e87f0; background: #f5f7f9; padding: 24px 28px; border-radius: 4px; box-shadow: 0 4px 14px rgba(0,0,0,0.08);\">\n<h2 style=\"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 10px;\">Why This Matters for Faculty<\/h2>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0;\">Understanding what self-regulated learners do can help instructors recognize where learners may need more explicit guidance. Rather than assuming that learners already know how to manage learning online, faculty can scaffold these behaviors through course organization, prompts, modeling, feedback, opportunities for reflection, and timely connections to support.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<h2>Goal Setting &amp; Planning<\/h2>\n<p>Self-regulated learners make deliberate plans for when, where, and how they will complete course work. In online courses, where learners often have greater control over the timing and location of their work, these planning behaviors become especially visible.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Successful online learners often:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Establish a regular routine for checking the course and completing course work.<\/li>\n<li>Review each module early to identify what is due, when it is due, and how much time it may require.<\/li>\n<li>Use calendars, planners, reminders, or LMS tools to manage deadlines and competing responsibilities.<\/li>\n<li>Break larger projects into smaller, manageable tasks and set intermediate goals.<\/li>\n<li>Plan asynchronous contributions before posting and allow time to read and respond to classmates.<\/li>\n<li>Coordinate online and offline work rather than treating course participation as a series of isolated logins.<\/li>\n<li>Build in extra time for technology problems, unexpected responsibilities, or assignments that take longer than anticipated.<\/li>\n<li>Adjust their plans when circumstances or course demands change.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Organizing &amp; Transforming Learning Materials<\/h2>\n<p>Self-regulated learners actively work with course content rather than simply reviewing it. They organize, transform, summarize, annotate, retrieve, and represent information in ways that help them understand and remember it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Successful online learners often:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Develop a consistent system for organizing course files, readings, notes, assignments, and other materials.<\/li>\n<li>Take notes, outline key ideas, summarize information in their own words, and make connections among concepts.<\/li>\n<li>Annotate readings or other course materials using print or digital tools that work for them.<\/li>\n<li>Use graphic organizers, concept maps, flashcards, self-tests, retrieval practice, or other strategies to strengthen understanding and recall.<\/li>\n<li>Draft substantial work in an environment that supports saving, revising, and proofreading before submission.<\/li>\n<li>Keep copies of important course work and use institutionally supported storage or backup tools where available.<\/li>\n<li>Use course organization and LMS features to locate, sort, and revisit information efficiently.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Structuring the Learning Environment<\/h2>\n<p>Self-regulation also involves shaping the physical, digital, and psychological conditions in which learning takes place. Online learners often need to create those conditions for themselves.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Successful online learners often:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Create regular times and, when possible, regular places for focused course work.<\/li>\n<li>Reduce avoidable distractions and set boundaries around interruptions.<\/li>\n<li>Plan for the technology, connectivity, software, and materials they will need before beginning a task.<\/li>\n<li>Identify alternate places or ways to work when their usual environment is not available or effective.<\/li>\n<li>Use accessibility and assistive technology settings that support their individual learning needs.<\/li>\n<li>Recognize when their learning environment is interfering with concentration or progress and make adjustments where possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Help-Seeking<\/h2>\n<p>Effective help-seeking is a self-regulated learning strategy, not a sign that a learner is incapable of working independently. Successful learners recognize when they need clarification, feedback, technical assistance, academic support, or connection with others and take action.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Successful online learners often:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ask for clarification when assignment expectations, course concepts, instructions, or feedback are unclear.<\/li>\n<li>Seek help early rather than waiting until a problem becomes difficult to resolve.<\/li>\n<li>Use the instructor&#8217;s preferred communication methods and available office hours or appointments.<\/li>\n<li>Connect appropriately with classmates for peer support, discussion, study, and collaboration.<\/li>\n<li>Use tutoring, writing, library, advising, accessibility, and other campus services when useful.<\/li>\n<li>Know where to obtain technical support and use it promptly when a technology problem interferes with learning.<\/li>\n<li>Use examples, models, rubrics, and peer work appropriately to clarify expectations for quality.<\/li>\n<li>Recognize that asking questions and using available support are normal parts of learning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Self-Monitoring &amp; Record-Keeping<\/h2>\n<p>Self-regulated learners pay attention to their progress while learning is still underway. They use available information to determine what has been completed, what they understand, where they may be struggling, and what needs attention next.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Successful online learners often:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Check the LMS gradebook and other course-progress information regularly.<\/li>\n<li>Track assignments, deadlines, milestones, and completed work.<\/li>\n<li>Verify that important submissions have been received successfully.<\/li>\n<li>Review rubrics, criteria, examples, and instructions while completing work rather than only after it is graded.<\/li>\n<li>Read instructor and peer feedback carefully and look for patterns across assignments.<\/li>\n<li>Keep copies or backups of important submissions and course work.<\/li>\n<li>Monitor their own understanding and identify concepts or skills that require additional review or help.<\/li>\n<li>Notice when a current strategy is not producing the results they expected and consider an alternative.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Self-Reflection<\/h2>\n<p>Self-reflection occurs when learners look back on their performance, interpret what happened, and decide what they should continue or change. Reflection turns feedback and experience into information learners can use in the next cycle of learning.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Successful online learners often:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use rubrics, checklists, assignment criteria, and examples to evaluate their own work.<\/li>\n<li>Compare their performance with expectations and identify areas for improvement.<\/li>\n<li>Reflect on instructor and peer feedback rather than focusing only on a grade.<\/li>\n<li>Ask what helped or hindered their understanding and performance.<\/li>\n<li>Consider whether the strategies they used were effective for the particular task.<\/li>\n<li>Identify what they would do differently the next time they encounter a similar learning challenge.<\/li>\n<li>Make connections between what they learned, what they already knew, and where they might apply the learning next.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Self-Efficacy<\/h2>\n<p>Self-efficacy refers to learners&#8217; beliefs about their capacity to successfully perform particular tasks. In online learning, confidence may involve not only academic work but also communication, technology, writing, help-seeking, and participation in an unfamiliar learning environment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Self-regulated online learners tend to:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Build confidence through successful experiences with course tasks and technologies.<\/li>\n<li>Use constructive feedback to improve rather than interpreting difficulty as evidence that they cannot succeed.<\/li>\n<li>Seek models, guidance, practice, or help when they are unsure how to perform a task.<\/li>\n<li>Develop greater independence as their skills and familiarity with the course environment grow.<\/li>\n<li>Tolerate mistakes, technical difficulties, revision, and temporary setbacks as part of learning.<\/li>\n<li>Recognize that effective strategies, practice, feedback, help-seeking, persistence, and adjustment can contribute to improvement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Goal Orientation, Interests &amp; Attributions<\/h2>\n<p>How learners interpret the purpose of their work and the reasons for their success or difficulty can influence the strategies they use. Self-regulated learning includes attention to goals, perceived relevance, interest, and the explanations learners give themselves for their outcomes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Successful online learners often:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Focus on developing understanding and competence, not only on grades or comparison with others.<\/li>\n<li>Connect course topics, projects, and activities to their interests, experiences, goals, disciplines, careers, or communities.<\/li>\n<li>Choose meaningful topics, examples, or approaches when the course provides appropriate options.<\/li>\n<li>Use course interaction and assignments to make their thinking visible and invite feedback.<\/li>\n<li>Interpret difficulty as information that may call for a different strategy, more practice, clarification, or additional support.<\/li>\n<li>Recognize the relationship among their strategies, decisions, use of resources, effort, and learning outcomes rather than attributing success or difficulty only to fixed ability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr style=\"margin: 38px 0 24px 0; border: 0; border-top: 1px solid #d8d8d8;\" \/>\n<h2 style=\"margin-top: 0;\">From Learner Behaviors to Course Design<\/h2>\n<p>Faculty do not need to turn every self-regulated learning strategy into a separate assignment. Small design and teaching choices can make these behaviors more visible and easier to practice: predictable modules, clear schedules, reminders, models, rubrics, progress information, opportunities for reflection, timely feedback, and explicit connections to campus support all provide scaffolding for self-regulated learning.<\/p>\n<p>For faculty strategies, return to <a href=\"https:\/\/online.suny.edu\/dev-ot\/supporting-online-learner-success\/\">Supporting Online Learner Success<\/a>. For the theoretical framework and the original online-learning adaptation of self-regulated learning strategies, see <a href=\"https:\/\/online.suny.edu\/dev-ot\/understandingsrl\">Understanding Self-Regulated Learning Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"margin-top: 36px; font-size: 1.05rem; line-height: 1.3; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: .04em; text-transform: uppercase;\">References<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\">Whipp, J. L., &amp; Chiarelli, S. (2004). Self-regulation in a web-based course: A case study. <em>Educational Technology Research and Development, 52<\/em>(4), 5\u201321. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/BF02504714\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/BF02504714<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\">Zimmerman, B. J. (2000). Attaining self-regulation: A social cognitive perspective. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, &amp; M. Zeidner (Eds.), <em>Handbook of self-regulation<\/em> (pp. 13\u201339). Academic Press. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/B978-012109890-2\/50031-7\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/B978-012109890-2\/50031-7<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\">Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a self-regulated learner: An overview. <em>Theory Into Practice, 41<\/em>(2), 64\u201370. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1207\/s15430421tip4102_2\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1207\/s15430421tip4102_2<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\">Dong, X., Yuan, H., Xue, H., Li, Y., Jia, L., Chen, J., Shi, Y., &amp; Zhang, X. (2024). Factors influencing college students&#8217; self-regulated learning in online learning environment: A systematic review. <em>Nurse Education Today, 133<\/em>, 106071. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.nedt.2023.106071\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.nedt.2023.106071<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/online.suny.edu\/dev-ot\/supporting-online-learner-success\/\">\u2190 Return to Supporting Online Learner Success<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Successful online learners do more than complete course requirements. They actively manage how they learn: they plan their time, organize information, shape their learning environment, seek help, monitor their progress, reflect on feedback, and adjust their strategies when something is not working. These behaviors are associated with self-regulated learning. They are not simply traits that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8158,"featured_media":0,"parent":12880,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"class_list":["post-12906","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/online.suny.edu\/dev-ot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/online.suny.edu\/dev-ot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/online.suny.edu\/dev-ot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/online.suny.edu\/dev-ot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8158"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/online.suny.edu\/dev-ot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12906"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/online.suny.edu\/dev-ot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12915,"href":"https:\/\/online.suny.edu\/dev-ot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12906\/revisions\/12915"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/online.suny.edu\/dev-ot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/online.suny.edu\/dev-ot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}