Though students can use drones in any number of different ways, it’s often best to wait until middle school before attempting to integrate them in your STEAM curriculum. By the time they reach high school, however, almost all students—especially anyone who enrolls in career and technical education programs—should be comfortable enough to begin piloting them.
What started out as a cool and unique chance for students to develop key skills while trying out new technology has grown into a legitimate teaching and learning approach. Now, with applications in all sorts of today’s STEM and CTE disciplines, educators are discovering how teaching with various drones can help prepare students for the future in a variety of
With the DroneBlocks app and curriculum, students can program the flight paths and movements of the Tello EDU using simplistic drag-and-drop blocks. They could also utilize DroneBlocks for programming some of the more advanced DJI drones, like the Phantom 3, Phantom 4, Mavic Pro, Mavic Air, and the regular Tello drone. Read on to learn more!
One very exciting update to the DroneBlocks curriculum offerings is the virtual coding simulator. Using this web-based platform, students can create block coding programs for the Tello EDU drone and control its maneuvers as it navigates a virtual but realistic environment. And, not to be outdone, the DroneBlocks Code platform is optimized for JavaScript.
With DroneBlocks, STEM educators can build on student interest in flying drones and take it further with drones they can program! DroneBlocks is a free app that is compatible with Chrome, iPad, and Android devices and provides educators with great professional development tools and resources for helping them maximize their drone and coding instruction.
Teaching students about drones, their uses, and how to pilot them is amazing in its own right. When you incorporate the fact that some drones, like the Tello EDU, are programmable, then it takes drone education to a whole new level and the DroneBlocks professional learning content is a great way to get started.
Whatever is the latest piece of technology adapted for the classroom, we’re working to sell teachers, schools and districts on the importance of making sure their students have access to it. Next up on the long list of innovative EdTech? Drones. When it comes to tapping and ballooning student creativity with technology, drones are certainly exciting options.
