STEM & STEAM
Parrot Education Expands Drone Program Worldwide
Wireless products manufacturer Parrot has expanded its Parrot Education program worldwide. The program supports the adoption of unmanned aerial vehicles (also known as drones) in classrooms, labs and field work. It first launched in 2016, and, since
then, more than 400 schools and 50 universities across the United
States have integrated Parrot products into their classrooms.
Parrot
Education offers multi-drone teaching bundles, education discounts,
software applications and instructional resources. Academic
institutions in the U.S., Canada and Europe can purchase a classroom
bundle starting from $899.99. The bundles include six or 12 drones, as
well as cases, batteries, charger and spare parts. The company is
looking for education-oriented distributors in other regions.
The company has also partnered with other technology companies to offer a variety of STEM programs. The Swift Playgrounds iPad app lets students program and control Parrot drones using Swift code. The Tynker coding program for kids lets students program a Parrot drone from the Tynker iPad and Android apps. The Workbench
platform offers a professional community where teachers can share their
ideas for classroom activities, and the platform's Parrot Flight School
lets students write code and control a drone through their web browser.
Finally, Mathworks offers
hardware support for Parrot drones in its MATLAB and Simulink programs.
The Parrot Education site also offers a collection of classroom
activities developed by the company or contributed by third parties.
Further information is available on the Parrot Education site.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at leilameyer@gmail.com.