Rural school division launches new drone program

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This article was published 10/01/2019 (2444 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Students in some remote corners of Manitoba are getting a head start on drone technology, thanks to a pilot program being touted as the first of its kind in Canada.

The Frontier School Division launched the education program that includes the science of flight, how drones work, what they can do, and the federal regulations governing their use.

“There’s lots of possibilities,” said Reg Klassen, superintendent of the geographically vast division that covers about two-thirds of Manitoba. “Lots of research people are using drones to fly over lakes and forests and studying our environment.”

The pilot program using UAV (unmanned air vehicle) technology is also teaching students about flight.

“There is lots to do with aviation — laws and anything to do with something being airborne,” said Klassen. “It can open students up to all kinds of jobs.”

The division invested $24,000 in equipment and certified UAV training for two teachers last spring. The program was the brain child of the division’s two science consultants or “coaches,” said Klassen.

One of them, Arif Kassum, studied education at the University of Manitoba with Matthew Johnson, who founded a certified ground school for drone pilots.

Johnson is president of M3 Aerial Productions Inc. – one of only a handful of registered training organizations on Transport Canada’s list. It trained the Frontier School Division teachers, setting the educational program apart from others in Canada, said Kassum.

“You kind of lose a sense of purpose if you have technology but don’t have teachers who are equipped to understand it,” said the divisional science consultant.

However, one of the two teachers trained is no longer with the division, said Klassen. (The one who remains in Churchill is instructing eight students from grades 8 to 12.)

A guide for teachers is being created by Kassum, with the goal to expand to three or four more schools, the superintendent said.

“We’re trying to give all of our students – many who are in small, isolated communities in Northern Manitoba – all kinds of opportunities,” Klassen said.

In the fall, the division put on a drone demonstration at Falcon Beach School. With a pair of goggles linked to the camera on the drone, operators on the ground were able to navigate the aerial video camera by moving their head, said Klassen. “The students were quite excited.”

The technology and its applications are showing students possibilities, he said.

“It’s very forward-thinking and we really want to encourage safety and their responsible use,” added Kassum. Rogue drones caused havoc at airports in the United Kingdom in recent weeks, forcing flights to be cancelled.

The use of drones around polar bears, airplanes, and new regulations announced by Transport Canada this week are things Frontier students will learn about, said Klassen. “That’s part of the curriculum.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca