'Wireless Literacy' Is ARRL Eduction & Technology Program Goal:

With some 130 schools now on board, the ARRL Education & Technology Program (ETP)--also known as "the Big Project"--has set its sights on transforming the teaching of wireless technology in the US. ETP Coordinator Mark Spencer, WA8SME, acknowledges that incorporating what he calls "wireless literacy" into the broader educational landscape is not something that will happen overnight. Even so, he believes the ETP not only can have a role in developing a favorable climate for wireless literacy and establishing it as an educational mainstay but in ultimately setting academic standards. Spencer says reaching teachers first is key.

"You've got to have a jazzed teacher," Spencer stresses, pointing out that many teachers remain uncomfortable with wireless technology and are unaware of the best ways to teach it. To address this problem, the ETP last summer sponsored its first Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology, an intensive weeklong, hands-on session aimed at getting the nine attendees up to speed on wireless and electronics technology basics and how to teach them.

Expanding on the success of the inaugural institute, the ETP this year will sponsor three sessions--two at ARRL Headquarters and one "on the road" in Ohio in July. The institutes at ARRL Headquarters will immerse two dozen educators from across the US in wireless technology--all expenses paid. Spencer plans to augment the 2005 Teachers Institutes with more radio operating experience, evening sessions and more hands-on and interactive projects.

The ARRL Education & Technology Program recently kicked off its 2005 fund-raising effort, and ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH, says subsidizing the expansion of the Teachers Institute initiative is one facet of the current drive. She reports the ARRL Teachers Institute has leadership funding for 2005 with gifts from the Brandenburg Life Foundation and from ARRL Vice President Kay Craigie, N3KN, and her husband Carter, N3AO.

"Those contributions will provide about one-half of the total funding needed for the three Teachers Institute programs in 2005," Hobart notes. ARRL corporate partner Parallax will contribute robotics kits for participating teachers to build and program during this year's sessions.

Hobart says the ARRL has dedicated close to $470,000 in resources and member contributions to make the ETP a success. In addition to subsidizing the Teachers Institutes, the program's major expenses include station equipment--some $2200 per school--and project and activity boards and kits, which run between $20 and $100 apiece.

As of March, 134 schools are part of the Big Project, and the program has provided turnkey Amateur Radio stations to 110 of them--up from 80 schools a year earlier. In many instances teachers working with the ETP have encouraged many of their students to become radio amateurs, although that's not a primary program objective.

Beyond local schools and teachers, Spencer looks to Amateur Radio clubs in the community to establish close relationships with participating schools, sharing their expertise and providing assistance. "It really comes down to the local community drives what gets taught in the local schools," he says. "The teachers can be jazzed, but if they don't have any support from the local ham community, they're just going to get themselves burned out." Spencer says he's frequently on the stump asking amateurs to "walk the walk as well as talk the talk."

Overall, Spencer feels the program is moving in the right direction, although he said the progress is not easy to document. "Any real change in the educational community takes at least 12 years to come to fruition," Spencer said. In many cases, he believes, the program plants a seed that might flower down the road when a youngster exposed to wireless technology and electronics via the ETP makes his or her academic plans and career choices.

"We need to be patient," he cautions those who may feel that an enterprise like the Big Project should yield more immediate, obvious results. "Contributions that are given today don't necessarily turn into rubber on the road today."

"We're really talking about changing the culture of the school," Spencer concluded.

The 2005 Teachers Institute sessions at ARRL Headquarters will be June 13-17 and August 1-5. For more information, visit the ARRL Web site http://www.arrl.org/FandES/tbp/TI-2005-announce.pdf or contact Mark Spencer, WA8SME, mspencer@arrl.org; 860-594-0396. To help support the ARRL Education & Technology Program, visit the secure donation form on the ARRL Web site https://www.arrl.org/forms/development/donations/education/education.html.

Source:

The ARRL Letter Vol. 24, No. 14 April 8, 2005

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