The book Drones in Education is now available. The book, written by Chris Carnahan, Laura Zeiger, and Kimberly Crowley, was created for instructional designers and educators looking to use drones as educational tools and who want to incorporate drones into their curricula.According to the book's authors, drones offer myriad educational benefits. "Even short exposure to robotics can have a lasting impact on students to pursue complex careers that they may have never considered," the authors opined. In science and engineering classes, students are building drones and writing programs to control them. Just to take a simple flight or plan a route, students need to consider weight, height, angles, and speed. The key to the learning experience is to reinforce content knowledge with technology, in this case drones. The drones grab the students’ attention and engage them in an activity while they are applying and mastering the skills that they learned during instruction.
- School administrators are also utilizing the technology to create marketing materials for YouTube channels and websites, showcasing their school and grounds from a bird’s eye view. Sports programs are utilizing drones to record the action in fields below.
Additionally, the use of drones in education enhances students' career-readiness and real-world experience, an advantage as drones are growing in momentum in the work place. Drone applications are no longer limited to military or police operations. Scientists, construction workers, realtors, first responders, sports teams, band directors and many more professionals are finding the versatile utility of quad copters.
Drones in Education covers such basic but important information as which drones need to be registered and where you can fly them. It also provides recommendations as to the drones that are best for specific students' age levels and subject areas. Complete with lesson plans, real-world applications, and tips on securing funding for drones, the information provided here will offer you everything you need to know to start using drones in the classroom.
About the Authors:
Dr. Chris Carnahan researches and provides professional development on implementing innovative technologies such as drones, robotics, and virtual learning environments to improve student engagement and achievement. To learn more about his work visit www.cdcarnahan.com.
Dr. Laura Zieger’s research and instructional interests include online community-building, transformation of learning with emerging technologies including robotics, immersive virtual environments and drones, and social computing applications in education.
Ms. Kimberly Crowley encourages implementation of STEM and STEAM initiatives within her school district. Her goal is to guide administrators and teachers to use technology as part of project-based learning as a way to improve student engagement.
For more about Drones in Education, visit www.Iste.org/drones.
