The past ten years have witnessed a tremendous increase in the number of online courses, and the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly accelerated online education. Many students and instructors were unprepared for online learning. In particular, online learners are expected to employ self-directed learning (SDL) skills to succeed. This qualitative study…

Purpose: We describe a series of more than a dozen studies on self-directed online learning spanning over a decade. Design/Approach/Methods: We incorporated surveys, interviews, focus groups, and content analyses into these research studies, which initially targeted the goals, motivations, and challenges of learners using open educational…