The Role and Benefits of Technology

One of the best predictors of learning is the amount of time spent in practice – applying the newly learned information to authentic problems or situations. A significant amount of time needs to be spent in practice to enable permanent learning. Technology is ideally suited for providing this quantity of (often repetitive) practice activities – technology doesn't tire of repetitive tasks.

Technology also provides learners the flexibility to proceed at their own pace, without feeling pulled ahead or left behind a group.

Another benefit of technology is the standardization of the learning experience. If you invest in designing and developing a targeted learning experience, you don't want  that investment to be compromised by a trainer having an "off" day, or feeling under the weather. Technology can provide a standardized learning experience to each individual learner.
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Does that mean there isn’t a place for humans in the learning experience? Certainly not. People are superior than technology at analyzing learners’ answers and providing meaningful feedback, especially for more complex tasks. Teachers and trainers can provide meaningful, insightful feedback and assessment for activities that require learners to apply, analyze, interpret, explain, compare, discover, or synthesize. For this type of a learning activity, an approach that includes feedback from a real person (a 'blended' approach) is often better than technology alone.