Distance education institutions worldwide are adopting online learning to take advantage of its benefits. However, online learning is often seen as a mode of delivery that will work for any distance education institution in any context. The increased relevance of online learning during and after the COVID-19 pandemic has further exaggerated the adoption of online learning, which requires ongoing research on the actual use of online learning, and this study responds to this need. Therefore, this study aimed to determine how online learning is used in an open distance learning (ODL) context. A case study on the implementation of online learning was conducted at an ODL university in South Africa. Data were collected through open-ended questionnaires, interviews, and non-participant online observation. Participants were purposefully selected academics from various colleges in the university. Findings reveal that awareness of educational choices in the online environment appeared to be neglected. Based on the findings, the study presents a framework for online learning in ODL. It is built on the concept of awareness, and we argue that the integration of online learning should be carefully curated and planned with intentional institutional, lecturer, and student awareness. The principles of the theories of transactional distance, the community of inquiry, social constructivism and heutagogy should guide the operationalisation of each type of awareness presented in the framework.