This paper focuses on motivating online learners. Online instruction has presented teachers with new methods of instruction. At the same time, online instruction has the potential to depersonalize the teacher-student relationship and impede the teacher's ability to understand their students. This study attempts to begin translating the traditional classroom knowledge into "best practice" for the online environment. Over the past three years the authors collected evidence of personality types from students taking an online course. During the same years, students completed surveys concerning their preferences for a variety of course components. The results of this study suggest that student personalities do play a part in motivating the online learner. The study also suggests general ideas about each personality type's preferred instructional modes and provides suggestions for components to include within an online course. (Contains 15 references.) (Author/AEF)