So it\u2019s important to know how to handle the barriers to learning and achieve better results.<\/strong><\/p>\n In this article, we\u2019ll explain how to recognize and address learning barriers so that nothing could stop your learners from developing.<\/p>\n You can go through all of them with us, or you can jump right to the common learning barriers that are especially relevant for you.<\/p>\n Emotional learning barriers<\/a><\/p>\n Motivational learning barriers<\/a><\/p>\n Personal learning barriers<\/a><\/p>\n The article explains barriers to learning as anything that stops learners from fully engaging and achieving learning goals in corporate training. These obstacles can be internal (emotional, motivational, personal), like fear of failure or lack of focus, or external, such as tight schedules and lack of resources. It describes common barriers, how they manifest, and suggests practical ways to help learners overcome them, including supportive communication, structured content, interactive design, community building, and accessibility adjustments, so training becomes more effective and engaging for all.<\/span><\/p>\n A barrier to learning is anything that prevents a learner from being fully engaged in the learning process. A person, or even a group of people, affected by learning barriers feels frustrated or unwilling, and cannot achieve their learning goals.<\/p>\n Learning barriers can be caused by various factors. Some are purely external: tight schedules, too much work, lack of available materials or technologies, and so forth.<\/p>\n Others are internal and originate in people\u2019s preexisting experiences, emotional factors, or mindsets. Sometimes internal and external factors join forces.<\/p>\n For example, a trainee can feel a fear of failure, due to an unsupportive environment in the company, pressure from the management, or lack of knowledge needed for the task.<\/p>\n For better learner engagement and participation, instructors should eliminate learning barriers as much as possible, and help learners overcome them. Reasons for their emergence may vary, but barriers to learning fall into three basic categories: emotional<\/strong>, motivational<\/strong>, and personal<\/strong>. Let\u2019s look at each one in detail.<\/p>\n These are the barriers that make learners feel deeply uncomfortable, sabotaging the learning process. People experience fear or doubt, and it can seem to them that they are \u201cweak,\u201d \u201cnot good enough\u201d to try.<\/p>\n They may rationally understand the necessity of training and recognize its importance to their self-growth or career. But they want to finish the process as soon as possible or never start it at all.<\/p>\n These emotional barriers include resistance to change<\/strong>, fear of failure<\/strong>, and lack of focus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Every new endeavor produces some change and makes us step out of our comfort zone. People may feel not ready for this. Take employees who sabotage online learning. Such resistance to change may appear in at least two forms:<\/p>\n Resistance to change is a preexisting belief that may strongly hinder a company\u2019s training and development program.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s accept the truth: starting something new ain\u2019t easy. If you initiate training in your organization, then it\u2019s important that you recognize this foundational unwillingness to change among employees.<\/p>\n Accept these concerns and respond to them appropriately. Clear, supportive communication is a must.<\/p>\n You should also provide your learners with sufficient information about the training. If, for example, you launch online training with a learning management system<\/a> (LMS), then you can tell learners that taking courses and quizzes online is no harder than surfing the internet. Record a video tutorial to explain how to use the platform and provide users with all the help docs they\u2019ll need.<\/p>\n You initially need to choose software with a user-friendly, intuitive interface so your team members and learners can use it right away.<\/p>\n It\u2019s very common for people to think that not trying is safer than risking unknown results. This stops many people from learning valuable skills and taking advantage of wonderful opportunities.<\/p>\n Whether new hires and interns or overachievers and perfectionists, everyone may be afraid of failure and reluctant to practice new knowledge and skills. But knowing that mistakes are inevitable in learning, shouldn\u2019t we be able to relax in the process?<\/p>\n Allow for mistakes, and use empowering language to help learners develop a positive attitude toward learning.<\/p>\n Encourage them to practice, and explain that making mistakes now in training is much better than not knowing how to act in work and real-life situations. Help them enhance their self-correcting skills so they can learn how to detect their mistakes and fix them right away.<\/p>\n With online training, you can greatly reduce the fear of failure<\/strong>. If you use an authoring tool to create quizzes, you can allow for multiple attempts on the same question. This way, if learners made a mistake once or twice, they still have the opportunity to give the right answer and learn.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a good idea to add encouraging or explanatory automated feedback for each response. Phrases like \u201cWell done!<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cYou\u2019re doing great!<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cYou\u2019ll nail it next time!<\/strong>\u201d will help learners overcome their fears and keep trying.<\/p>\n For customer service and sales, mistakes in real life can cause reputational risks and cost a lot of money. When the stakes are high, we recall pilots who learn to fly an aircraft using a flight simulator. Their training prepares them for the real flight, recreating its stages and possible situations that might occur. For corporate training, dialogue simulations can function like this virtual simulator, allowing people to practice communication skills and techniques.<\/p>\n Look at this dialogue simulation created with the iSpring Suite<\/a> authoring toolkit:<\/p>\n Dialogue simulations exemplify the \u201cfake it till you make it\u201d principle and help people learn to behave confidently in various situations. They are role-plays in a risk-free environment, where it\u2019s totally fine to make mistakes. Dialogue simulations train your employees to operate in accordance with established procedures and to minimize errors in work.<\/p>\n Read also<\/strong>: 13 Most Common Role-play Scenarios<\/a><\/p>\n Okay, so we\u2019ve managed to overcome resistance to change and the fear of failure. Learners are ready to study\u2026right? But wait: here comes another tricky barrier to learning. According to the study, employees only have an average of 24 minutes a week<\/a> for training and development. That\u2019s just 1% of their typical work week. And even during these 24 minutes a week, it\u2019s not always easy for them to focus, because workplaces can be noisy and distracting.<\/p>\n If your training takes place in an office environment, it\u2019s best to remove distracting factors and make space for silence. It can be a \u201cfocus hour\u201d for everyone, a single space in which people can study or just sit calmly, or they can receive intentional guidance on certain tactics, to increase focus and productivity. These measures help foster learning culture<\/a> company-wide and inculcate a serious attitude toward training.<\/p>\n Smartphones can be very distracting in the classroom and workplace, but if you move learning online and make it available on mobile devices, you can leverage the technology to your advantage.<\/p>\n Mobile-friendly LMSs like iSpring LMS<\/a> have apps for smartphones and tablets that allow learners to take courses anywhere and anytime they want, even on the go. This gives them more time and space for training, when they find their focus.<\/p>\n So, now that we\u2019ve overcome the first emotional barriers, the next challenge is to proceed with learning. You may notice that suddenly your employees start missing classes or refuse to take courses.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what motivational barriers are all about. They\u2019re the ones that get in the way when the learning process has already started.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s go through the main reasons this happens, and the ways we can deal with it.<\/p>\n A child crawls, then walks, then runs. It\u2019s natural that learning comes in stages, and no stage should be omitted. This is true for adults when they train for new skills. If a learner doesn\u2019t know the basics, or changes to a new area of work, or wasn\u2019t ever introduced to the product line, then this will hinder subsequent development.<\/p>\n Your training course should be consistent, so plan it beforehand. Ensure that it works through the material from the basics to more specific details. With an LMS, you can compile lessons and materials in a track adjusted to a certain department, groups, or individuals. The system will automatically assign the relevant courses to the selected group of learners.<\/p>\n For example, you can create special learning tracks<\/a> for every new hire, and they will get access to systematic training from day one.<\/p>\n \u00a0An example of consistent training in product management, in iSpring LMS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n You can also use your LMS as the company\u2019s knowledge base. Store helpful information, readings, and links here so your learners can access them any time.<\/p>\n Sometimes employees don\u2019t see the point in training, because they don\u2019t know precisely how the company functions, nor its business and development strategy. They don\u2019t have a clear vision of their position in the company and where everything is headed. The training part just doesn\u2019t seem integrated into their idea of work, and so they have no motivation to do anything about their skills and approaches.<\/p>\n Think about the sense of community and ensure that everyone feels that they belong, matter, and have a part to play. If you prefer on-the-job learning<\/a>, choose experienced employees to become mentors for new hires. This will increase the sense of community, both for seasoned staff members and novices.<\/p>\n Clearly articulate your mission, vision, and values, and include this information in your onboarding program. Courses on company culture, history, and achievements equip employees to fit into the team and recognize the value of training for all. Learn more about how to give a new employee a warm welcome in our guide to new hire onboarding<\/a>.<\/p>\n Learners can think of training as purposeless if they see no reason that it will help them in life or work. Here\u2019s the thing about adult learners: they want to know how education or training will change their lives for the better and make daily tasks easier. So your reasons for giving the training won\u2019t be good enough until they address the learners\u2019 practical needs.<\/p>\n Work with the practical side of things and explain to learners the results they can expect from training. Or, address their pain points and show the concrete solution provided by your training.<\/p>\n A tip: you can start with new titles for your courses. Compare these titles:<\/p>\n Do you see the difference? Being upfront about the goals and outcomes of training will save you time in explaining why the training is worthwhile. And of course you should fill your courses and training materials with practical tips, solutions, and exercises so that learners know how to apply the knowledge in real life.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an example of a practical course with clearly established goals and hands-on practices:<\/p>\n Let\u2019s admit it: some training topics are not meant to be fun for learners. But they are necessary, important for business, and, like various compliance courses, tend to be obligatory.<\/p>\n But a topic\u2019s seriousness is no excuse for sloppy, unreadable slides that instantly make everyone bored and inattentive. Boredom is the main foe of learners\u2019 engagement and can be a strong barrier even for avid learners.<\/p>\n If you conduct training offline, make sure your learners interact with their peers and with you. Work in pairs or teams, organize Q&A sessions, give them handouts with quick exercises, and take breaks to recharge their brains. If you use slides to support your presentation, make them less wordy\u2014use more media.<\/p>\n For a virtual classroom, prepare rich content that includes videos, screencasts, images, infographics, animations, and sounds. Use a whiteboard feature to work out some ideas visually.<\/p>\n Design warm-up and closure activities to engage learners and enhance knowledge retention. (The \u201craise hand\u201d feature can be helpful.)<\/p>\n When building online courses, you should involve interactivity. For example, create interactive quizzes<\/a> and game-like activities, such as drag-and-drops. With iSpring Suite authoring software, you can easily make them from templates and then embed them into a background, like an office, a hospital, or a supermarket. You can prompt learners to interact with a variety of objects, icons, and characters. Creating all of this doesn\u2019t take a lot of effort, but it will make the training experience much more fun, engaging, and credible.<\/p>\n An exercise from the online course on merchandising<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n This barrier has become particularly severe because of the pandemic. Many people have experienced social isolation and loneliness, and this can have a big effect on motivation. When people feel lonely, it\u2019s harder for them to set and achieve goals. Some people like feeling that we\u2019re all in the same boat, with peers going through the same hurdles. Some people need a sense of competition. Some want to have an instructor nearby, to be sure that they\u2019re doing everything right. If any of those desires is not addressed, some learners may fall behind in training.<\/p>\n As with the lack of seeing the big picture, you also need to enhance the sense of community and check in on learners. Depending on the training and its goals, you can assign employees new mentors, or create a system of leaderboards that will display the best learners of the month.<\/p>\n In iSpring LMS, you can easily set leaderboards easily and the platform will automatically compile them. Based on the points employees earn after completing a course, iSpring LMS lists the best learners and compiles leaderboards. This simple gamification trick is a good way to motivate employees to take courses and see how their peers are doing.<\/p>\n To maintain a sense of community, allow your learners to communicate with one another, chat, and interact. This is also possible within an LMS<\/a>. Let them ask authors questions about a particular course, leave reviews, and share their insights in the comment section.<\/p>\n They also can reach out to colleagues from various departments through direct messages and ask questions for clarification. This is particularly helpful when the course is important to the work of several departments that need to synchronize.<\/p>\n These barriers to learning are closely related to a person\u2019s particular traits and characteristics.<\/p>\n The way a person perceives information determines limitations and specific needs. In order to effectively address each person, we should adjust the learning content to improve comprehension. Every obstacle is an opportunity; personal barriers prompt us to embrace diversity and make learning available and accessible for everyone.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s look at probable personal (but completely solvable) barriers to learning: different learning styles<\/strong> and impairments<\/strong>.<\/p>\n It may seem that reading written texts or listening to oral lectures are the universal ways to learn and distribute new information. But they can be insufficient. To really engage learners, the learning content sometimes needs to become more visual or tangible. Though the presumed dominance of visual, kinesthetic, or auditory perceptions can be questioned, even for just one person, all learners certainly have preferences and difficulties.<\/p>\n For example, some people are not good with numbers and can\u2019t stand tables with figures. Some people can easily spot the difference in pictures, and others can\u2019t. Some memorize sounds better than graphics. And the list goes on. So if the instructor exploits only one of the ways to communicate information, not all of the learners will be able to follow.<\/p>\n Bring diversity to the ways you communicate the information and interact with the learners. Mix things up with various formats. Using the authoring software like iSpring Suite, you can accompany instructions with screencasts<\/a>, courses with videos, and quizzes with audio, all with one single tool. Such diverse, interactive learning content will make your training appealing to the widest audience.<\/p>\n Last but not least are the health conditions that can make the learning process more challenging or uncomfortable for some learners. Such conditions may include hearing, visual, or learning impairments, and they demand adjustments to the content, to meet the standards and principles, like WCAG<\/a> or Section 508<\/a>.<\/p>\n How to overcome this learning barrier:<\/p>\n When you finish creating a course, your top priority is to ensure that it is fully accessible to all learners. Follow these steps:<\/p>\n If you use iSpring Suite to create online courses, don\u2019t hesitate to use its Accessibility mode. It allows the automatic aligning of learning material with WCAG requirements without creating a different version of the course from scratch. While taking the course, learners can switch to the Accessibility mode with just a click when needed, and then see the information in the most comfortable way.<\/p>\n 1. What are intrinsic and extrinsic barriers to learning?<\/strong><\/p>\n Intrinsic barriers<\/strong> are the personal attitudes, beliefs, and health conditions that hinder a person\u2019s participation in the learning process or that negatively affect its results.\u00a0Examples of intrinsic barriers to learning include lack of interest or motivation, low self-confidence, limited attention span, learning disabilities, and difficulty in understanding new concepts. These barriers can significantly impact a person\u2019s ability to acquire and retain new knowledge.<\/p>\n Extrinsic barriers to learning<\/strong> refer to external factors that hinder a person\u2019s ability to learn. These can include limited access to resources, lack of support from teachers or peers, and environmental factors such as noise or distractions.<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0How to identify barriers to learning?<\/strong><\/p>\n Look for signs in the learners\u2019 behavior\u2014such as resistance to training, declining attendance, and unenthusiastic participation. If your organization uses an LMS for online learning, check LMS reports<\/a> and keep tabs on how often people complete courses and how much time they spend on training. Detailed reports on trainees\u2019 activity will indicate what hinders the process and how it can be improved.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0How to overcome barriers to learning in the workplace?<\/strong><\/p>\n Pay close attention to learners\u2019 motivation, and create a workplace environment that fosters, not impedes, the learning process.<\/p>\n Work on the clear goals and practical value of the training, and engage employees with meaningful, interactive courses and quizzes.<\/p>\n Ensure that the learning content is diverse, accessible, and mobile-friendly.<\/p>\n Henry Ford said that \u201cObstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.\u201d This wise quote also applies to the barriers to learning that prevent us from growth, new opportunities, and ongoing development. But if learners stay focused on their goals, face their fears of failure or change, and recognize the things that demotivate them most, then learning barriers won\u2019t get in the way.<\/p>\n Let us know what common learning barriers you or your learners have faced, and how you managed to overcome them!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TL;DR<\/h2>\n
What Are Barriers to Learning?<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Emotional Learning Barriers<\/h2>\n
![\"Emotional](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/editor\/2021\/12\/ispring-blog-image-1640217003.png\" "\\"Emotional")
<\/div>\nResistance to change<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n
How to overcome this emotional learning barrier:<\/h4>\n
Fear of failure<\/h3>\n
How to overcome this emotional learning barrier:<\/h4>\n
![\"Automated](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/editor\/2021\/12\/ispring-blog-image-1640218418.png\" "\\"Feedback")
<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/editor\/2020\/03\/ispring-blog-image-1584535443.png\")
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nLack of focus<\/h3>\n
\u00a0How to overcome this emotional learning barrier:<\/h4>\n
Too much to read? Get a summary from AI<\/h3>\n
<\/a>Motivational Learning Barriers<\/h2>\n
![\"Motivational](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/editor\/2021\/12\/ispring-blog-image-1640217040.png\" "\\"Motivational")
<\/div>\nLack of previous knowledge<\/h3>\n
How to overcome this learning barrier:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/editor\/2021\/12\/ispring-blog-image-1640218540.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.ispringsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/ispring-blog-flat-bootstrap\/images\/product-inside-article\/ispring-suite.png.webp\")
\n <\/a>\n<\/div>\nLack of seeing the big picture<\/h3>\n
How to overcome this learning barrier:<\/h4>\n
Lack of purpose<\/h3>\n
How to overcome this learning barrier:<\/h4>\n
\n
![\"\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/editor\/2021\/11\/ispring-blog-image-1636715013.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nBoredom<\/h3>\n
How to overcome this learning barrier:<\/h4>\n
![\"Quiz](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/editor\/2021\/12\/ispring-blog-image-1640218782.png\" "\\"Merchandising")
<\/p>\nIsolation<\/h3>\n
How to overcome this learning barrier:<\/h4>\n
![\"iSpring](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/editor\/2021\/12\/ispring-blog-image-1640218902.png\" "\\"Gamification")
<\/div>\n![\"Course](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/editor\/2021\/12\/ispring-blog-image-1640219326.png\" "\\"Course")
<\/div>\n<\/a>Personal Learning Barriers<\/h2>\n
![\"Personal](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/editor\/2021\/12\/ispring-blog-image-1640217123.png\" "\\"Personal")
<\/div>\nDifferent learning styles<\/h3>\n
How to overcome this learning barrier:<\/h4>\n
Impairments<\/h3>\n
\n
FAQs on Barriers to Learning<\/h2>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n