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.

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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.

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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.

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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

  • A friend attended the NCSS IEEE REACH on Technology in History and said I must visit the table! I knew immediately that this is important for the students and exciting to teach.

    Scott Henstrand, Master Teacher of Big History

    Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies, NY

  • IEEE REACH looks like it would fit very well into our World History curriculum. It aligns with the drive towards STEM education and gives Social Studies a stake in that. I also think it will be exciting for students to study World History from new perspectives. I’m very interested and can’t wait to share it with teachers.

    Tom Daugherty, K-12 Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator

    Greensboro, NC. Guilford County Schools

  • I am fascinated with how ideas impact history and I usually reflect on ideologies and how they influence all cultures. I am passionate about such concepts. Using REACH in my classroom made me realize how much technology fits right into my passion. Technology begins as an idea, a seedling in someone’s imagination, a thought to solve a problem or meet a need. Eventually that seedling sprouts, is nurtured and turns into an invention, which then affects society and shapes history in ways no one anticipated.

    Laurie Bisconti

    Social Studies Teacher, Heritage Middle School

  • These materials are directly connected to what I do! - The curriculum created by the state and incorporating primary sources into the classroom.

    Elizabeth Casey, World History Teacher

    Garfield High School, Virginia

  • IEEE REACH was GREAT! Love the resources … already checking them out and will share!

    State Department Social Studies Supervisor