FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Students at three schools around Alaska are learning to fly, as the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute partners with Green Star of Interior Alaska to teach them drone technology.
The project is part of the cultural connection model, with tribes, elders and local schools giving input on how they’d like to approach the subject. “When we engage with a community, we ask them ‘What would you like your kids to study? How do you want them to be taught?’” These phones are being donated by Green Star of Interior Alaska, a non-profit organization that specializes in the recycling of electronics.Educators will then give feedback on the program so that it can be perfected, according to Vanlandeghem Gillespie. “The idea is that at the end, we give them the perfect project that is adapted to their school or their kids. It’s really place-based education.”