Instructional design, from a constructivist perspective, involves five principles. The first is to emphasis positive feelings toward learning, the learning situation and the learning environment. The second is to provide a context for learning that encourages personal autonomy and relevance. The third is to incorporate reasons for learning into the learning experience itself. The fourth is to support self-regulation of learning by encouraging learners to accept increased responsibilities for the learning process. The fifth is to strengthen learners' tendency to participate in active learning processes through encouraging exploration of errors.
The constructivist principle of emphasizing the positive affect on student attitudes toward learning is a major principle of distant learning. Positive connections to all aspects of the learning experience from choices, self-regulation and problem exploration supports new learning in meaningful, student-directed ways. Distant-learning designs support and encourage this positive attitude toward the learning experience, as the process of the program depends on students' scheduling time and managing course work. Applying individual strategies for meeting course requirements further supports the positive affect on students' attitudes.
In distant-learning situations, learners are not physically present with others. The learner's personal autonomy is applied and accepting responsibility is required when deciding to commit to a distant-learning program. Students make the decision to be involved with full awareness that learning will be in their control. The reasons for learning stem from the learner's desire for enrolling in a distant-learning program. But the constructivist principle of having the reasons for learning as part of a course's activities depends on the design of the distant-learning course.
Students accept increased responsibility when enrolling in a distant-learning program. Students willingly agree to utilize self-discipline in meeting the required guidelines of the program and to collaborate with peers as a part of the distant-learning experience. Essential to the constructivist approach to learning is to discuss a central problem involving the new learning with others. Being able to understand and explain the learning requires active reflection and application of strategic reviews of understanding. This may lead to uncovering errors which are then restructured through input from collaboration activities.