Due to the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many lecturers in higher education institutions suddenly had to switch from on campus to online teaching. An online learning environment demands more from students’ self-regulation skills. Self-regulation skills allow students to achieve their goals and continue to develop cognitively and personally. In order to achieve effective learning in an online environment, we argue that increasing students\u27 self-regulatory skills must be a central tenet in designing online education. Based on students’ and lecturers’ experience, we identify three issues regarding self-regulated learning in an online environment: 1) disrupted curriculum structure and study rhythm, 2) less feedback, and 3) fewer opportunities to reflect together. Subsequently, we make recommendations to provide a solid online environment in which self-regulation can occur. Each recommendation empowers students to enhance their self-regulation skills by going through the self-regulated learning cycle. The different recommendations reinforce each other in achieving effective learning in an online environment
