Technology-Based Learning Enhances Self-Regulated Learning: Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The global transformation of the digital education ecosystem demands a high level of independent learning from students to navigate expanding academic autonomy. This systematic literature review aims to identify, evaluate, and synthesize the effectiveness of implementing cutting-edge instructional technologies on improving students' self-regulation strategies across academic levels. This research approach adopted the rigorous PRISMA selection protocol by extracting purely primary empirical literature from the Scopus database covering publications from 2016 to 2026, resulting in fifteen final articles for in-depth thematic analysis. The analysis findings demonstrate that the presence of adaptive learning platforms, artificial intelligence generative feedback, gamified virtual reality devices, and smart e-books successfully trigger a surge in students' metacognitive capacity and positive affect. These digital devices consistently replace the role of manual instructor supervision by providing instant cognitive scaffolding that can calibrate task difficulty based on students' actual performance track records. The study concludes that the modern technology ecosystem is not simply a passive repository of material but has evolved into a proactive co-regulatory agent that fundamentally transforms academic cognitive load into long-term intrinsic persistence. The novelty of this research rests on a theoretical unpacking of the psychological interactions of humans and machines, providing conclusive evidence of how personalized digital algorithms are able to hijack the brain's gratification system to catalyze self-discipline, while providing a crucial guiding framework for designing hybrid pedagogical curricula in the future.