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The importance of perpetual education is universally accepted. We live in a fast-paced world that requires unceasing efforts to learn about the systems, processes, methodologies, and legislation that evolve around us on a daily basis.

Despite the clear benefits of being on such a journey of continuous personal growth and development, many individuals face barriers to learning that prohibit them from embracing the abundance of available opportunities to acquire new skills, knowledge, and confidence in a particular field. These barriers are completely unrelated to the individual’s inherent cognitive abilities, and can often undermine one’s propensity for education despite a high level of competence and capability.

A common barrier, which is especially prevalent amongst adult learners, is the inability to be physically present in a classroom due to nonnegotiable commitments – such as looking after children or pets, financial strain from the cost of commuting, or health concerns amidst an ongoing pandemic, particularly for those whose health condition makes them more vulnerable. Additionally, individuals with physical or learning disabilities who require a support worker to accompany them, as well as young learners that are dependant on a parent or guardian for transport, may not be able to coordinate the attendance of all parties due to logistical or financial limitations.

Other factors that could make physical attendance impractical or impossible include long or unpredictable work hours, train delays, traffic jams, and various other time constraints. Lastly, some individuals may be unwilling to reorganise or reduce the leisure activities in their lives to accommodate the fixed schedule of a course or qualification, as they deem these important for their mental health and wellbeing.

Another barrier which affects countless individuals, is the lack of confidence. For those who have not partaken in classroom-based learning for many years, doubts about one’s ability to perform tasks under pressure and scrutiny may exist, along with fear of being judged when speaking publicly (e.g. when asking potentially embarrassing questions or seeking assistance with tasks that others have found easy). Even amongst younger learners, such feelings could arise due to a previous unpleasant experience.

Finally, extrinsic factors present in the traditional classroom setting could play a role, for instance, noise levels, room temperature and other social or environmental distractions.

So, what is the solution?

Here at Laser Learning, our team delivers both full qualifications as well as short courses in a multitude of subject areas, via our award-winning online learning platforms. These include professionally filmed video tutorials and interactive learning resources to support your qualification delivery. Our ePortfolio allows you to easily upload work and communicate with your assessor with confidence.

Most importantly, this can all be done from the comfort of your own home, on a desktop PC, laptop, mobile phone or tablet, at a time that suits you, when there are no distractions or conflicting tasks to be done.