Drones are trending in schools these days— and for great reasons. If you work at a school, you’ve heard stories from colleagues or students about the “W-O-W” of drone programs.
Does this mean you should consider a drone education program for your school?
Keep reading to learn how drones can benefit everyone from your school faculty to families, because it’s time to lock in a drone program before the next academic year starts.
How Do Drones Benefit Schools?
If you’re on a school administrative team, you may wonder what flying machines have to offer students. Drones sound cool, but do they belong in schools?
Let’s look at some of the biggest positive impacts drone education has on learning, teaching, enrollment, and even character development.
Drone Programs Make Schools Stand Out
73% of parents want STEM in schools.
A solid STEM program is a major criterion for parents who want their children to gain future-ready career skills as they expand their knowledge.
Education + drones appeals to families that want innovative, comprehensive learning tools in their kids’ learning environment.
Since drones are critical to STEM learning today, including them in your school curriculum encourages enrollment. Read: you’ll make the shortlist, becoming an attractive option for your offering in this specialized area.
Drones Ignite All Types of Learning
A lot of STEM-related technology fits in well with high-academia: honors courses, magnet schools, academic enrichment programs. That’s great, and we love a good robotics competition. But what about everyone else? STEM / STEAM should be all-inclusive, and we don’t want to hear kids saying “I’m not a math person” or opting out of science.
We need to recapture the wonder of learning, and it needs to be accessible to everyone.
That is, luckily enough, just what drones can achieve in your school. As an administrator with goals to meet, a school drone curriculum has a ready audience that isn’t just the top of the class: it’s for everyone — every type of learner, every language speaker, every level.
No matter what academic standing a student may have, drones can inspire new comprehension and even ignite newfound interests. The impact can be life-changing.
Drones Kickstart STEM Careers
Imagine this: at school one day, a bright but unengaged student learns the many uses of drones in real life, one of which relates to their favorite helicopter video game.
Wait… this student thinks. I could do this as a job someday?
‘Copter flying is essential in all kinds of fields, from military operations to agriculture to medical response. If it weren’t for school STEM drone lessons, students may miss out on developing important career skills for the future.
Drone Programs Retain STEM Teachers
Kids are more interested in drones and tech, but so are teachers, and teacher attraction and retention is an ongoing challenge for school administrators.
Specialized, highly-skilled teachers will flock to schools that are ready to support STEM programs.
Drone programs connect STEM educators with a wide range of opportunities, such as field trips, competitions, and grants/funding. It’s fun, it’s different, and it gives teachers a great shot at facilitating learning-rich experiences with real-world results, which is exactly what they want.
Bonus: if your school drone programs are Drone Legends, your teachers get UNLIMITED professional development and an app or web-based community portal for global networking opportunities with other educators running our programs.
Drone STEM Curriculum Saves Money
Robotics programs are expensive. Traveling STEM clubs have a high barrier to entry that not all parents (or school budgets) can afford.
Bringing drones to the classroom is an affordable way to uplevel STEM technology learning while increasing the interest of eager students. Plus, faculty can reuse and adapt drone learning plans each year, cutting annual costs.
Drone Learning Builds Character
Meeting education standards and building student knowledge aren’t the only things that prepare kids to be functional citizens of society. Character development is also a must. From the district level down, systemic problems are often rooted in social-emotional learning and community-based issues. It may be surprising that drones attack this angle, but they have a lot of power, especially when they’re based on the idea that “Inside Every Child Lives a Legend™.”
Drone technology teaches kids responsibility, teamwork, and critical thinking. Piloting a drone requires students to learn and follow important rules and safety standards at all phases of operation. Leadership skills, communication, and adopting an attitude of “I can do challenging things” are priceless outcomes of drone education at your school.
Setting Up a Drone Program at Your School
Maybe you already know the benefits of starting a drone program at your school but you’re stumped by the regulations, equipment, and implementation of it all. That’s understandable. This is why we help schools through this process so they can bring drones to classrooms safely and effectively.
Find a Drone Curriculum
Most importantly, you need a drone curriculum. We suggest a ready-to-use drone curriculum aligned with educational standards. No bones about it: ours is the most academically rigorous, turnkey, teacher and student-friendly option out there.
Prepare Drone Equipment
You’ll need the right equipment to run a drone program. Equipment includes:
- The right drones for students
- Operation manuals
- Rules and safety guidelines
- Drone flight path markers
- Student drone pilot guides
- Tablets or computer programs for programming
At Drone Legends, we’re here to help you cover all the bases when it comes to setting up a drone program at your school. We also support educators in preparing themselves for effective teaching! Full package.
Invest in Drone Educators
You have a lot of options when investing in your drone educators. You can partner with a drone education company, apply for grants for your drone teachers, or encourage continued learning for STEM faculty so they can establish a winning drone program.
Drone Legends: STEM Support for School Programs
Where do you find all the information you need to introduce drones to students?
At Drone Legends, we have the tools you need to feel prepared and supported every step of the way.
Drones for school programs strengthen your offering, attract the best teachers, excite and engage students, and have positive, lasting benefits all around.
Reach out to us today to get started.