Creating a supportive learning environment is key for student success. However, barriers such as accessibility challenges, lack of representation, poor course design, and technical access issues can prevent students from fully engaging with course materials and achieving their potential. By addressing these barriers proactively, you can ensure that every student has an equitable opportunity to thrive.
This resource outlines practical strategies to remove learning barriers for students while highlighting how AI can assist faculty in implementing these changes efficiently.
Barrier: Accessibility
Accessibility barriers prevent students from fully engaging with course materials when content is difficult to perceive, navigate, or understand. From a student perspective, this can mean being unable to access readings, follow course content, or keep up with expectations, especially when using assistive technologies or managing cognitive load.
Students may encounter files that do not work with screen readers or other assistive technologies, making it difficult or impossible to access essential content.
In order to improve accessibility, you can consider providing materials in accessible formats and checking that they work with assistive technologies. It may also help to offer content in multiple formats (e.g., text, audio, video).
Example AI prompt
“Convert this document into an accessible format. Ensure proper heading structure, add alt text suggestions for images, and recommend additional formats (e.g., audio or simplified version) for accessibility.”
Students can become overwhelmed by dense readings, complex language, or poorly organized content, which can hinder comprehension and retention.
There are a variety of ways to reduce cognitive load including using plain language, breaking content into shorter sections, and highlighting key ideas or summaries to support understanding.
Example AI prompt
“Rewrite this content in plain language for a graduate-level audience. Break it into short sections and include a brief summary of key points.”
Barrier: Representation
Representation barriers occur when students do not see their identities, experiences, or perspectives reflected in course content. This can reduce engagement, belonging, and the perceived relevance of the material.
Students may disengage when course materials reflect a narrow range of perspectives or experiences. To increase the diversity of your content, consider including a wider range of perspectives, examples, and case studies that reflect different cultures, identities, and lived experiences.
Example AI prompt
“Suggest additional perspectives, authors, or case studies that would diversify this content, including underrepresented viewpoints relevant to this topic.”
Students may feel excluded or misrepresented when content includes biased language or stereotypes. To avoid biased materials, review course components for bias and revising language or examples to ensure they are inclusive and balanced. This review should also be completed for all AI-generated or AI-assisted course materials.
Example AI prompt
“Review this content for biased or exclusionary language. Highlight concerns and suggest more inclusive alternatives.”
Barrier: Design
Design barriers make it harder for students to navigate courses, understand expectations, and successfully demonstrate their learning. From a student perspective, this often shows up as confusion, frustration, or missed requirements.
Students may feel uncertain about what is expected, leading to mistakes, anxiety, or lower performance. To improve the learner experience, provide clear, detailed instructions with examples, timelines, and consistent formatting across assignments.
Example AI prompt
“Rewrite these assignment instructions for clarity. Include clear steps, expectations, and a consistent format students can easily follow.”
Students may be disadvantaged if assessments favor certain backgrounds, experiences, or ways of demonstrating knowledge. This can be alleviated by using a variety of assessment types and reviewing them for potential bias to ensure all students have a fair opportunity to demonstrate learning.
Example AI prompt
“Review this assessment for potential bias or barriers. Suggest alternative formats or revisions to make it more equitable for diverse learners.”
Barrier: Technical access
Technical access barriers limit students’ ability to participate due to internet access, device limitations, or lack of compatible technologies. For students, this can mean falling behind despite effort and motivation.
Students with limited or unreliable internet access may struggle to engage with high-bandwidth materials or synchronous activities. To support these students, consider providing downloadable, offline-accessible materials and designing content that works well in low-bandwidth environments.
Example AI prompt
“Adapt this content for low-bandwidth access. Suggest ways to reduce file size and provide offline-friendly alternatives.”
Overcoming barriers to learning is a shared responsibility between educators and institutions. From ensuring materials are compatible with assistive technologies to incorporating diverse perspectives and improving navigation, each improvement contributes to a more equitable learning experience. AI tools empower educators to tackle these challenges effectively and efficiently. Together, these strategies and tools pave the way for a more equitable and engaging educational environment.
