About IEEE REACH
Understanding that technology and history are not mutually exclusive subjects, IEEE REACH provides pre-university teachers with free, open educational resources that situate science, technology, and engineering in their social and humanistic contexts. The program is interdisciplinary, and while designed for Social Studies teachers and meeting the C3 Framework standards, it also meets the Next Generation Science Standards, and the Standards for Technology and Engineering Literacy as defined by the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA).
The resources include: Inquiry Units which are inquiry designed lesson plans based on the C3 (College, Career, Civics) Framework, primary and secondary sources, hands-on-activities, multimedia sources (video and audio), background information for teachers, and additional resources. The REACH site is fully text searchable, by context, i.e., Inquiry Unit, Primary Sources etc., or by 9 themes: agriculture, manufacturing, materials & structures, energy, communication, transportation, information processing, medicine & healthcare, and warfare. A search may be broken down even further by era, geography, and by World History AP themes.
REACH offers a one-stop shop of resources that bring to life the history of technology and engineering in the classroom. As stated by NCSS (National Council of Social Studies), “History, a field that straddles the humanities and the social sciences, is the ideal channel for demonstrating how science and technology operate in society.” IEEE REACH offers an opportunity to expose students to the different ways that science and technology interrelate and play out in society.
IEEE History Center
The IEEE History Center, a center for the public history of technology, created the REACH Program. Dedicated to the preservation, research and promotion of the history of technology and engineering, the IEEE History Center maintains many useful resources such as the Engineering & Technology History Wiki (ETHW – www.ethw.org), which includes oral history interviews, self-written first-hand accounts, encyclopedic articles and a list of landmarks of engineering history searchable by a timeline and an interactive map. The primary resource of the History Center, however, is its professional staff, including four Ph.D. level historians with their own knowledge base, plus extensive contacts with historians of science and technology and STS scholars at 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ, where the History Center is located, and beyond. Over the years the History Center staff have conducted pre-university history teacher workshops and guest lectures.
IEEE Foundation
REACH is an IEEE Foundation Signature Program. As the philanthropic arm of IEEE, the IEEE Foundation inspires the generosity of donors to enable IEEE programs that improve access to technology, enhance technological literacy, and support technical education and the IEEE professional community. The IEEE Foundation, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization in the United States, fulfills its purpose by soliciting and managing donations, recognizing the generosity of our donors, supporting high impact IEEE programs, and awarding grants to IEEE grassroots projects of strategic importance. IEEE Foundation serves as a steward of donations that improve the human condition, empower the next generation of engineers and scientists, educate and raise awareness, energize and recognize innovation, and preserve the history of technology. With donor support, the IEEE Foundation strives to be a leader in transforming lives through the power of technology and education.
IEEE
IEEE, a 501(c)(3) association, led by a diverse body of elected and appointed volunteer members, is the ideal organization to create and provide these resources. IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization, dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity.
The National Humanities Center
The National Humanities Center is unique: a free standing national resource devoted to advancing significant humanistic study and reflection and to making those insights available both inside and outside the academic world. IEEE REACH is participating in the National Humanities Center’s Humanities in Class Digital Library, which provides access to the best instructional resources and scholarly materials in support of humanities education. Resources are tagged by subject matter, topics and material type, making it easy to discover and combine content you need from institutions you trust.
Humanities in Class Digital Library
National Humanities Center
