DRONETECH Educator Workshop:
STEM Drones Take Flight
This workshop is a baseline introduction to drones and how to economically establish programs within your school. We cover basic drone anatomy, safety principles, regulations, and best practices in maintaining and documenting your drone program. We introduce economical STEM drones and show how they can be used in multiple ways to enhance education in a variety of skill sets. Lastly, we cover student competitions and how you can start a team(s) in your school or organization. This workshop can also be adapted for post-secondary educators or anyone looking to enrich existing programs or outreach activities.
Pre-WorkshoP Videos & Workshop Recordings
Intro to Workshop
In this session, DRONETECH Director Tom Biller gives an introduction to the STEM Drones Take Flight Educator Workshop. He discusses the workshop rationale, goals, and topics that will be covered.
Anatomy of a Drone
In this session, DRONETECH Director Tom Biller presents an overview of basic drone parts and how they are inter-connected. He also covers the flight controller, motors, ESCS, props, frames, and control transmitters and receivers.
Part 107 & What It Means to Educators
In this session, NCAT Co-PI and Northland UAS Program Manager Zackary Nicklin covers a broad overview of the regulatory considerations regarding integration of UAS into the classroom. Commercial and recreational flights are discussed, along with Higher Education Exemptions.
Laying the Groundwork for Drone Operations
In this session, DRONETECH Director Tom Biller gives an overview of best practices in areas of safety, maintenance, logbooks and entries, pre-flight checklists, and flight simulators.
Rise of the STEM Drones
In this session, DRONETECH Director Tom Biller gives a side-by-side comparison of the two most popular STEM drones: Ryze Tello and the Parrot Mambo.
STEM Drone Programs on a Shoestring Budget
In this session, DRONETECH Director Tom Biller gives an overview of funding sources, skills you can highlight, curriculum resources, and how to integrate them into your program.
Student Competitions
In this session, DRONETECH Director Tom Biller discusses the RAD and Skills USA competitions and what the plans are for the upcoming year.
Open Discussion
In this session, workshop presenters Zackary Nicklin, Tom Biller and Steve Sorenson have an open discussion with workshop attendees.
This material is based in part upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (DUE 1501629, 1700615 and 1902574). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.