As drones have moved from fringe hobbyist gear to mainstream know-how, they’ve taken off in faculties, too. What as soon as was an extracurricular curiosity is now a core a part of STEM training in lecture rooms throughout the U.S. And into this house steps Drone Legends, a full-service platform promising to deliver aerial robotics to college students from kindergarten by twelfth grade.
Drone Legends gives a variety of kits and curricula designed to show all the things from fundamental science ideas to real-time first-person view (FPV) drone racing. It’s formidable. It’s comparatively polished. But — for a lot of faculties — it’s costly. I spent hours digging by the curriculum supplies, inspecting the {hardware} partnerships, evaluating rivals and evaluating whether or not Drone Legends is definitely worth the price ticket.
My take: it’s one of the vital complete choices obtainable, particularly for faculties that need to transcend one-off drone demos and construct a long-term, standards-aligned program. However it’s not the most affordable, and it’s not for each classroom.
Drone Legends: What you get
Drone Legends isn’t one product. Moderately, it’s a collection of instructional applications designed for various age ranges:
Little Legends (Grades Okay–3): A narrative-based program centered on teamwork, play, and early STEM publicity. There’s no drone piloting right here. As a substitute, children observe characters by themed challenges designed to show ideas like problem-solving and cooperation. (Value: $2,999)
STEM Fundamentals (Grades 4–8): The flagship program for higher elementary and center college. This consists of precise drones and missions that activity college students with fixing simulated real-world issues, like catastrophe response or environmental mapping. College students work in groups and use fundamental coding, crucial pondering and design abilities. (Value: $5,499, although it’s modifiable with small or giant class choices)
Egyptian Expedition (Grades 5–8): A digital extension of STEM Fundamentals that brings coding and drone simulation right into a narrative set in historic Egypt. It’s splendid for faculties that desire a digital-only possibility or a budget-friendly add-on.
FPV Initiator (Grades 8–12): That is Drone Legends’ most formidable program. It’s designed for top faculties and primarily constructed round actual FPV racing. It’s a precision drone pilot coaching course that culminates in dwell multiplayer competitions by the Unified Scholastic Drone Racing Affiliation (USDRA). College students use actual drones, fly in simulators and even compete in livestreamed races. (Value: $12,500, although there’s a small class possibility for $6,499)
Why the highschool program focuses on FPV
The standout piece of the Drone Legends course sequence is its FPV Initiator program, aimed toward highschool college students.
Now I’ve reviewed many highschool drone applications. Some are generic to only constructing drones or coding them to fly autonomous in a selected course. I notably take pleasure in drone mild present programs, the place highschool college students can truly choreograph their very own customized drone present (provided by websites like DroneBlocks).
However few provide a complete curriculum devoted to FPV (one of many few others being DroneBlocks). And sure, devoting a complete curriculum to FPV is a no brainer for in the present day’s college students. FPV drone racing is gaining reputation quick, and Drone Legends has leaned into this with a aggressive benefit: a structured path from classroom studying to national-level scholar leagues.
By the Drone Legends FPV Initiator program, college students are outfitted with Orqa FPV goggles, controllers, and the light-weight NewBeeDrone AcroBee65 drone. These are legit racing instruments — the identical variety utilized in entry-level skilled drone racing. College students additionally use Orqa’s free FPV SkyDive simulator to apply flying and race on-line in e-sports-style occasions. For faculties trying so as to add a high-skill, high-reward exercise alongside their esports or robotics crew, that is arguably essentially the most turnkey racing curriculum obtainable.
Extra about Drone Legends prices — and when it’s price it
For academics on a restricted funds, the most important caveat with Drone Legends will possible be the price.
The FPV Initiator full classroom package, which incorporates {hardware} for 10 college students, software program, and the total curriculum, retails for round $12,500. That’s a steep funding, even by instructional know-how requirements. Although, there’s additionally an possibility for smaller lessons obtainable for $6,499.
The STEM Fundamentals package begins decrease, however it’s concentrating on a youthful demographic (elementary and center college for STEM Fundamentals, versus highschool for FPV Initiator). Nonetheless that one prices $5,500.
The upside? All the pieces is included, from lesson plans to flight gear. For a college trying to roll out a multi-year drone curriculum with aggressive racing choices, this can be a one-stop store. However for smaller applications, or faculties testing the waters, the up-front value may be prohibitive.
What’s new with Drone Legends? A Half 107 prep course
Drone Legends is continually evolving, and its new, classroom-ready Federal Aviation Administration Half 107 Distant Pilot Examination Prep curriculum is proof of that. Passing that examination offers you the license you might want to legally fly drones commercially.
Not like many Half 107 on-line check prep programs, this one is designed for in-person use, with group actions to maintain college students engaged. It additionally consists of quizzes, mini exams and a full-length apply check, alongside printable supplies and Google Varieties.
The Drone Legends Half 107 course comes included totally free with the FPV Initiator and STEM Fundamentals programs. In any other case, standalone college website licenses are $2,900 per college website.
Although taking the Half 107 check is simply obtainable to folks ages 16 and older, it nonetheless can work for center and highschool college students to given them crucial drone security and operational info — and to prepared them for after they flip 16.
How Drone Legends compares to different drone applications
Drone Legends is a number of completely different curriculums aimed toward college students of various ranges, every tackling completely different topic areas.
And naturally, Drone Legends isn’t the one drone training sport on the market. Opponents like DroneBlocks, Drone Cadets and CoDrone all provide extra modular or coding-focused experiences.
Drone Legends versus DroneBlocks
DroneBlocks is nice for educating programming, notably block-based and Python coding. It’s extra inexpensive and versatile however you would possibly discover it lacks team-based curriculum depth that Drone Legends gives. Nonetheless, it’s possible the closest competitor to Drone Legends.
Like Drone Legends, DroneBlocks has its personal drone racing package, this one created in partnership with the MultiGP STEM Alliance. The DroneBlocks FPV package consists of {hardware}, curriculum and racing simulation software program, plus registration for 2 groups to enter the MultiGP “Drones in Faculties” League. That package begins at $3,500 and consists of 5 drones (so chances are you’ll end up shopping for extra so every scholar can have one).
DroneBlocks additionally takes issues a step additional with different course choices. For instance, there’s a DroneBlocks mild present package that features each the curriculum in addition to 10 swarm drones so you’ll be able to construct your personal drone mild present. That package prices $7,500, although there are alternatives so as to add extra drones which will increase the value (the 90-drone package would value $58,000).
Drone Legends versus Drone Cadets
What differentiates Drone Cadets is that it leans into group engagement, management, and social-emotional studying. It’s a compelling program for faculties with sturdy youth mentorship objectives, however its technical curriculum is much less in depth.
Drone Cadets locations a heavy emphasis on making drone mild exhibits, which can also be enjoyable. For those who’d somewhat make drone mild exhibits versus do FPV racing, Drone Cadets would possibly make extra sense to you.
Drone Legends versus CoDrone
CoDrone is a stable mid-tier possibility, providing programmable drones with strong lesson plans. It’s not as wealthy in story or mission-based studying as Drone Legends, and doesn’t have the identical esports or racing integration. However, it’s seen success in some powerhouse faculties, together with Kentucky’s Chamber Center College. In reality, their college students wrote a overview of the CoDrone (together with some reliable complaints) for The Drone Woman.
CoDrone EDU is offered as a standalone drone for $249 every. Or, you should purchase a whole 18-pack CoDrone EDU package with lesson plans for $5,700.
The place Drone Legends suits into the combination
Drone Legends stands aside by combining all three: flight, coding, and competitors. It’s a very good long-term decide as college students can progress by the programs as they become older. And that closing course is maybe essentially the most enjoyable, providing structured entry right into a nationwide scholar racing league with livestreamed multiplayer occasions.
Drone Legends: is it price it?
Drone Legends is without doubt one of the most thoughtfully developed Okay–12 drone training platforms we’ve seen. The supplies are classroom-ready. The drones used are sturdy and applicable for college kids. And the combination of mission-based studying, simulation and actual FPV flight retains college students engaged and challenged.
That mentioned, it’s a severe dedication — financially and logistically. Faculties with a powerful STEM or esports pipeline will possible discover this program definitely worth the funding, particularly for the FPV Initiator observe. However if you happen to’re simply trying so as to add drones as a STEM enrichment exercise or membership, you may be higher served by a lower-cost, extra modular platform like DroneBlocks or CoDrone.
I like to recommend Drone Legends for faculties which are able to go all-in on drones — not simply as flying toys, however as severe instruments for constructing teamwork, tech fluency and future careers.
Enroll in Drone Legends right here.
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