Learning theories aim to help us to understand how people learn. They can help educators to explain and understand the findings of research within a conceptual framework. Harasim (2017) asserts that the theory we use (consciously or not) “determines what we see, what we consider to be important and thus how we will design and implement our practice.” Bennett & Oliver (2011) conclude that most research into learning technology pays “scant attention to theories that might be used to frame and inform research” and mostly produces “shallow analyses that do little to inform the practice of education”. In this section, I will describe the major learning theories with a particular focus on how they relate to blended, online and distance learning.