Thematic Working Group 4 - Fostering self-regulatory skills in learners in digital learning environments

Abstract

A notable trend in learning and teaching that has been accentuated by the COVID pandemic is a move towards online, blended or hybrid learning scenarios. This particularly affects higher education but also extends to K-12 education, though the manifestations vary. Learning in diverse technology-supported learning environments poses certain challenges to students. For example, there are higher demands on students' abilities to plan, manage and reflect their learning in such environments - abilities that are part of students' competence to self-regulate their own learning (Azevedo, 2009). The importance of students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) has long been recognized in research and practice. Theories of SRL, i.e., the ways learners monitor, reflect on and regulate their motivation, cognition, metacognition & emotions in order to learn, have been developed and refined over a number of years since they emerged from educational psychology approximately 20 years ago (Panadero, 2017). Research has shown positive correlations between the use of SRL-strategies, learning processes and academic outcomes in face-to-face learning settings (Broadbent & Poon, 2015). Evidence for the importance of SRL-skills specifically in online and blended learning scenarios has also been accumulating (ibid.). Compared to face-to-face settings, SRL might be even more important because students are more often having to work without teacher support and thus need to be able to learn autonomously (Xu et al., 2023). However, the relationship between SRL-skills, technology-supported learning environments and learning outcomes is complex and multi-directional. In recent years, research into SRL and how it may be supported by technologies has proliferated. At the same time, there is a need for orientation in the field. The aim of Thematic Working Group 4 (TWG4) was therefore to review what research has to say about the challenges of SRL in technology-supported learning environments and how these findings can be applied to the design of learning environments that effectively support SRL. This eBook report presents results of an international discussion of the members of TWG4 over several months in 2022 and 2023. The review of evidence from research publications enabled us to identify a number of challenges related to fostering SRL in technology-supported learning environments and to propose recommendations for researchers, practitioners and policy makers.