The Necessity of Varied Instructional Practice and the Integration of Technology

The responsibility of the professional educator is to support students on their journey to acquire necessary abilities to competently navigate their world in familial, social, and vocational spheres. To prepare contemporary students, the integration of technology and a variety of instructional strategies is vital to fully prepare them to enter into a digitally connected communication age. The best reason to incorporate a multitude of instructional strategies and valuable technology is because students learn and retain material best when they exercise an array of senses and have diverse experiences.

            There is an abundance of strategies that can be integrated into the classroom to vary the connections students are making to the newly introduced subject matter. An excellent website that lists potential instructional strategies alphabetically as well as by the classification of experience that you would like the students to participate in is available via this link: http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/de/pd/instr/alpha.html. The purpose of varying instructional strategies is to give a variety of learners with a multitude of learning styles the opportunity to take a role in constructing their own learning by making personal connections to the presentation of new content knowledge.

Technology is essential in the implementation of a range of instructional strategies because the modern student needs to be technological literate simultaneously whilst learning new material. The contemporary student relates to this mode of presentation because their lives are saturated in digital advances, social media, and the latest innovative equipment. Employing technology in the classroom promotes achievement because it is adaptive, diverse, and relevant to the 21^st century learner.

My keen understanding of the positive impact of technology and utilizing a variety of instructional strategies in the contemporary classroom qualifies me to effectively reach the modern student. It is important for me, as a professional educator to evolve as technology progresses to be effective in preparing my students to engage in society as productive contributors and valid intellectuals. The process of accomplishing this goal is determining the needs of my students, staying technologically current, and dedicating the time and effort necessary to plan curriculum that parallels the required content with a myriad of educational experiences to reach every learner represented in my classroom.