RobotLAB: Drones and Students Are ‘Match Made in Heaven’

RobotLAB, an “educational robotics” company based out of San Francisco, has announced that its online learning platform, Engage! K12, is offering new lesson plans using drones to teach coding, programming and math.

Calling drones and students “a match made in heaven,” the company says the technology is the perfect introduction to coding and programming, variables, conditionals, math and more. In addition, the hands-on experience can transform classroom dynamics, says RobotLAB.

“I’ve seen students react to the robots very positively,” says Professor Peter Stone from UT Austin. “I sat in a lesson in a high school detention room, on a weekend, where the students clearly came in not wanting to be there, and when the quadcopter came out and started flying around the room, they were immediately engaged. I was able to watch them over a period of a couple of hours remain focused on learning quadratic relationships and really having the concept click.”

Engage! K12 is designed to help students master skills they need in order to ensure career and college readiness while developing 21st-century skills, according to the company. Lessons are compatible different kinds of robots: e.g., quadcopters, 3D printers and autonomous cars.