Attention, teachers who are thinking about using Amateur Radio and wireless technology in their classrooms to help facilitate hands-on learning opportunities. The ARRL’s Education & Technology Program (ETP) offers two programs that can help make this happen, but the application deadlines are fast approaching: The deadline for the 2013 Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology (TI) is May 15, while the deadline for equipment and resource grants is May 1.

Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology

Seats are still available for the two introductory Teachers Institute (TI-1) sessions offered this summer, one at ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut (July 8-11) and one in Rocklin, California (July 15-18). These four-day intensive professional development seminars provide training and resources for introducing basic electronics, the science of radio, space technology and satellite communications, weather science, microcontroller fundamentals and basic robotics into classroom instruction. The curriculum is designed for motivated teachers who want to learn more about wireless technology and share that knowledge with their students. Resources, travel, and room and board expenses are provided by donations to the Education & Technology Program Fund.

The ETP is also offering an advanced Teachers Institute (TI-2) session that focuses on the basic electronics behind sensor technology. Teachers will receive instruction in the use of a selection of sensors (such as temperature, pressure, position and humidity), analog-to-digital conversion techniques, the microcontroller programming involved in accessing the sensors and the use of radio (packet radio-like data links) that connect the sensor outputs to the user. Participants will also explore numerous deployment systems that they might use in their classrooms, including land and water robots, buoys, balloons and satellites. This four-day professional development workshop is sponsored by Dayton Amateur Radio Association and is held in Dayton, Ohio (July 22-25).

The deadline for both the TI-1 (Connecticut and California) and TI-2 (Ohio) sessions is May 15. Apply now!

Equipment and Resource Grants

ETP grants for school radio stations are awarded to schools that provide a plan for using Amateur Radio as part of an enrichment program and/or as part of in-classroom learning. Find more information, as well as applications for a School Station Grant or for a Progress Grant, on the ETP Grants web page. The deadline for applications is May 1.

If you would like to learn more about how teachers are using Amateur Radio to engage students in the classroom, visit our Classroom Activities page.