By James Baxter
Photo by Teaching is just like a side of fries - it goes with just about everything and anything you can think of. When it comes to teaching, anything can be added to the process to make it easier and more fun. In fact, you could think of a thousand abstract things and realise that teachers have already incorporated those things in the classroom. Learning games? Teachers already started using these in the classroom even before the Titanic sank. Paintings? Been there, done that.
However, one method that hasn’t fully been employed by many teachers is the use of drones.
Surprised, aren’t you? We get it. This sounds just as strange as putting pineapple on pizza. What on earth would a drone be doing in a classroom? Well, you’d find out soon enough.
Whether you’re an essay writer teaching a new protege or a teacher helping students understand Calculus, drones can be quite helpful in the teaching process. Let’s find out how.
How to Use Drones to Teach
There are so many teaching strategies out there, but for a lot of teachers, using drones is a relatively new one.
Just in case you find this strategy strange as well, here's a quick breakdown of all the ways you could use drones to teach
For speaking and writing exercises
Teaching a bunch of hyperactive five-year olds how to speak and write is no mean feat. Every teacher has had their fair share of frustration when it comes to teaching their pupils how to speak and write.
However, drones can completely transform the learning process, making it easier and more fun.
For instance, you could use a drone to take pictures of the school ground from different angles. If you can't do this all by yourself, you could call in a drone expert to help you.
Once you've done this, organise a speaking exercise in which the students should name familiar objects in the pictures and guess where each picture was taken.
To teach math
Math can be a bore to many students out there. If you teach math, you'd admit that you've caught one too many students dozing off in your class.
In most cases, students hate math simply because there's no real life application of all the rules they're forced to learn.
However, math doesn't have to be a huge ugly gremlin that students have to fight off. You can help them understand it better by incorporating engaging tools like drones into the teaching process.
For instance, you could track the path followed by your drone and ask students to calculate the distance and make a corresponding graph.
It's way more fun than asking them to make a graph with random numbers that you grabbed out of thin air.
To teach creative writing
Creative writing is the class that has birthed the Shakespeares and the Stephen Kings of this world. If you've never taught a creative writing class before, you might think it's as easy as asking students to write a short poem and then receiving Nobel-prize worthy entries.
However, nothing can be farther from the truth. Getting students to tap into their inner descriptive skills can be really challenging.
Thankfully, drones have come to save the day once again. These gadgets are quite useful in teaching the writing process.
You could capture an image and use it as a writing prompt. Ask students to create a story centred around the picture, using their imaginative skills.
This way, you'd be able to expand their descriptive skills and get them interested in the activity as well.
For motor skills and hand-eye coordination
Hand-eye and motor skills are important factors that can't be left out of any educational programme. Most schools try to get students involved in activities that will improve their hand-eye coordination.
From tennis to netball and volleyball, there's really no limit to the amount of coordination activities you can find in schools these days.
However, even though sports are known for boosting hand-eye coordination skills, drones are an amazing alternative. Drones require a significant amount of focus and can help to improve one's depth perception.
For Physical Education (PE) classes
Physical Education (PE) classes don't always have to be about sweaty bodies and students who would rather watch paint dry than toss a volleyball around.
You can use drones to get students outside and of course, interest them in the outdoor activities you've planned out for them.
During the class, you could also record their activities to spot potential areas of improvement.
Another creative way of using drones for kids is incorporating these gadgets in hide-and-seek games. Let the children hide while you try to find them with your drone.
Sounds fun, doesn't it?
Photo by Ian Baldwin on Unsplash
For geography
For a lot of students, learning how to read topographic maps is a useless skill that they'd probably dump the same way they dumped their "eating-cereal-through-the-nose" skills.
This is mostly because it hasn't been made a reality for them yet.
However, just like Merlin changed Camelot, one tiny drone like the Codrone can completely change the game.
Start by flying a drone over a particular area or piece of ground. Once you've done this, you can show the students how that visual image or perspective is represented on a topographic map.
Easy Peasy!
Final Thoughts
When it comes to the teaching and learning process, drones can be a really helpful addition. Sure, this concept may seem strange at first but today, a large number of schools are experimenting with it.
With a drone, you can automatically make learning easier and more fun for kids. Now, we aren't saying drones are magical wands that completely erase any teaching problems but they do come pretty close.
If you aren't sure which drone would fit right into the teaching environment, you could start by using Codrone, one of the most effective teaching gadgets on the market.
Discover more about Drones with RobotLAB!
Author's Bio
James Baxter is professional ghostwriter, editor at write my essay and blogger, who loves sharing his experience and knowledge with readers. He is especially interested in marketing, blogging and IT. James is always happy to visit different places and meet new people there.
