Teachers are gathered from around the United States to learn about amateur radio, and how to use it in their classrooms as part of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The 2024 cohorts of the ARRL Teachers Institute (TI) on Wireless Technology have begun.
The first group members for the year are each returning teachers participating in the second round of learning, TI-2. “TI-1 was an amazing, immersive experience that broadened my knowledge of wireless technology, electronics, and amateur radio. I implemented ideas and applications from the very first day of the workshop within the first week of my return to school,” said Everton Henriques, KD2ZZT, a teacher from Staten Island, NY. “Attending TI-2 would further invigorate my teaching practice and allow us to do more cool projects,” he continued.
TI-2 takes things a step further from basic radio principles. “It builds on what they learned the previous year and really exposes these teachers to advanced remote-sensing technologies,” said ARRL Education and Learning Manager Steve Goodgame, K5ATA.
TI-2 also includes a demonstration of telemetry data gathering from amateur satellites, basic amateur satellite operation, and a discussion of applications of the satellite data to math and science topics. TI-2 participants will also learn how to do Arduino programming and remote sensing.
“The ARRL Teachers Institute is easily one of the best classes I have ever taken. The hands-on projects were phenomenal, and everything I learned in TI-1 was useful with my club and in the classroom. TI-2 is raising the bar, and I already have a ton of ideas for things I will do next year based on this course. I am deeply grateful to ARRL for this opportunity,” said Dr. Chris Brown, W9SBS, of the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering.
The ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology is funded entirely by donors through the ARRL Education and Technology Program. Learn more at www.arrl.org/ti. There are seven TI cohorts this summer. It costs teachers a $100 application fee to attend. All travel, lodging, and other costs are covered by the generous donors.