This special section focuses on help seeking in a wide range of learning environments, from classrooms to online forums. Previous research has rather restrictively focused on the identification of personal characteristics that predict whether or not learners seek help under certain conditions. However, help-seeking research has begun to broaden these self-imposed limitations. The papers in this special section represent good examples of this development. Indeed, help seeking in the presented papers is explored through complementary theoretical lenses (e.g., linguistic, instructional), using a wide scope of methodologies (e.g., teacher reports, log files), and in a manner which embraces the support of innovative technologies (e.g., cognitive tutors, web-based environments).