Drones in forest operator education

Established 75 years ago, Solør VGS Sønsterud has since been a national leader in training for forestry operations. The campus is currently part of Solør VGS with around 500 students aged 16-18 years and 135 employees. Teaching takes place both indoors and outdoors and allows pupils a practical approach to forestry. The curriculum follows the yearly season with planning, forest culture and logging.
Drones are used as a supplement to teaching, where they film objects and stock as a basis for work in teaching. This is to visualize select challenges or to show before/after an activity. When training operation of forestry machines, drones allow students and teachers to see the work from a birds-eye perspective. Used correctly, this may lead to increased learning both for those who observe, but especially for those who are observed and who get to see themselves at work. The time every pupil can spend operating forestry machines is limited, it is therefore important to make good use of the time available. By filming every student operating a forestry machine, the learning outcome will be increased for the students by allowing them to see themselves and get positive and constructive feedback. Drones allow prioritization of areas for improvement.