Drone operation day at the Egin Dunes - Photo Credit: Steven Henderson
Students stand on the Egin Sand Dunes and look up into the sky. Barely visible against the blue,a small black dot hovers above them. They are operating a drone, getting aerial footage for their class.
Rusty Earl, a recent faculty addition at Brigham Young University-Idaho launched his new aerial videography class as a Communication practicum Fall 2024. The Aerial Videography Practicum, which is offered under the class code COMM 397R, is geared toward beginners and hobbyists of all majors. With the cold weather of Winter semester, the next semester that the aerial practicum will be available is Spring 2025.
Aerial videography, or using drones to capture video footage, is an increasingly popular skill in the workforce. Drones have been used for the last decade in GIS Mapping. They gather hundreds of pictures of landscapes, construction sites, etc to create 3D models that can be analyzed and distributed for highly detailed feedback. David Burchfield, a Geography professor at BYU-I, has spent years in the drone industry and is currently teaching a class on drone mapping.
Burchfield’s class has focused on a data-gathering approach to drone use. Burchfield pulls in “both of our drone classes pull from a variety of majors,” Earl said. “They want to go out and fly and survey for companies."
When Earl began teaching video production classes at BYU-I roughly a year ago, he saw a need for drone training in the Communication department.
“In the world of communication, it’s a skill set that many of our video students don’t ever get here because it hasn’t been offered,” Earl said. So he went to the school and suggested a drone practicum.
Earl worked with Burchfield to determine what aspects of drone operation belonged in the practicum. “I don’t want to overlap what you’re already doing,” Earl told Burchfield, “but if I could do something that would help students fly safer and get ready to take their test, I’d like to work towards that.”
The test in question is required by the FAA for commercial drone use. Neither class certifies drone operators to fly in the sky, rather they teach important information for before the test.
Many hobbyists who fly drones have not taken the test. “A lot of people get drones, there’s a over a million of them that have been bought in the last five years in the U.S.,” Earl said.
Of that million-plus of droner operators, Earl estimates most have no idea they are flying legally.
“I think the most important thing is that people become very conscious of airspace and become safe flyers,” Earl said.
The professional drone license, known as the Part 107, is in high demand. Earl said his class brought in a variety of students, not just Video Production majors.
“There’s certainly a lot of jobs out there if you look on LinkedIn or Indeed.com looking for drone operator,” Earl said.
According to Earl, the main difference between his Communication practicum, and Burchfield’s drone mapping class is the intention behind it.
Throughout the semester, Earl taught his students how to safely maneuver the drones in the air, how to get good footage, and a wealth of legal and technical information.
The 1-credit class met once a week for one hour.
“By day two of class, if the weather’s good, we’re out there, flying the drones right off the bat,” Earl said.
The professor mentioned several seniors who registered for his class not knowing what it was.
They needed a practicum credit to graduate.
After learning the class is about flying drones, one student was not sure she belonged. Earl said he encouraged her to stay if she was interested. “She’s doing amazing, she’s loving it,” Earl said.
Before he began teaching at BYU-I, Earl lived in Kansas. He used his drone license to get aerial footage for Kansas PBS and Kansas State University. In the aerial videography practicum, Earl teaches the students what they need to know if they want to do the same.
“The students would talk about how excited they were to go and get the first flight,” Earl said, “how they really wanted to do this and even students who are in I.T. or something completely unrelated were saying they now knew what would be required to go out there and fly Commercially.”
Earl said the class went very well, and his students put forth some great work. “They’re learning the exact same maneuvers that people get paid $200 per hour to do,” he said.
However, he has some goals for future semesters of the practicum. He wants to lengthen the class times to 90 minutes instead of 60.
“The hope is that we’ll be able to do one decent field trip per semester, increase the amount of flight time that we have, and then hopefully do a little bit more coverage of what’s involved for the test,” Earl said. He wants the students to be proficient in their drone use. “I can’t guarantee you’d be a great pilot within five days,” Earl said, “but the point is you’re learning on an industry-standard drone that is of the same quality as those they use for Netflix or Discovery Channel projects.”
On the dunes, everyone watches in anticipation. “We’ve got it!” Someone says. Cheers go up as the drone lowers to the ground. They pack up their gear and get ready to go home.