One of the biggest trends in education right is a STEM based curriculum, and for good reason too.  STEM stands for Science Technology Engineering and Math and was introduced as part of President Obama’s 2009 Educate to Innovate Campaign.  Though the United States has long been a leader in these fields, over the years more and more students have been choosing not to go into these fields when entering college.

To encourage further involvement in these fields that are currently shaping the world, primary through high school teachers are creating lessons that involve STEM principals based on real world scenarios.  That is why schools are looking to drones to help foster a love of STEM based learning in their schools.

Kids and hobbyists have loved tinkering and playing with drones for years now.  Drones have become one of the fastest growing markets in our economy.  They have become incredibly advanced tools that have found a place in countless professions.  It makes perfect sense that we begin teaching children how they can use drones in real world applications, not just as awesome toys.  Drones have the ability to provide classrooms with a learning platform that their students are actually interested in.

One teacher who realized the potential power of drones in the classroom is Kimberly Crowley, a math supervisor in the Jersey City Public School district.  With the backing of a superintendent who helped her find funding, she reached out to fellow district teachers to see who would be willing to participate in a new project.  Out of 50 teachers she met with, 24 joined her initial research project.  The school district was able to afford one drone to be shared between it’s 14 schools.  Each teacher involved in the program came together for a training session once a month for 3 months. 

The students loved the program and it became a huge success. Kids were excited to come to school for a chance to participate in the drone program.  When Crowley first introduced the program to her district she started off with one drone and a bit of skepticism.  Now each school has gathered funding to be able to have one or more drones at each school!

In Georgia one school district has gone even further.  Principal Chip Giles of the Long Cane Middle School in LaGrange, GA was awarded a $9,000 grant from the Georgia Governor’s Office of Student Achievement.  His proposal to the board was  “To offer an entire course on drone technology.”  He wanted more than what most schools were offering, a single unit or special elective that uses drone technology.  Along with fellow teacher Chris McCalla, the school bought a whole bunch of drones and built a drone race course.  Giles said of McCalla, “He’s a hobbyist, and he drives race cars. He was exactly the right guy to do this.”  The students work on everything from programing to coding to engineering, and of course repairs as the drones often crash.

Drone technology is constantly evolving.  This technology will also continue to influence the world around us greatly.  It is so important that schools embrace this technology into their curriculum.  After all, it is today’s students who will be the driving workforce of our future.  When using drones to teach STEM lessons, students don’t even realize they are being “educated”, rather they take the learning process into their own hands and absorb the knowledge naturally.

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