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LIBF blog Overcoming learning barriers with AI

2 September 2024

13 minute read

Overcoming barriers to learning with AI

Imagine learning tailored just for you. With advances in artificial intelligence (AI), this is now more accessible than ever. This article explores how AI, especially study assistants like LIBF’s Syntea, can remove learning barriers by providing personalised study plans, instant feedback, and emotional support throughout your academic journey.

Key takeaways

  • AI can make education more accessible by removing barriers such as geography, language, and individual learning needs.

  • AI study assistants like LIBF’s Syntea offer personalised study plans, instant feedback, and 24/7 support.

  • Advancements in AI might enhance emotional support, personalise your learning experience, and improve overall accessibility.

  • Combining AI tools with practical strategies like peer collaboration, diverse learning materials, open learning cultures, and reflective practice can foster a more inclusive educational environment.

Understanding barriers to learning

Barriers to learning come in different forms. Recognising and understanding these challenges is the first step towards overcoming them. These may include:

Personal barriers

Mental health, lack of motivation, or poor time management can hinder academic progress.

Emotional barriers

Stress, anxiety, and peer pressure often prevent learners from fully engaging with their studies.

Environmental barriers

Inadequate technology or an unconductive learning environment may limit your ability to study effectively.

Systemic barriers

Issues like economic disparity or limited access to quality education resources can create significant challenges

While these obstacles can make education feel out of reach, they also present opportunities for growth and innovation. With AI’s capabilities, we can navigate these obstacles more effectively and enhance the learning experience. AI offers the potential to transform these barriers into stepping stones, making education more accessible and personalised for everyone.

Identifying emotional learning barriers

Two women collaborating in a modern workspace; one standing and observing while the other works at a desk.

An emotional learning barrier may include stress, anxiety or a lack of confidence, often preventing learners from fully engaging with their studies. These emotional challenges manifest in different ways, such as low self-esteem, fear of failure, or constant worry, which can negatively affect academic performance.


If you struggle with emotional learning barriers, you might find it challenging to gather the mental energy needed for academic work. Fear can lead to self-doubt and reluctance to learn new information or skills. You might refrain from participating in class discussions or attempting challenging tasks. But the exciting news is that AI might help manage these barriers effectively.

How AI helps you with emotional barriers

AI’s ability to analyse behaviour patterns and provide timely help can create a safe space for learning, ensuring you get the support you need when needed. Here are some ways AI might help you overcome an emotional learning barrier:


1. Personalised feedback: AI can offer instant, tailored feedback to guide your learning journey. For example, if you’re struggling with a complex topic, AI can divide the content into smaller, more manageable steps, making it simpler to grasp and finish. This can help reduce anxiety and foster a sense of accomplishment.


2. Continuous monitoring: AI can detect signs of emotional distress, such as irregular study patterns or missed deadlines, and provide timely interventions. For instance, if you’re falling behind, the AI can send reminders and suggest a revised study plan to help you get back on track.


3. Resource recommendations: based on your individual needs, AI might recommend resources such as relaxation techniques, mindfulness exercises, or counselling services. For example, if you’re experiencing high stress levels, AI could suggest specific exercises to help you relax and regain focus.


4. Recognising and celebrating achievements: AI can remind you and celebrate your accomplishments, no matter how small, to boost your confidence and motivation. For example, completing a difficult assignment or reaching a study milestone can be instantly celebrated with positive reinforcement.


5. Fostering a growth mindset: AI might promote a growth mindset by encouraging you to see challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. It can provide motivational quotes, success stories, and actionable tips to help you develop resilience and a positive outlook.

Enhancing your emotional well-being with AI

Your emotional well-being is crucial to your academic success. AI offers continuous support to help you manage stress, anxiety, and other learning challenges that might hinder your studies. Here's how AI can truly make a difference:

24/7 support

Imagine having AI chatbots and virtual counsellors available around the clock. Whether you’re stressed at night or need a quick chat before an exam, these tools are always there.

Tailored resources

AI can tailor resources to your emotional state. If you're feeling anxiety build-up, AI can suggest relaxation techniques like breathing exercises or even direct you to a virtual counselling session.

Early detection

AI can identify early signs of emotional distress and suggest timely interventions. If it detects a pattern of missed deadlines, it might check in with you and offer support or resources.

Overcoming personal barriers

Motivation is essential for academic success but isn't always easy to maintain. Various factors can sap your enthusiasm and make staying on track a challenge. Recognising and understanding these personal barriers is the first step in tackling them effectively.

Lack of engagement with study material

Procrastination can kick in when you're not interested in the material, and motivation can wane. If you find this challenging, AI might assist by dividing large assignments into smaller, more manageable tasks, helping you stay engaged and alleviating overwhelm.

Fear of failure

The fear of failure can be overwhelming, often causing you to avoid challenging tasks. AI tools can provide positive reinforcement and help you build confidence by setting achievable goals and recognising your progress.

Setting unrealistic goals

While it's great to aim high, setting unrealistic goals can lead to frustration and a dip in confidence. AI can help you set more realistic milestones, keeping your goals challenging yet achievable.

Feeling overwhelmed

Large assignments or looming exams can feel overwhelming, adding stress and further draining your drive. AI might help by providing personalised study plans that break down your work into more manageable steps, helping you stay on track.

How AI can help motivate you

But here’s the good news: recognising these intrinsic barriers means you can take proactive steps to overcome them. AI tools can be your best ally in this. They help you set achievable goals, track your progress, and keep you engaged with personalised feedback and incentives. By addressing these motivational learning barriers head-on, you can maintain your drive and enthusiasm for learning, ensuring that your academic journey is productive and fulfilling.

  • Set realistic milestones: AI can help set achievable goals and maintain motivation. For instance, it can break down large assignments into smaller tasks with deadlines, making them more manageable and less overwhelming

  • Track progress: see your improvements in real time, encouraging you to stay engaged. AI can provide visual progress charts and milestones, showing how far you’ve come and what’s left to achieve.

  • Provide incentives: AI can offer virtual badges or rewards, adding a gamified element to your learning. These incentives can make studying more fun and motivating, encouraging you to stay on track.

  • Promote self-reflection: AI can help you reflect on your progress and set more realistic and achievable goals. For example, analysing your study patterns and suggesting adjustments can help you build on previous knowledge.

  • Personalised reminders: AI can send you reminders for upcoming deadlines and suggest study schedules, helping you stay organised and focused.

  • Encouragement and motivation: AI can provide motivational messages and tips to inspire you. For example, offering quotes, success stories, or personalised messages based on your progress can boost your motivation.

By making the learning process more interactive and rewarding, AI helps establish a sense of accomplishment, fostering continuous engagement and motivation. These strategies can be instrumental in overcoming personal learning barriers and keeping you on track with your educational goals.

Optimising your learning environment with AI

Your learning environment plays a key role in your academic success. AI can help you create the perfect study space, even if your external factors aren’t ideal. Using AI to manage and optimise your learning environment, you can create a space that enhances your concentration and ensures you have all the tools you need to succeed in your learning process without any extrinsic barriers.

A student in a yellow sweater discusses information displayed on a laptop with a teacher during a meeting.
  • Adjusting your study schedule
    AI adaptive tools might suggest changes to your study environment based on real-time feedback, ensuring you have the optimal conditions for learning. For instance, adjusting your study schedule to align with your most productive times of the day might be recommended.

  • Accessing online resources
    AI can also open up access to a wealth of online resources, meaning you can get high-quality educational materials regardless of where you are, making up for any lack of physical study resources at home.

  • Customising your learning path
    AI can help customise your learning path by providing recommendations that adapt to your learning style and pace. So, if you’re a visual learner, AI might offer more video content and interactive diagrams, making the study process engaging and effective.

Leveraging AI for collaborative learning

Learning is often more effective and enjoyable when done with others – and AI has the potential to significantly enhance peer-to-peer interactions and group learning experiences.


With AI, you can easily join or form virtual study groups, connecting with peers with similar learning goals or people with language barriers. It matches you with study partners based on your preferences and objectives. Interactive tools AI provides, such as discussion forums and collaborative projects, make online group learning engaging. For instance, AI might set up virtual breakout rooms where you and other learners can discuss topics and work on group assignments.


AI encourages reflective practice by providing real-time feedback on group activities. This helps you and your peers identify strengths and areas for improvement, fostering a sense of community and support.

The role of academic teachers and AI

While AI can offer support throughout the learning process, the role of teachers championing AI can significantly impact how students overcome barriers. Here are some actionable ways teachers can integrate AI to support their students and remove obstacles:

  • Use AI insights for personalised guidance: teachers can use AI data to pinpoint students who need extra help, tailoring their approach to each student’s unique needs. For instance, if AI indicates you're struggling with a particular topic, teachers can provide additional resources or one-on-one tutoring sessions to address your knowledge gaps.

  • Monitor progress and reset goals: AI might help teachers track your progress and change goals and plans, ensuring you never fall behind.

  • Encourage AI tool usage: teachers can recommend AI tools and resources, explaining their value and how they might enhance your learning experience. For example, they might suggest using AI for personalised study plans or emotional support services.

  • Create engaging learning materials: by leveraging AI, teachers can introduce multimedia content, interactive quizzes, and virtual exercises to create more engaging lessons.

  • Support students with learning difficulties: AI can offer customised learning plans for students with learning disabilities, ensuring they can access resources that accommodate their needs. For example, it can provide reading support, like text-to-speech features or font adjustments, helping dyslexic learners study independently. Additionally, speech-to-text can help learners with visual impairments.

Empowering you to take control

Empowerment in learning is about giving you the tools and confidence to succeed independently. Whether you want to enhance your base knowledge or consume visual information, AI helps you take control of your education. AI offers customised learning paths that allow you to make informed decisions, helping you take full advantage of your learning opportunities. You can choose the pace, resources, and study methods that work best for you.

A smiling man holding a green notebook, walking in the city of London

AI also offers tools to help you develop crucial academic and life skills, including time management, critical thinking, and self-discipline. Continuous feedback from AI lets you assess your progress and make necessary adjustments, ensuring you always know where you stand and what steps to take next. Additionally, AI helps you learn by offering practical tips tailored to your needs and different learning styles.


By empowering you to take charge, AI fosters a sense of independence and confidence in your academic journey. Whether you're learning online or in the classroom, you can take control of your learning barriers and succeed.

Addressing systemic barriers with AI

Systemic barriers, such as economic disparity, limited access to quality education, and uneven resource distribution, pose significant educational challenges. However, AI offers promising tools that could help create a more equitable educational landscape.


AI might make high-quality education more accessible by providing cost-effective online courses. It could break down geographical barriers for students in remote areas by enabling virtual learning opportunities, ensuring that location is no longer an obstacle. Additionally, AI could identify learning and resource allocation gaps, providing valuable insights for educators and policymakers. By analysing data on student performance and resources, AI might highlight areas needing attention, driving improvements in distribution and promoting equity.


While AI provides significant solutions to systemic barriers to learning, these tools must be part of broader, systemic changes. Combining AI's capabilities with ongoing educational policies and practice enhancements could create a more inclusive and equitable environment for all learners. Still, work is needed to ensure everyone has access.

The future of AI in education

The future of AI in education is promising, with innovations set to make learning even more personalised, inclusive, and effective. AI's advancements can cater to different learning styles, allowing you to learn in ways that suit you best.


Incorporating AI in online learning platforms could also revolutionise common learning barriers. Imagine virtual reality classrooms providing immersive experiences where you can engage more deeply with the material. These systems might offer customised modules that adapt to your progress. They could provide real-time data analytics, giving you insights into your abilities and highlighting areas for improvement.

A person using the LIBF online degree platform, which features built-in AI to enhance online learning and provide personalised study support.

AI will likely support different teaching methods, ensuring educators can address diverse emotional factors and learning needs, promoting lifelong learning. With AI's help, teachers can ensure you receive instant feedback, turning the idea of making mistakes into opportunities for growth rather than setbacks.


Incorporating AI into education could foster a dynamic learning environment that supports your academic growth and emotional well-being. By offering personalised feedback, adaptive learning paths, and tailored support, AI can empower you to overcome challenges, embrace your unique learning style, and reach your full potential at your own pace.

Students using LIBF's study assistant, Syntea, completed their course 27% faster than those who didn't use Syntea

Syntea: your AI study assistant at LIBF

At LIBF, we're proud to introduce Syntea, our AI study assistant designed to revolutionise your learning experience.

Woman in yellow shirt using an AI based LMS to schedule administrative tasks and plan her study schedule.
  • Available 24/7, whether early or late at night, Syntea ensures you're never stuck on a challenging concept. Ask questions anytime and receive instant, accurate answers.

  • Efficient learning: get immediate responses to specific queries and be directed to relevant sections of your course material, helping you close knowledge gaps quickly.

  • Verified quality: with Syntea, you can trust the quality of the information you receive. All answers are reviewed by LIBF faculty members, ensuring that the guidance provided is reliable and accurate.

Syntea is here to help you with personalised study plans, instant feedback, and around-the-clock support, making education more accessible and tailored to your needs.

Meet Syntea

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