Purdue Instructional Technology Certificates Hub (PITCH)

Identifying students’ needs is a continual process in which teachers gather information about students’ interests, abilities, social and emotional development, support requirements, and learning over time. Teachers can use diverse methods to gather students’ information and identify students’ needs depending on whether the online instruction is delivered synchronously or asynchronously. Surveys are helpful to determine students’ needs for both synchronous and asynchronous online environments. Teachers can categorize students’ needs as academic or non-academic. Non-academic needs include socio-emotional and physical needs. It is important to determine students’ physical needs within online classes to ensure their positive development.