How Can Online Students Self-Regulate Their Learning?

In a recent article on the ability for online learners to self-regulate their learning, it was found this skill did not develop over a school term. The authors (Lucy Barnard-Brak, Valerie Osland Paton, and William Y. Lan) define the phases of self-regulation as follows:

“The first phase, the forethought phase, refers to motivational and strategic processes that precede and set the stage for performance – including, but not limited to: goalsetting; attribution; self-efficacy of the undertaking tasks; and the intrinsic motivation to perform the task. The second phase, the performance control or volitional phase, consists of those processes during learning such as attention, affect, and monitoring action. In the third and final phase, the self-reflection phase, individuals respond to their efforts by monitoring the outcomes of their performance.”