Virtual learning environments (VLEs) use educational technologies to facilitate remote online learning in the absence of synchronous supervision and support. Most VLEs offer inclusive options for learners to access content at any time and to adapt content into a form suiting their interaction modes. They also facilitate online collaboration and peer communication. However, they do not fully consider the needs of pre-literate adolescents with developing executive functioning for engaging in asynchronous learning, resulting in barriers. Through an exploratory-cum-participatory research approach combined with a collaborative and iterative co-design process with the participants, this study explored and examined barriers to independent and asynchronous functions that pre-literate adolescent learners face when learning in a VLE, such as planning, focus, and setting and achieving goals (executive functions). Building on principles for user interface design, guidelines were developed to help enhance the design of VLEs to make them more inclusive of diverse executive functioning needs.