Supporting Self-Regulated Learners for a While and What Computers Can Contribute

Abstract

This article's main claim is that to support individuals' development toward becoming self-regulated learners requires certain amounts of other-regulation, i.e. scaffolding. Starting from this assertion, we discuss 6 issues that surfaced in the 5 articles of this special issue. First, we argue that designers need good reasons for taking freedom away from the learners. Beyond practical reasons, we suggest that the reduction of freedom should more often be warranted in theoretical considerations. Second, as the articles in this special issue show, other-regulation can come from a variety of external sources like software tools, peers, or teachers. However, one critical issue for the design of other-regulation seems to be its degree of coercion. Third, by reviewing the empirical results of the single articles, it can be inferred that learners with different prerequisites do not benefit equally from the scaffolds reported in this special issue. In the fourth section of this discussion, we therefore argue that inter- and intra-individual differences are key challenges for the design of instruction for self-regulated learning and, fifth, that digital media have a strong potential to provide adaptive instructional support for learners with different prerequisites. They might be used to dynamically assess the learners' internalization of self-regulated learning strategies and fade single scaffolds in and out of the learning environment as appropriate. Finally, we argue that, especially in institutionalized learning settings, designers of instruction need to consider how best to orchestrate different sources of other-regulation in order to successfully facilitate the development of self-regulated learners.