Drones and sensors class was a blast! What other course lets you play with flying cameras and tinker with electronics? My favorite part of this course was definitely flying the drones and learning about how they have been used thus far in media. Before taking this course, I could see the use for drones in journalism but the use of censors was a little unclear. Now I can see the applications for sensors are practically endless, from weather radar to crowd-sourcing to find water acidity, senors can help make a very compelling news story. I had a previous interest in drones before I took this course, I remember as a kid getting a tiny remote control helicopter for Christmas and playing with it until the rotor fell off. I always though it was cool how the little toy could hover in the middle of the room and the possibility of shooting video with such a device makes me feel like we have space age technology at our fingertips.
I believe there is great potential for the use of drones and sensors for journalism in the future. With drones, journalists can get camera shots that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to and tell their story from another angle. For example the young men who caught some amazing camera shots of a volcano would not have been possible. Drones can keep journalists out of harms way, while still allowing them to capture the story. Drones are also more cost effective than putting a helicopter in the air to get the same camera shot. Sensors will be very helpful in the future of journalism. One can practically predict the future by some of the information we are able to capture on sensors. Such as being able to tell when the cicadas are going to emerge from the ground that year.
In the future, the knowledge I have gained from this class can help me after I graduate college and enter the workplace. Learning about drones and sensors in this class gives me a leg up against the competition. I don’t believe that many people utilize drones and sensors in the media currently because of the strict privacy regulations, however, I believe that in the near future drones and sensor will be a very relevant part of the news room.