Technology and Spelling

In the last couple of weeks I have started to correct student assignments in my placement. Most of the students do their essays by hand, and I have noticed that there are a lot of spelling mistakes throughout their work. A lot of the mistakes are obvious to me, but I do spend a lot of time with a dictionary next to me as well to make sure that I am giving them the right corrections in return. I have started to wonder whether I actually had more knowledge on spelling at their age or whether I just had my computer to correct my mistakes. In continuation of that thought I wonder if the computer hinders or helps us with things like spelling. It is distracting for me to read a paper filled with spelling mistakes, but is it really better for the student if they type it on the computer and the computer corrects their mistakes rather than the student learning it on their own? Something to think about.