“Self-directed learning is an approach to learning in which students take the initiative to determine their learning needs, formulate their own learning goals, identify resources for learning, adopt suitable learning strategies, and evaluate their own learning outcomes.
Learner autonomy can be defined as the characteristic of the person who independently exhibits agency (i.e., initiative) in learning activities where independence is the characteristic of the person who controls his or her own actions.
The main benefits of self-directed and autonomous learning are typically seen as fostering lifelong learning by allowing students greater abilities to control their own leaning process, create their learning agendas, develop their learning strategies, and establish a learning pace. Educators must support the building of necessary cognitive processes within learners that further the development of their self-directedness and autonomy. These processes include helping students value learning as a means to desired outcomes, understand that the accomplishment of suitably chosen learning goals can lead to desired outcomes, and assume responsibility for one’s own learning.” The Constructivist Approach and Online Learning