#UDLchat: Learner Needs

August 21, 2019
Co-hosts: Ron Rogers & Alexis Reid

Photo by NESA by Makers on Unsplash

With all the content and subject matter educators are responsible for teaching, it’s sometimes easy to forget the emotional barriers that can prevent our learners from reaching our learning goals. This conversation was all about how to mitigate some of these barriers through awareness and strategies around our learners’ needs.

Our thoughtful questions for the chat were:

• Q1: How do you establish a culture of caring, compassionate, and respectful learning?
• Q2: As an adult learner, what are some of the triggers (things that set off a strong emotional response) or barriers that get in your way of reaching a goal? What are potential triggers/ barriers your learners may experience?
• Q3: Learning challenges may present differently across learning environments. Learners have shared that comments like “You just need to try harder” are incredibly invalidating. What are some phrases we can reframe to be more considerate?
• Q4: Barriers can exist in learning environments, through interactions, and in the words we use. How do we protect and value the diverse tapestry of learner characteristics across contexts?

And the wonderful responses from our participants made for an outstanding conversation.

#UDLchat August 21, 2019 - Wakelet

How do you consider the emotional needs of your learners in your learning environment? Let us know in the comments or join the conversation using the #UDLchat hashtag on Twitter.