Application of Wireless Technology in K-12 STEM Outreach Programs in Middle Schools

Science and technology are critical to America's future and prosperity. During the next decade, U.S. demand for scientists and engineering will increase at four times the rate of all other occupations. Recent and emergent advances in biotechnology, nanotechnology, wireless and communications technologies, photonics, material sciences, and other totally unanticipated technologies are among the changes that engineering education has to deal with today. High school students are the workforce in the near future and their proficiency in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields will play a key role in how our society will benefit from those technologies [1–3]. However, if students wait until high school to become interested in technology related fields then they will already be behind the curve in preparing for their college education. This paper presents the efforts of the RET-Hawaii teacher outreach program in developing educational material for the Middle School classroom to stimulate interest in science and engineering fields for students in Hawaii at an earlier age.