ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Digital Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1610148
This article is part of the Research TopicGenerative AI Tools in Education and its Governance: Problems and SolutionsView all 15 articles
Cognitive and Behavioral engagement challenges in Open and Distance Learning and Potential Solutions from Artificial Intelligence
Provisionally accepted
- National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
This study investigates the cognitive and behavioral engagement challenges experienced by students in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) environments and examines how Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies can provide practical support. Adopting a qualitative descriptive case study design, data were collected through focus group interviews, student reflective reports, and behavioral metrics obtained from Learning Management System (LMS) analytics. Thematic analysis revealed key cognitive challenges such as difficulty processing complex information, lack of focus, and limited academic writing and critical thinking skills. Behavioral challenges included goal ambiguity, procrastination, and difficulty adapting to new tasks and digital tools. These findings were triangulated across multiple data sources to enhance the reliability and validity of the results. The study highlights the potential of AI technologies, such as adaptive learning systems, AI-powered study planners, writing assistants, and personalized resource recommendation tools—to alleviate these challenges by providing tailored support, scaffolding, and feedback. By aligning AI solutions with specific learner needs, institutions can enhance student engagement and performance in ODL settings. Based on these findings, this study recommends that ODL institutions integrate AI powered support systems such as adaptive study planners, writing assistants, and personalized resource recommendation tools to address students' cognitive and behavioral challenges.
Keywords: Open and distance learning, cognitive engagement, Behavioral engagement, Challenges, artificial intelligence
Received: 11 Apr 2025; Accepted: 15 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xue, Khalid and Karim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yanxing Xue, p120538@siswa.ukm.edu.my
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.