The ARRL Education Services Department has announced the 2011 schedule for the Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology workshop. Offered through the ARRL’s Education & Technology Program (ETP), the Teachers Institute is a four-day, expenses paid, in-residence learning opportunity designed for motivated teachers and other school staff who want to learn more about wireless technology and bring that knowledge to their students. A variety of topics are covered during the TI, including basic wireless technology literacy, electronics, the science of radio, radio astronomy, how to bring space into the classroom, ham radio operation, introduction to micro controllers and basic robotics. While participants do not need to have an Amateur Radio license to attend the basic TI sessions, one is required for the advanced (TI-2) session.

“We’ll be offering four sessions of the introductory Teachers Institute workshop this summer and one advanced, TI-2 session on Space in the Classroom that focuses on satellite communications,” said ARRL Education Services Manager Debra Johnson, K1DMJ. “The workshops are offered to teachers in America’s classrooms, with all expenses paid by donors who have contributed financial support to ARRL’s Education & Technology Program Fund. The Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) will once again host and sponsor the TI-2 session on Space in the Classroom. Generous support by Yaesu, Ham Radio Outlet and Parallax make our donors’ contributions go even further.”

There are four ARRL Teachers Institute sessions scheduled for 2011: June 13-16 in Albuquerque, New Mexico; June 20-23 at Parallax Inc in Rocklin, California; July 11-14 at the Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, New York, and July 18-21 at ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut. The deadline to apply for the New Mexico and California sessions is April 15. The deadline for the New York and Connecticut sessions is May 15. The TI-2 is only available to those instructors who have participated in a previous Teachers Institute. This session will be in Dayton, Ohio on July 11-14; the application deadline is May 15.

All information about the Teachers Institutes -- including the application and a downloadable brochure -- is available online. There you will also find links on that page where hams and interested instructors can read more about what other ETP schools are doing with Amateur Radio and wireless technology topics.

If you’d like to support ARRL’s outreach efforts to bring wireless technology literacy to American teachers and students, you can donate online. For more information on how you can help support the ARRL Teachers Institute, contact ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH, at mhobart@arrl.org.