How can drones provide a core element in education?  How can they help students learn practical skills?

There are all kinds of ways, says Autonomy Foundation Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer Misha Houser.

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Misha has an extensive background in both the arts and the sciences.   Her murals are on display in a public park.  Her professional experience includes serving as Chief Operations Officer for nonprofit Tesla Foundation Group.  She also served as Assistant Program Manager for Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.  And her areas of expertise include both public relations and journalism.

And with the Autonomy Foundation, she and her team are offering students a unique educational program.  At its core: drones, drone flight, and the different aspects of what drones can accomplish.  Among the subjects students learn: entrepreneurship, coding, and engineering.

In short, they’re learning STEAM–science, technology, engineering, art and math.  And they’re preparing for a future workplace in which they’ll be very comfortable with robotics.

The Autonomy Foundation first partnered with Magnolia High School, in Anaheim, in 2018, according to the high school’s webpage.   Sixteen students trained in the Drone Pilot Training Course that autumn.  The plan: to enroll and train an additional sixteen students every semester.

Meanwhile, Misha says, the Autonomy Foundation is just beginning its outreach to schools.   Their website will be up and running with online training in early 2020, and anyone in the educational field who’d like to reach out to her about the possibility of getting their school involved, is welcome to do so!

On this edition of Over Coffee®, you will hear:

• How the educational drone program first came about;

• Some of the innovative ideas students had, during the first cohort;

• How the Autonomy Foundation evolved from these early classes;

• Where the Autonomy Foundation will be expanding, in the future;

• How the drone program can inspire arts-oriented students;

• What Autonomy Foundation did during Imaginology, in Costa Mesa in April;

• A basic lesson in flying a drone!;

• What students must do to pass their final (hint: this is fun!);

• Where you can meet Misha and talk with her more at length (she’s appearing at an airshow in early October!)

• Her lessons on starting a nonprofit;

• How to support Autonomy Foundation as the program grows;

• A timeline for their additional curriculum;

• Misha’s favorite aspect of the drone program.