Agricultural careers of tomorrow will require new skills heavily emphasizing technology, and there exists a current training gap in high school agriculture curriculum. To meet the training needs of the next generation of workers, AIFS has developed a high school curriculum focused on the use of drones in agriculture that is free of charge, easily implementable, and fully adaptable.

The goals of this curriculum are:

1. To inspire students to pursue careers using drones in agriculture
2. To help students build technical skills to operate drones
3. To provide introductions to advanced applications, including mapping, data processing, and artificial intelligence

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Details

The curriculum consists of a set of core modules on practical applications and opportunities, equipment, regulations, and flight, as well as advanced modules on mission planning and mapping and data processing, plus a Supervised Agricultural Experience. The content is hosted on GitBook and Google Workspace applications for easy adaptation by educators. Modules consist of lectures with slides and guided notes, quizzes, and activities.

The foundations of of module design were created by high school teachers in the 2022 Teacher Fellowship Program. This cohort of educators received professional development on the practical use of drones at UCANR’s Drone Camp and an in-service training, and then each teacher received a stipend to design a module for the curriculum. The modules were refined and expanded as a summer internship project in 2023. In consultation with educational partners, new modules and additional content were added. The curriculum is ready for classroom implementation in fall 2023.

We are currently collecting feedback from educators who use any part of our modules in their classrooms so that we can continue to improve this content. In the future, we plan to add certifications for curricular standards and publish on CA Educators Together. AIFS will expand high school curriculum offerings to other agtech career pathways.