Malaysian universities are not only offering online distance learning programmes to thousands of learners. They are now comfortable enough to develop their own learning management systems. But this does not necessarily spell success. Though learners have become accustomed and at ease with the new learning technology, they are grappling with problems of self-regulation and lack of self-direction that warrant a deeper and a more articulate line of investigation. This paper presents a synthesis of three major research studies carried out on Malaysian online distance learners at two universities ; namely the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and the Open University of Malaysia (OUM). The points of focus are ; (1) the learning needs from the learners’ perspectives, (2) the learner-instructor interaction, and (3) the learning strategies of online learners. The outcome provides an eye-opening account of the learner issues such as the high dependency on instructor support and the central role of the instructor, the need for just-in-time just-enough learning resources, and the dominance of help- seeking strategies especially among first-timers or novices. The three studies demonstrate the need to consider dimensions in the form of learner experience, perceptions, needs, and the expectations the students bring with them into the realm of the online learning environment. (Authors' abstract)