A Comparison of Digital Observations of Students from Video Cameras and Aerial Drones

ABSTRACT

School playgrounds offer ample opportunity to observe the unstructured free-play of school-aged children; however, obtaining valid observations can be difficult to accomplish. Recent technological advances in commercially available aerial drones have the potential to contribute to behavior observation work conducted on playground settings. This study compared video recordings from an aerial drone and a tripod-mounted video camera. Behavior observations coded from the videos showed practical equivalence when analyzed using a Bayesian statistic. Results of the study are discussed and practical ethical issues are considered for future research using aerial drones to observe behavior.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hunter C. King

Hunter C. King, M.A., M.Ed., is a school psychology doctoral student in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Utah. His research interests focus on the development and implementation of evidence-based behavioral interventions for moderate to severe problem behavior, the assessment and effectiveness of contemporary rewards for adolescent populations, and the use of technology as a mode of service provision for teachers and other educators.

Bradley Bloomfield

Bradley Bloomfield Ph.D., BCBA-D, NCSP, LBA is an Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator in School Psychology at the University of Alabama. His research emphasizes indirect service delivery in supporting parents and teachers, evidence-based behavior interventions, as well as the use of technology within consultation and intervention.

Aaron. J. Fischer

Aaron. J. Fischer, PhD, BCBA-D, is the Dee Endowed Professor of School Psychology in the Department of Educational Psychology at University of Utah. His research interests include assessment and treatment of problem behavior in individuals with disabilities as well as telehealth applications during behavioral health practice, particularly school consultation and clinical practice.

Evan Dart

Evan Dart is an associate professor in the school psychology program at the University of South Florida. He is a licensed psychologist and board certified behavior analyst and completed his graduate training in the school psychology program at Louisiana State University. His research interests involve school-based behavioral interventions implemented within a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). Dr. Dart's research has resulted in over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and he was named the recipient of the 2019 Lightner Witmer Award for Early Career Scholarship from Division 16 of the American Psychological Association.

Keith Radley

Keith Radley, Ph.D., BCBA-D, NCSP is an Associate Professor and Director of the School Psychology Program at the University of Utah. Dr. Radley’s research interests center on the application of behavioral interventions within academic settings, particularly for individuals with developmental disabilities. Further, his research focuses on data collection, visualization, and analysis in research and applied contexts. Dr. Radley was the recipient of the 2017 Lightner Witmer Award from Division 16 of the American Psychological Association.