Reduced
cost
The primary costs of interactive instruction
lie in design and production- not replication, distribution,
and delivery. Thus, the cost
is reduced
as more students use the same program. With traditional instructional
methods, the costs of instruction lie primarily in the delivery
(i.e., training personell, teacher salaries,
overhead, etc.) and remain constant or even increase as more
students place greater demands on fixed resources. In
one example, Federal Express expects to save more than 100
million by using interactive systems for employee training.
Instructional
consistency
Technology-based instructional systems do not have bad days
or tire at the end of a long day. Instruction is delivered
in a consistently
reliable
fashion
that
does not vary in quality from class to class or from school
to school.
Privacy
With one-on-one systems, students are free
to ask explore areas that might cause embarrassment in group
situations. Also, because
instructional
systems never lose patience, they encourage learners to
persist in reviewing until
real
mastery is
achieved or
natural curiosity
is appeased.
Mastery of learning
Unlike a normal classroom situation, an interactive
system will not move on to new material until current material
is
mastered. This
insures that
students
have
strong foundations for continued learning.
Increased
retention
The process of interaction with material being
studied provides a strong learning reinforcement that significantly
increases
content retention
over time.
Increased
safety
With interactive systems, students can explore
potentially dangerous subjects without risk. These dangers
might
be in academic areas (chemistry
explosions,
burns) or industrial areas (heavy equipment maintenance,
critical repair). Though CBT training will never replace
on hands experience, it can avert potentially dangerous situations
with training and familiarity.
Increased
motivation
Interactive systems provide a level of responsive
feedback and individual involvement that has
proven to be highly
motivating in both individual, handson
and classroom learning
environments. Further, interactive systems focus
attention, reducing the potential for distraction
of disruptive
classroom behavior.
Learners
enjoy interactive learning
Interactive systems allow learners to take greater
control of- and hence, responsibility for- their
own learning process.
As they discover
new
areas of interest and
accomplishment, they become seekers of knowledge,
not just recipients of instruction. In essence,
interactive systems allow students to learn how
to learn- both a skill and an appreciation that
will
serve them throughout
their lives.