This exploratory study reports on how students activated learner-controlled scaffolding and navigated through sequences of connected problems in a digital learning environment. A design experiment was completed to (re)design, iteratively develop, test, and evaluate a digital version of an instructional unit focusing on binomial distributions and their applications for statistical inference. The developed materials are organized around open-ended problems linked to learner-controlled scaffolding. This study reports on a retrospective analysis of classroom observations, digital artifacts of student work, and interviews and surveys that document: (a) the ways students activated learner-controlled scaffolding linked to open-ended problems in the digital environment and (b) the observed student problem-solving pathways of activated scaffolding across connected sequences of problems related to binomial distributions and their applications for statistical inference. The results suggest that when students have the opportunity to control the level of access and challenge during problem solving using a digital medium, new opportunities are possible for the sequence of problems through which students can progress.