The Technology Leaders Initiative™ (TLI) allows students to develop a myriad of academic, technology, career and life skills by creating their own inventions and entrepreneurial ventures. TLI also provides students with a tremendous feeling of accomplishment resulting from converting their ideas into tangible reality. This uniquely motivating experience instills students with the attitude “if your mind can conceive it and your heart can believe it, then you can achieve it”. The skills and mindset that are developed through this program transfer directly into the classroom, workplace and everyday life.
TLI consists of motivational invention demonstrations, exciting hands-on invention/business development workshops and Technology Leaders Expos showcasing completed student projects. Thousands of students have been positively impacted by TLI since its inception in 1998.
Our curriculum activities are inspired by the road to success taken by innovators such as Ivan Yaeger, Chief Executive Officer of The Yaeger Companies and creator of TLI. Ivan discovered the power of inventing when he created a battery powered bionic arm as a seventh grade science fair project, using parts salvaged from toys and common household objects. By the time he entered college Ivan had developed this design into The Yaeger Arm, a sophisticated prosthetic limb that garnered numerous science awards, scholarships and a United States patent. This experience launched his career as a successful inventor/entrepreneur: he has since appeared in over 100 broadcasts and publications such as The Today Show, People Magazine and the United States Patent & Trademark Office’s website and America’s Tapestry of Innovation video. Students are guided by Yaeger and a team of facilitators via streaming video instruction. TLI truly captures the attention of youth by providing a powerfully motivating experience — participants learn by example how to acquire and apply knowledge needed to convert dreams into reality.
WHAT NEEDS ARE ADDRESSED BY TLI?
According to the Millennium Survey conducted by Deloitte & Touche, LLP, 66.3% of executives list “recruiting a qualified workforce” as the primary crisis facing their companies. Employers often complain that there is a shortage of students with the technical and business savvy necessary to compete in a dynamic global economy. The entrepreneurial sector is also in need of top talent because the majority of new private sector jobs are being created by small and medium-sized entrepreneurial ventures. Students unable to compete in tomorrow’s economy due to inadequate technology and career skills may eventually channel their creative energies into destructive pursuits. Therefore, a new generation of leaders and innovators must be prepared to enter this rapidly changing marketplace. TLI addresses this need by strengthening the pool of career focused, technologically skilled students.
WHAT ARE TLI’s PRIMARY OBJECTIVES?
TLI is a program focused on producing long-term results. The fundamental “success attitude” is instilled within participants; they will begin to dream of newly discovered careers and feel that such dreams are attainable. TLI’s primary goals are to provide students with the opportunity to:
- Develop essential academic and career skills
- Channel creative energies into positive pursuits
- Understand the link between technology and commerce
- Discover the ability to participate in a technology-driven economy.
WHAT IS THE TLI CURRICULUM?
Our curriculum topics consist of the following:
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The first session is a motivational presentation featuring Ivan Yaeger’s demonstration of his patented inventions. This is followed by teamwork activities and the formation of “companies” of 3 to 6 students. The teams operate as a start-up business venture, creating a corporate name and delegating job positions. Teams brainstorm to create inventions that address tangible problems. Students use TLI Inventor Kits containing a selection of electrical and mechanical components to learn the correct names, properties and uses of materials. Students design their inventions in TLI Inventor’s Notebooks then build prototypes of their inventions (using Inventors Kits combined with student-sourced materials). They conduct patent searches and learn about the process of applying for patents, trademarks and copyrights. Each team packages all of this data in a business plan format andcreatesaproductcommercial(liveorvideotaped). Theprogramculminateswithstudentteams presenting their inventions, business plans and commercials at an in-class Invention Expo.
WHAT ARE TLI’s OUTCOMES?
The following evaluation chart illustrates the specific skills that are developed by TLI activities.
HOW CAN YOUR STUDENTS RECEIVE TLI?
- Purchase the TLI Virtual Classroom package for the school year, which consists of Inventor’s Kits and Inventor’s Notebooks for one classroom and a site license for accessing the TLI Website. Additional Kits and Notebooks are purchased for additional classrooms.
- During a class period, teachers and students log onto our secure TLIPROGRAM.com website and view a workshop video. Following this instruction, students work together in teams to apply the subject matter in the development of their invention projects. Rubrics and assessment tools are provided to allow teachers to grade and track students’ accomplishment of curriculum milestones. Teachers should also provide 1 to 2 additional class periods as lab sessions for completion of project tasks.
TLI Virtual Classroom is a turnkey curriculum package which provides instruction and materials. The school site is only responsible for providing (a) ability to view internet content (e.g. Internet access, computers, Smart Boards); (b) classroom setup that allows students to work together in teams of 4-6 members; and (c) basic craft items (e.g. scissors, glue, tape, markers) and discarded cardboard boxes for prototype building.
Teachers typically schedule TLI as a 9 to 10 week program (1 – 2 sessions per week). We recommend allotting 1 hour per workshop on a specific day during the regular classroom schedule. Students may also complete certain project tasks as homework and work together between video workshops to develop their projects. TLI is correlated with curriculum standards for science, mathematics, language arts and social studies and is utilized to meet requirements and generate classroom grades.
Please contact us for current pricing for this all-inclusive package.
Yaeger Innovative Products Corporation 1177 N. W. 62nd Street
Miami, FL 33150
Office: (305)751-4208
Cell: (305)342-3005
Fax: (305)691-3784
E-mail: IG500@aol.com