Learning is an ongoing process of change due to interactions between individuals and their social and physical environments. This ecological perspective emphasizes that the activity of learning is shaped by learners' interests and needs, their prior experiences, their companions, facilitators, and other distinctive features of their specific socio-cultural and physical environments. In our people-centered view of an online learning ecology, we see evidence of learning through the examination of an individual’s adaptations, which may be observed in many ways including their actions, language, emotions and practices. For our study of online learning environments, we are particularly concerned with facilitation, such as listening, questioning, involving, encouraging, and redirecting, which play an important role in creating strong learning environments.