Engaging Learners with Drones!

Drones! They are all around us, literally. Drones have become more and more popular, especially because they are now affordable to the general public. They come in all shapes, and sizes, some with cameras, some without. Just last year Santa delivered my friend (a 30 year old) a drone for Christmas. These fliers are made for all ages! Drones are being used for serious military operations as well. We are seeing these things at the beach, in the park, and even in schools. Yes, schools!

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Its exciting to know that these drones, which appear to be children's play toys, will most likely be coming to a school near you. How can drones even be educational? Here is what a school in Elon, North Carolina is doing with drones in their mathematics classroom (there is a good video on this website). Students work in groups, and must create a right triangle using cones. Students then fly their drone from one cone to the other, measuring the time, and distance to find the speed (rate). They are also using drones during this same activity with Pythagorean's Theorem, where they measure the distance of two sides of their triangle and use this property to find the third side length. They can then measure to see if they were correct. It is amazing how much fun the students were having, and how engaged they were while learning a topic they tend to dread, math.

Drones are not just applicable to math, but each and every subject area, although you see them most commonly used with STEM/STEAM programs at the moment. This New Jersey School purchased a drone recently that coasts over one thousand dollars. They are using their drone to film a television show their school produces, as well as other productions.

Schools are using Drones as a topic for debate which I find very interesting. Students are debating about the ethics of drones. Are they safe? Are they invasive? Should we have a set of rules when using the drone? Before we get these machines in children's hands we need to make sure they understand the power, and responsibility that comes with it. In this Edutopia Article they mention teaching students about SOAR before flying (Safety, Operation, Active Learning, and Research). The students will learn how to use the drone very quickly, but having them understand the responsibilities something flying in public is just as important.

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It is amazing how technology in education can transform learning. The drones themselves not exactly educational, but how you utilize them to meet the needs of your learners is...and the more creative you can be the better. Here is a list of eight different subject areas that describe how drones could be implemented into the curriculum. The drone is a machine, and when you look inside that machine, and around you can find many different concepts and activities to explore.