Intro to Drones Pop! A 20-Hour Interactive Drone Course
Give students an exciting introduction to drones through hands-on indoor flights, creative group activities, career exploration, and real-world drone applications.
Designed primarily for middle school classrooms, this flexible course is also a great fit for after-school and summer programs serving middle or high school students.
A Fun, Hands-On Introduction to Drones
Intro to Drones Pop! gives students the opportunity to explore the world of drones without requiring advanced equipment, outdoor flights, or previous drone experience.
Throughout the 20-hour course, students learn how drones are being used in different industries, practice foundational piloting skills with indoor micro drones, participate in creative challenges, and develop their own ideas for a drone services business.
The result is an engaging introduction that combines technology, career exploration, creativity, teamwork, and hands-on flight.
Who Is This Course For?
Intro to Drones Pop! is designed for:
Middle School Classrooms, After-School Programs, and Summer Camps
Introduce students to drones through an age-appropriate, interactive experience that works well in both classroom and informal learning environments.
High School Enrichment Programs
Give high school students a short, engaging introduction to drones without committing to a full-year CTE course.
Flexible Youth Learning Programs
Support a wide range of educational settings that want a hands-on STEM activity focused on creativity, teamwork, and real-world drone applications.
This 20 Hour "Pop" is a small sample from a large collection of the DARTdrones drone training options for middle schools, high schools and CTE groups.
Throughout this program, participants will:
Explore various drone applications
Discover exciting possibilities in the drone industry
Engage in career exploration activities
Complete projects that encourage them to think creatively about the drone services they could provide
Have the opportunity to fly indoor micro drones
Navigate through an exhilarating obstacle course while honing their piloting skills
TOPICS COVERED
- Career Activity: Drone Use Case Exploration
- Micro Drone Flights: Box Pattern
- Micro Drone Flights: Circles
- Creating a Drone Services Offering
- Career Activity: Unique Drone Use Cases
- Micro Drone Flights: Precision Landing
- Micro Drone Flights: Figure Eights
- Marketing Drone Services
- Career Activity: Drones in Your Community
- Micro Drone Flights: Student Competition #1
- Micro Drone Flights: Flying Through Obstacles
- Career Activity: Drone Charades
- Micro Drone Flights: Descending Approach
- Drone Business Operations Overview
- Career Activity: Drone Design Thinking Challenge
- Micro Drone Flights: Sliding Parallax
- Micro Drone Flights: Orbit
- Liabilities, Insurance, and Legal Considerations
- Student Presentation: My Drone Services Business
- Micro Drone Flights: Student Competition #2
Easy to Bring Into Your Program
Why Choose DARTdrones?
Engaging, Hands-On Learning Experience
Students learn through a combination of short lessons, creative activities, teamwork, and indoor drone flights.
Real-World, Future-Focused Curriculum
Students explore how drones are used in today’s industries while imagining how the technology could be used in the future.
Flexible and Expert-Designed
The course can be used in classrooms, after-school programs, summer camps, and other youth enrichment settings, and is created by drone and education professionals to keep learners engaged.
Designed For Teachers, By Teachers
Kelly Longaker
Kelly is a dedicated professional and seasoned public educator boasting a rich background with over 20 years of experience specializing in curriculum and content development, lesson design and differentiation. Kelly partnered with DARTdrones in the development of a customizable drone training program for young learners looking to establish and grow in their career and technical development training. Her main focus lies in developing engaging learning materials and strategies to enhance student learning outcomes. Her ultimate goal is to continue making a positive impact in the field of education and supporting the growth and development of students and educators alike.
Chris Speicher, Ph.D.
Chris is one of the co-founders of DARTdrones and also the Executive Director of the School of Business and Global Innovation at Marywood University in Scranton, PA. Chris has been involved with over 30 start-up entries in his professional career, but his passion remains teaching and educating young people from around the world on how to succeed in business in an ethical manner. Chris is the 2020 recipient of the International Academic Excellence Award from the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) and the 2020 recipient of the Faculty Mentor Award, X-Culture International Business Plan Competition.
Jerry White
Jerry has a background spanning various roles including flight instruction, corporate, charter, and airline piloting. Jerry has amassed over 7,000 flight hours. Notably, his expertise extends to drone piloting and executive leadership within the aviation industry. Beyond his piloting credentials, Jerry’s entrepreneurial journey as a small business owner and his role as a business consultant provide him with a comprehensive understanding of aviation operations and safety management. His experience as a flight instructor, particularly in teaching high school students to obtain their private pilot license, underscores his dedication to sharing his knowledge and skills with others.
Learn More About Bringing Drones to Your Classroom
Frequently Asked Questions
The course is designed to be used as a short, fun, interactive introduction to drones for middle school students. It can also be used for after school or summer programs for middle or high school students.
No. This course focuses on flying small, inexpensive drones indoors and it utilizes common items you already have in your school. There is no need for advanced drones, and there are no licensing requirements since all flying is done indoors. We also priced the curriculum very reasonably to keep the barrier to entry as low as possible.
Teachers will get access to a Teacher Edition of the course and all students will get Student Edition access to our Learning Management System (LMS). Inside the LMS are short online classes, instructions for group exercises, instructions for student activities, instructions for the micro activity flight sessions, and instructions and scoring for student micro flight competitions. Teachers will have the option to print materials or students can work through the content in the LMS. We give access to the “Pop!” for 6 months. You may or may not finish all the content in that time, but you can have student continue to work through after the 4 weeks if there is still time left.
No. The program introduces students to foundational concepts and indoor piloting activities. No previous drone experience is required.
The course uses small indoor micro drones and common classroom materials.
Microdrones must be purchased separately.
Your organization will receive access to Intro to Drones Pop! for six months. This gives educators flexibility to continue using the materials after the initial 20-hour program when needed.
The course emphasizes participation, creative thinking, career exploration, and hands-on flight activities rather than formal testing.
Yes. You can purchase the course directly through our website or contact DARTdrones for assistance with a purchase order.
Bring the Excitement of Drones to Your Students
Introduce students to drone technology through an interactive program filled with creative activities, career exploration, and hands-on indoor flights.
PURCHASE THE COURSE FOR UP TO 10 STUDENTS
