Teaching can be a challenging profession—one that requires adaption to an ever-changing environment. Curricula are revised constantly, and programs can come and go in the blink of an eye. The pressure of expectations for high test scores, diminishing school budgets, and copious amounts of paperwork can leave teachers feeling stressed and emotionally exhausted. In addition, teachers must find a way to prepare students for the digital age with a set of skills that they can transfer into college and the workforce.
With all of their obligations, it is understandable why teachers may not be overly enthusiastic about a new initiative. Many seasoned teachers have experienced fads in education and do not want to waste their time with “the next best thing.” However, all teachers share the desire to make a significant, lasting contribution to their students’ lives.
This chapter contains the stories of two teachers who made the decision to implement drones in their lessons. Though their teaching backgrounds are different, their goal is the same: to implement engaging and effective lessons in order to prepare their students for future success.
Wayne Creed is an elementary school teacher of fourteen years in an urban, public school district. He currently teaches a fifth grade inclusion class. An inclusion class consists of general-education students, and special-education students. He teaches all subjects: mathematics, language arts, science, and social studies. Wayne has received the Teacher of the Year district recognition twice since becoming a teacher.
Wayne believes the biggest challenges in education right now are student comprehension of all the information necessary for skill mastery and keeping students engaged in these rigorous lessons. He believes there are some key reasons for the existing achievement gap: learning disabilities, the amount of assistance a student receives at home, and a lack of student engagement in instructional material and topics. Information retention is impossible when student engagement is minimal; conversely, information retention increases when students are curious and interested.
Wayne is the mathematics representative for his school and attends monthly mathematics meetings in his district. During a break at a meeting, his supervisor approached him to propose an idea. She was short and to the point.
“We are doing something different,” she told him. “Before you react, I want you to take some time to think about it.”
Wayne’s interest was piqued (he has a reputation for being a creative and engaging teacher).
She continued, “We are getting drones and using them during mathematics instruction—not as a gimmick or a toy but as a learning tool. I will not say too much now; only that I’m very excited about it, and it is going to change education forever. Yes, I know that is a bold statement, but it is true. I want you to be a part of it.”
That is all that she told him as the break ended and the meeting continued.
During Wayne’s interview for this book he was asked about his initial thoughts when he was first approached with the idea of using drones in the classroom during mathematics instruction.
He recalls, “My initial thought when she first told me about this was, ‘What the heck? What is she doing?’”
Once he went back to his seat, he reflected on the drone concept, and the idea became much more interesting to him. He realized how exciting and fun it would be for the students. Within 10 minutes, he was up again to talk to his supervisor. He provided three ideas on how to incorporate drones into a math lesson, and he stated then and there that he wanted to be a part of the drone initiative—part of a change in how he educated his students.
He returned to his table and began speaking about it with the other teachers. The professional-development provider was not happy with all the distraction, but the excitement could not be contained. At the completion of that workshop, everyone was intrigued with the notion of incorporating technology into the classroom via drones.
Two months went by with no official word on when Wayne would be getting a drone to use during mathematics instruction. That did not hinder Wayne’s ambition, however. He continued developing ways to integrate drones into lessons; and when the announcement was made that his public school division was implementing a drone initiative, he was ready.
Wayne attended an informational session for the new drone initiative. He observed the looks on other teachers’ faces as they heard about drones and their proposed usage for the first time. The looks of astonishment were identical to the first time he heard about the concept. Having already considered the various capabilities, Wayne actively participated during the informational session, sharing ideas on how these drones could be integrated into mathematics instruction.
Wayne was one of twenty-two teachers selected for the drone initiative. The district provided him with three professional-development sessions on implementing drones into the existing mathematics curriculum. The training consisted of lessons on safety, ethics, and legality of use using the SOAR model. Additionally, teachers were trained on the operations aspects of drones: flight maintenance and troubleshooting. The teachers worked collaboratively to develop lesson plans and strategies for implementing the drones into the mathematics curriculum. During the workshop, time was also allotted for instructional demonstrations. Participants were shown how to edit drone footage using free movie-editing software. During this time, teachers from schools all over the district—many of whom had never met before—developed into a true professional-learning community. They shared tips and tricks and advice on how to overcome challenges. Collaborating in much the same way that their lessons asked of their students, teachers developed exciting activities to teach difficult subjects with the help of drones.
Wayne credits the professional development he received as a factor in the success he has had with the drone initiative. He feels that learning how to set up and fly a drone, as well as learning ways to implement it in the classroom, made him more confident and comfortable. Being able to collaborate with other teachers in the district was also an invaluable asset.
Wayne describes the students’ reactions when he told them they would be using drones during math as being much different than his initial reaction: “Their initial reaction was what mine eventually came to be, which was excitement and fun. They were blown away that they were going to have an opportunity to fly drones and actually use them to demonstrate math concepts.”
According to Wayne, it was not challenging to teach the students to operate the drones. It took 45 minutes for every student to fly the drone and become proficient at safe flight operations. Wayne began by giving his students a full lesson on the safety, rules, and operational procedures for drones—the first step in the SOAR model. In order for students to operate the drone, they had to pass a safety quiz he created. In addition, all students had to bring in photo-release forms signed by a parent, allowing them to be videoed by the drone.
Students were assigned to two groups, with each group receiving a drone. Wayne made the decision to let the students use iPads to control their drone, rather than cell phones. He modeled how to take off and land; how to fly forward, backward, and side-to-side; and how to turn the drone around. Then he and an assisting teacher, each working with a group, had every student fly the drone a certain distance forward, turn it around, and fly it back. This was all it took for students to feel comfortable. A few students were a bit nervous at first, but that hesitation quickly disappeared after they took their turns.
Wayne is fortunate to be working in a building with extremely supportive administrators who believe in the benefits of implementing technology in education. His principal is always looking for ways to enhance student engagement. The administrators observed the class learning to fly the drone and Wayne’s introductory lesson. They also observed the increase in student engagement. As a result, the principal and assistant principal immediately decided that a drone program in their building was paramount to increasing student engagement in all appropriate classes. That same day, the administrators ordered seven additional drones. Since then, they have expanded their fleet of drones to include land drones and professional drones, and they even have a drone cabinet for storage. Among the fleet is a Parrot AR.Drone 2.0, a DJI Phantom 3 Professional, a Parrot Bebop, and a Parrot Jumping Sumo minidrone.
Wayne’s biggest challenge thus far is keeping up with the maintenance of the drones. Batteries have to be charged frequently, and propellers have to be checked for chips. Another challenge has been securing physical space for the lessons. Since his building has many drones, each group gets its own during a lesson. Space is needed to fly multiple drones simultaneously. Either the gym or the auditorium has to be reserved or, weather permitting, the class moves outside of the building. Drones can operate in the classroom environment, but now that students are used to having one drone per group, Wayne plans accordingly.
Wayne has done a variety of math lessons incorporating the drones, including dividing decimals, estimation, and conversions. After each lesson, he reflects on what worked, what did not, and what could be improved for next time. The first lesson started with one drone and now lessons incorporate up to four drones. That means the students fly the drones at the same time, which keeps them fully engaged; there is no idle time.
It is rare to observe a math lesson where Wayne is actually flying a drone. The class works independently, and Wayne serves as the facilitator of learning. His most recent instructional evaluation exemplifies this point: “The students took the initiative to adapt the lesson to make it relevant. Students were engaged in higher-order thinking and class discussion. They assisted each other in understanding the content and took initiative in improving their work.”
Wayne feels like the drone initiative has had a positive impact on his instruction too. It forces him to be more creative in the way he presents a particular standard. He “thinks outside the box” to teach a concept creatively as opposed to conducting a lesson in front of an interactive whiteboard. A creative teacher is beneficial to a class since he or she affords students various adaptations to a variety of learning styles.
Additionally, Wayne believes students will now have a much better reference of prior knowledge when they take a standardized test. He gives an example of a lesson they did on units and measurements using drones: “If they have a question like this on a standardized test, they will have a recall memory to tie it to. They will think, ‘We converted inches into feet [and] into yards when we were flying the drone. I remember how to do that.’”
If you ask a student if they remember practicing a specific skill in a lesson, many times they cannot. Wayne thinks by utilizing drones, students will recall, “Yes, that was December when we went into the gym with the drones.”
Wayne does not see drone integration in education as a fad. He feels that the more the other classes see his students using the drones, the more they will want to be involved. His building also provided professional development on drone integration, in addition to the professional development provided by his district. As he disseminates that training and information to other staff members, he hopes drone integration will become more widespread throughout the school.
Wayne fully supports the use of drones in mathematics and has agreed to participate in a research study regarding implementation. Students will be given a pretest and posttest with drone lessons serving as a teaching tool. He thinks it will be a great way to measure success and plans to eventually expand the use of drones into other content areas. For now, however, he wants to concentrate on getting more comfortable with creating lessons for math and its standards. Then, once the drones have been successfully aligned to the Common Core State Standards for mathematics, he will move on to other subjects. He already has several ideas for interdisciplinary projects.
Upon reflection, Wayne recalls the initial reaction of the other teachers: “How will we use drones for math?” He laughs about it now because the ideas come effortlessly; in fact, his students have even developed their own ideas for implementation.
Claire Seborowski teaches a K–2 autism class in an urban, public school district. Before taking over this role, she was a first grade inclusion teacher. Claire’s student population consists of three students who are advanced academically but deficient socially, and three students who are deficient academically but advanced socially.
When Claire talks about challenges in education, she naturally references the population that she teaches. But she recognizes that she is in a fortunate situation. Her school is a K–2 building with a large special-needs population. Her administrator is a true instructional leader who believes every student can achieve, and ensures that all students are included and recognized. Claire knows that every building is not like this; she has heard stories, read articles, and seen news segments that are contrary to her situation.
Claire feels that the biggest problem with primary autism classes is that they are not integrated with the general-education classrooms as much as they should be. Some teachers who are not in the primary autism setting may wonder what these students really have to offer. However, if teachers gave autistic students a chance to participate, she knows the teachers would see that they could improve the dynamic of a general-education classroom. She describes the intelligence of her students as “through the roof.”
Claire believes students’ difficulty with problem solving is directly related to an inability to apply knowledge. Like most teachers (regardless of the subject area, grade level, or population they teach), she feels that students struggle to understand how skills learned in the classroom environment connect to solutions of problems outside of school. The students have recall ability, but when it comes time for application, they cannot. She knows that making the material meaningful by providing her students with opportunities for real-world connection is vital to their success.
When Claire first heard her school was selected to begin implementing drones in the classroom, she was apprehensive. Her principal explained that the school was part of an initiative to use drones in classroom instruction and told Claire not to worry; she had spoken at length with the administrator running the initiative, and they believed it would provide a great opportunity for the students.
Claire had no idea how drone integration would work. She knew nothing about drones, aside from negative news stories regarding them being flown into commercial airspace and the paparazzi using them for celebrity pictures. She was especially concerned about how drones could be applied to her population of students; however, she trusted her principal and the administrator running the initiative. Claire was confident they would never put her or her students in a compromising situation, so she decided to accept the proposed idea. Today, Clare is grateful she made this decision, as the results have been astounding.
To begin the process, Claire attended a meeting outlining the drone initiative. The purpose of the initiative was to increase student engagement by implementing drones during core subject lessons. The informational meeting also established the requirements to participate. Although there were several, two resonated with Claire: (1) The drone had to be implemented for instructional purposes. “How will my class use this during math?” she wondered. And (2) students were to control the drone. Teachers were expected to model the lesson, but flying and demonstrating proficiency were the responsibility of the student. Teachers were told this was mandatory—the drone was a learning tool, not a toy. As she had never flown a drone before, Claire herself was worried about her own abilities to do so. Could her students do it?
Claire’s apprehension started to ease after the first professional-development session. She learned that drones were actually safe and difficult to break. Learning about drone safety made her feel comfortable using a drone with her students, and seeing the foam guard around the drone made her less concerned with injuries. After several hours of practice, lesson planning, and developing real-world activities, Claire’s confidence increased.
She returned from the professional development determined to successfully integrate drones into her classroom instruction; she saw it as an exciting way to showcase her students’ unique abilities. Having worked with students with autism most of her career, she knew that implementing drones in her classroom would likely require a different approach than other teachers use. She knew that given the broad spectrum of abilities within her class, she would have to customize the lessons to meet the individual needs of her students.
Claire’s students were excited during the initial drone demonstration. Claire and another teacher brought their primary autism classes to the auditorium, where Claire placed the drone on the stage floor. She began by explaining a brief history of drones and then proceeded to fly the drone around the open space of the auditorium. The students were amazed. Some students watched while others covered their eyes and ears. One student compared it to a flying saucer while another exclaimed, “I can feel the wind!” Claire was pleased with the instant engagement and reaction it sparked.
In alignment with the SOAR model, Claire went over drone safety and the importance of giving adequate space when a fellow classmate is controlling the drone. Then she and her colleague began to try to get the lower-functioning students to focus on the drone. Many of those students do not make eye contact and/or do not observe during instructional activities, so they cover their faces. (Claire has since found that, over time, this has changed. Now when the drone flies by, these students lift their heads and are fixated. Incredibly, they watch and focus on the drone’s flight, even if it is only briefly.)
During the drone introduction lesson, each student used the controller to fly the drone. They first started practicing with takeoff and landing. Claire admits that it was challenging to teach her class to fly the drone, but she emphasizes that it takes her students more time to attain most skills. The difference with the drone is that her students were eager to learn, and this willingness motivated them to practice until they achieved proficiency. Despite many crashes into the floor and walls, no injuries occurred. As a result, most students exhibited confidence when flying. After several days of practice, the students demonstrated more competence in their flights, flying the drone in all directions, as well as turning the drone around.
As soon as Claire and her colleague were assured their students were no longer afraid of the drone, they invited some second grade general-education students to the auditorium to observe their autism classes using the drones with distinct aptitude. The connection was made, and the primary autism students assisted the second graders with flying the drone. All students involved were engaged in meaningful social interactions, and everyone was included regardless of classification. Claire says creating inclusive environments is common in her building, but the conversations, teamwork, and lasting connections the drones created was something she had never observed before. These activities not only reinforced core subject skills, they also developed socialization skills, which are distinctly difficult for students with autism.
Claire recalls walking in the hallway with her class when a student pointed out a second grader: “Ms. Seborowski! He is helping our group with the drones during math.” The drone initiative is helping her students create friendships. She also acknowledges that encouraging verbal communication from her students is a difficult task, but the drone activities have definitely helped: “The other day, a girl in my class said, ‘This is amazing.’ She never uses words like that.”
Claire’s students ask about the drone all the time; they want to know when they will be flying it again, and they want to know why they are not using it during reading and writing too. These simple inquiries have made Claire realize that the drone can be integrated during reading and writing instruction, so she has begun to draft lesson plans that involve taking pictures with the drone and using the images to make predictions.
Using the drone, Claire makes lessons fun and exciting. Her class is currently learning to count by twos. She puts numbers on the floor, and the students count aloud (“Two, four, six…”) as a student flies the drone from one number to the next in the series. The drone integration helps with math but also develops students’ fine-motor skills. In addition, students are making the connection that drones are for education. When students return to their classes after a lesson with the drone, they articulate that they were working with solid figures or skip counting using the drone; they do not describe using the drone as playing.
Parents have told Claire that their children have come home talking about the drone and how they’ve been using it during mathematics instruction. The parents are happy because this has enhanced the conversation and social interaction at home. Their children are excited about learning and cannot wait to talk about flying the drone to solid figures, like a cube. Then they proceed to describe the geometric traits of the cube.
All students in Claire’s building are excited about the drone, and students in different classes are requesting to assist with drone lessons. Claire wishes she could have every student in the auditorium at once but knows that is impossible. She is trying to create a schedule that will eventually allow every student to have an opportunity to assist with a drone lesson. With additional professional development, she hopes that more teachers will be part of her school district’s drone initiative.
Claire feels that using the drone during instruction has changed her perspective as a teacher. “This has taught me a lot about teaching,” she says. “For instance, with that one child that doesn’t like to look up, that doesn’t like to focus on anything. When I saw that, the fact that he looked up for even two seconds and smiled… was a major thing. It gave me many more ideas [about what] we could do with the special-ed population [to include] them with the general-ed population. It has opened my eyes to more activities that can take place.”
Claire’s ability to “think outside the box” has been enhanced. She thinks drones are the future of education and is excited about it—and her students notice that excitement and energy. She plans on using the drone during summer school, even exposing the pre-K, disabled classes to it.
Claire believes that drones are a current and relevant integration of technology for all students but especially for students with autism. The initiative has created a true example of inclusion, allowing her students to work with their general-education peers. It has helped her students develop social, language, and math skills. Claire credits using the drone during lessons with encouraging conversation from her students; with drawing out words and even sentences that her students would not normally say. The drone has allowed her students to engage in critical-thinking activities that demonstrate their learning and understanding through interactive technology.
Claire’s advice to anyone who is considering implementing drone usage in their class or in their building: “Go for it!” It will provide a new outlook on teaching, and the direct result will be increased student engagement.