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ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio\u00ae welcomed the year\u2019s first cohort of educators to attend a session of the ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology (TI) at headquarters this week. The group follows on the success of the Louisiana-based session last week, and one on Staten Island in New York City this past in January.<\/p>\n
The educators traveled from all over the country to attend and learn how to take radio and wireless technology back into the classroom as part of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) lessons. Many of the teachers took and passed their amateur radio license exams during the week, including Professor Charnell Long, Ph.D. She is a professor at North Carolina A&T University who works with pre-service educators to become certified teachers. She hopes to be a multiplying force for the information.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was fun to me,\u201d said Long. \u201cIt is an opportunity to deep dive into radio in ways I never have before.\u201d She will incorporate the hands-on training into her courses at the university. Long learned about the program when ARRL Education and Learning Manager Steve Goodgame, K5ATA, exhibited TI at the National Science Teachers Association convention. <\/p>\n
\u201cI see value in bringing [my students] scientific skills,\u201d said Long. Goodgame is encouraged by the reach just one participant in TI could have. \u201cWe\u2019re always excited to get educators hands-on with radio, but especially those who take what they learn here and go back and teach it to other educators,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Professor Long is one microcosm of ARRL\u2019s focus on multiplying the reach of TI\u2019s impact. The ARRL Board of Directors voted unanimously in July 2024 to authorize taking the high-quality education of TI to communities around the country. Increasing the number of teachers and therefore students reached by the training is one peg in the mission to inspire the next generation of radio amateurs. <\/p>\n
While Professor Long and the other newly-minted radio amateurs in the cohort wait for their call signs to be issued, they continue to get hands-on with radio. Thursday\u2019s session was focused on software-defined radios. \u201cTo see these educators have fun learning new things is a real boost, not only to the ARRL Education and Learning Department, but the future of ham radio as well,\u201d said Goodgame. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n