The ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology is a donor-funded professional development program designed to help classroom teachers elevate their STEM programs through the use of wireless technology. As a part of the ARRL Education & Technology Program, several sessions are conducted each year, and the program continues to grow.Teachers Institute is filled with lectures, hands-on activities, and demonstrations to inspire teachers so they can inspire their students through the use of tools and strategies to introduce basic electronics, radio science, satellite communications, Amateur Radio, radio direction finding (fox hunting), weather science, microcontrollers, and electronic sensors to their students. Teachers are provided with the equipment needed to take wireless technology to their classrooms. If you, or someone you know, would like to support ARRL's mission to elevate STEM programs in schools, click here: DONATE TODAY or contact the ARRL Development Office at (860)594-0291

Take a look at our newly expanded 2025 Teachers Institute Brochure!

Successful completion of TI-1: Introduction to Wireless Technology and being in possession of your own ham radio call sign are the only prerequisites to apply for any TI Elective listed below. All applicants must complete their application electronically (with the exception of a Cover Letter that will be emailed). If you submit your TI-1 application after the summer months submission deadline, you may only be eligible for the later October sessions. Please see below:

• NEW! ONLY Local Louisiana teachers should apply to our TI-1 session from June 2-5 located in Lake Charles, LA with this LA JUNE APP
• NEW! ONLY Local Maryland teachers should apply to our TI-1 session from August 11-14 located in Laurel, Maryland with this JHU APL AUGUST APP
  

• Application for all other 2025 TI-1 Sessions
  
• Application for all 2025 TI Electives
  • Course Descriptions are coming soon!
    • TI Remote Sensors & Data Gathering
    • TI Balloons and Amateur Radio
    • TI Space Comms & Radio Astronomy

Summer 2025 TI sessions - June, July and August:

• Application submission deadline is *April 30th, 2025* (Extension granted for TX, LA and JHU APL sessions)
  
• Acceptance Date: TBD Acceptance will be confirmed via email provided on application.

October 2025 TI sessions:

• Application submission deadline is August 31st, 2025
• Acceptance Date: TBD Acceptance will be confirmed via email provided on application.

*Note: "TI-2: Remote Sensing and Data Analysis" has been revised and renamed TI Remote Sensors & Data Gathering. Additional new sections named TI Balloons and Amateur Radio and TI Space Comms & Radio Astronomy have also been added.

Travel and Reimbursement Guidelines

Cost: Teachers Institute opportunities are virtually free for the participants. The grant to attend a TI covers transportation, hotel, a modest per-diem to cover meals, instructional resources for the electronics, microcontroller, and robotics segments of the course, and a resource library of relevant ARRL publications. There is a $100 enrollment fee to attend Teachers Institute.

To qualify, applicants must be an active U.S. schoolteacher at an elementary, middle, high school or at a college or university, or in a leadership or enrichment instruction role in an after-school or collective homeschool program. An Amateur Radio license is NOT required for the introductory workshop (TI-1) but IS required for any TI Elective course.

Graduate credits: Graduate credits are available through Fresno Pacific University upon completion of the TI-1 or TI Elective programs. These credits can be used to satisfy professional growth requirements to maintain teaching credentials. The class is self-contained and participants are expected to be able to complete all requirements during the class time. Graduate credit information may then be requested at the end of the Teachers Institute.

Professional Development Opportunity: Teachers Institute opportunities are virtually free for the participants.The grant to attend a TI covers transportation, hotel, a modest per-diem to cover meals. Instructional resources for the electronics and microcontroller segments of the course and a resource library of relevant ARRL publications are provided to participants of the introductory Teachers Institute (TI-1). Hands-on instructional resources and equipment applicable to the topic of the advanced Teachers Institiute Electives are also provided through donations to the Education & Technology Program Fund and through in-kind contributions from our industry partners. A $100 enrollment fee is required.

Review the Teachers Institute agendas linked below for more detailed information.Travel and Reimbursement Guidelines.

Register with us to receive updates and notifications about our Education & Technology Program opportunities.

Teachers Institute Course Summaries:

TI-1 Introduction to Wireless Technology Teachers will be introduced to the basics of electronic principles, radio frequency propagation, and antennas. They will gain practical experience building simple electronic circuits and antennas. Additionally, the teachers will participate in a hidden transmitter hunting activity (aka, fox hunting).   After attending TI-1, teachers are eligible for our elective courses. These courses are taught in Newington, CT and all expenses are paid by donors.  

TI Remote Sensors Data Gathering Teachers will build and program an electronic circuit that will remotely gather and transmit water and weather data using the amateur radio Automatic Packet Reporting System to an internet site. The teachers will be introduced to Arduino C++ programming, the APRS network, and learn how to collect and analyze the data consisting of water and air temperatures, barometric pressure, GPS, and remaining battery life. The teachers will learn analog to digital principles and Very High Frequency propagation. 

TI Balloons and Amateur Radio Teachers will launch and track helium filled pico balloons that have the potential to circle the globe. The balloons will be tracked via the Weak Signal Propagation Reporting (WSPR) network. The teachers will build the solar powered, amateur radio enabled balloon payloads consisting of a temperature sensor and GPS. The teachers will be introduced to the WSPR network, High Frequency radio propagation, how to track their balloons after launch, weather patterns, and solar energy. The teachers will also be introduced to the requirements of balloon launches in several U.S. states.  

TI Space Comms & Radio Astronomy Teachers will learn how to make amateur radio contacts via amateur radio FM and liner satellites, as well as the International Space Station. They will also learn how to capture weather satellite imagery directly from NOAA satellites. The teachers will also build a radio astronomy system consisting of a dipole antenna array and a Software Defined Radio capable of receiving radio signals from the sun and Jupiter. They will also be given a personal tour of MIT’s Haystack Radio Astronomy Observatory.

Not too long ago ExxonMobil launched a TV ad campaign titled “Let’s Solve This” with the focus on the need for more investment in teacher training to improve US student performance. The “Let’s Solve This” campaign cites research that shows that students that are taught by teachers with a deeper understanding of the subject out-perform those students taught by less capable teachers. Therefore, “we need to invest in our teachers as a means to improved student performance.”   

There has been a resurgence and aggressive emphasis upon STEM education in response to numerous economic challenges we face from our overseas economic competitors in high technology industries. Now it is being recognized that STEM instruction needs to focus on the connection between science and mathematics and engineering and technology, rather than a more compartmentalized focus on these content areas independently. It is the teacher’s role to make these connections for students. To do so, teachers need to know the science and math content and understand the technologies in use in sufficient detail to make the connections for their students…thus, now the recognition of the core problem identified in the “Let’s Solve This” campaign. 

The ARRL ETP has identified this problem and has been doing what we can do to address it by offering the Teachers Institute (TI) over the past 15+ years. From the first pilot TI conducted in 2004, and each year thereafter, this in-service training program supported entirely by generous philanthropic donations, continues to evolve and flourish.

The Teachers Institute is only the beginning of a participant's exploration with wireless technology. The goal of the TI program is to equip each schoolteacher with necessary foundational knowledge, and through hands-on learning, generate the inspiration for teachers to continue to explore wireless technology and adapt relevant content into their classroom instruction.

This training serves as excellent foundational preparation for schoolteachers interested in including classroom learning about radio communications and wireless technology as part of student preparation for participation in the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program.