SANTHA WALTERS
  • Blog
  • Santha
  • Doodles and Bullet Journal
  • Resume
  • Olli Classes

Finding my way...

Drones in the Classroom--It's all about communication.

1/2/2018

4 Comments

 
Picture
Photograph by Melissa Hansen
 
I will admit it; this lesson is not for the faint of heart.  As an educator, I'm used to a certain level of chaos in my classroom.  This level of chaos was very close to my limit, but as Kami and I skated close to that edge, I saw an excitement and engagement level in my students that was both refreshing and exhilarating.  

The lesson plan was simple enough.  After playing with the drones over the weekend with my sons, I felt I had an okay handle on their functioning.  Specifically, I could turn them off and on and generally make them function. 

Then, on Monday, we started with this lesson.  Below is a simplified outline.  If you click on the picture of the chart, it will take you to the Google Document with hot linked resources that I used in the lesson.  

Picture
PicturePhotograph by Melissa Hansen
The lesson was whole-heartedly enjoyable and I was amazed by how many objectives we were able to hit with our discussions and our experiences. The ones that namely stood out were: 
LA 8.1.6.i Construct and/or answer literal, inferential, critical, and interpretive questions and support answers with explicit evidence from the text or additional sources

LA 8.1.6.j Apply knowledge of organizational patterns to comprehend informational text (e.g., sequence/chronological, description, spatial, cause and effect, compare/contrast, fact/opinion, proposition/support).


Most remarkably every single objective for LA 8.3 and LA 8.4--(Communication and Media Literary) was repeatedly woven into every aspect of the lesson.

What would I change?  Extra batteries for the drones is the easiest fix to the limited time the flyers will run.  For our Parrot drones, we were getting about 10 minutes from fully charged to won't fly anymore.  They needed at least 20--30 minutes on charge to restart the cycle. Two sets of batteries would solve this problem.  

The other thing is that I would work harder to understand the battery aspect of the project before getting in to the classroom.  That was a bit of a crash and burn as on Tuesday, our drones failed to charge Monday night (the cart was not plugged into the wall--ops) and one of the drone's top time was 50 seconds (for two classes).  I solved this by combining groups to work together on single drones.  It was not ideal, but it was effective as everyone could still do their jobs in turns.  

I was astounded by their teamwork and their ability to work in both their group and combined groups.  The dynamics were powerful and interesting to watch.  The regular classes were all self-chosen and group decided.  I was fascinated to watch which kids waned which roles and who stepped up to lead the groups.

And here I need to have a BIG shout out to the awesomely amazing Mallory Peterson @malpete1010  our H.A.L. educator extraordinaire.  She created the incredibly gorgeous safety presentation linked below.  I'd also love to point out that Phillip Loomis @TeachLoomis helped dropping off equipment on the fly when we had trouble with the batteries and needed a backup plan!  What a rock star team!

Finally, I need to thank Aaron Maurer @coffeechugbooks.  Aaron is an  Instructional Coach at Bettendorf Middle School.  Aaron's article "The Top Five Unexpected Benefits of Robotics in the Classroom" from 2016 points out a great group of benefits that the students were able to infer and pinpoint due to the lesson.  Thanks, Mr. Maurer!!
​
This had to have been one of my most successful projects in recent memory.

Picture
4 Comments
Bret Biornstad
4/5/2018 12:29:18 pm

Could you please give me equipment particulars?

Reply
Santha Walters link
4/5/2018 12:50:49 pm

Absolutely!!

We used two Parrot Jumping Race MiniDrones ($34.99 on newegg.com and three Parrot Airborne Quadcopter Mini Drones - Cargo and Night (39.99 on newegg.com).

That gave us five teams of five students each (5-6). The short battery span of the flyers made is super important to make sure all drone were back on the chargers after their 9-15 minutes in the air.

Some teachers have said that they just buy back up batteries for the flyers to keep the projects running for longer class periods.

For the equipment used to make the obstacle courses, we literally raided the gym teacher's supply closet and stole boxes from the copy room.

The Parrot Jumpers have a great range when connected to wifi (maybe 200 yards). The flyers you need to be in visual contact with at all times!! They can get pretty high if the ceiling allows.

Does that answer all your questions? I'm more than happy to help!

Reply
Santha Walters link
4/5/2018 12:53:38 pm

Oh, and I bought helium balloons for the flying obstacle course races!! They were one dollar each at dollar tree!!

Purviben Trivedi-Ziemba link
4/13/2018 07:33:02 am

Santha,

I came across how you are using Drones in classroom from your podcast with Vicky Davis. What a wonderful way to use technology in enriching students' learning. :)

I am taking Georgia Online Professional Learning Class to add to my teaching certificate. Recently, I wrote a blog post for how innovation in technology has changed my communications as well as Classroom communications. As part of the post, I have linked your blog. I am including a link to the post where I have linked you. Let me know if you would like me to give you attributes differently. I appreciate feedback from you.

http://trivediziemba.edublogs.org/2018/04/12/communication-definition/

I am volunteering as STEM lab manager at our Middle School. Our next unit is Drones. Guess, who just helped me a great deal? Yup! It is you. I am going to use some of the material you generously shared to give my STEM Scouts an enriching experience.

Thanks once again.

Best wishes.

Purviben
@TrivediZiemba

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Santha Walters

    I'm a technology curriculum facilitator, and I'm excited about integrating technology in the classroom.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    June 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • Santha
  • Doodles and Bullet Journal
  • Resume
  • Olli Classes