Teaching Cybersecurity—Not Black Hats
January 14, 2025
SOUTH 310D
Classroom Leaders
It goes without saying that cybersecurity is one of the most important areas of study today. But implementing a program to the masses can pose a challenge for most schools. IT departments are concerned about insider threats, and teachers often struggle to find curriculum that doesn’t require a subject matter expert to teach. Or deep pockets. Attracting and keeping students is a challenge as well, since many students only want to learn hacking techniques. Thus, instructional tools can be limited by IT to reduce threats, leaving teachers with a highly-regulated class. Therefore, the goal of this session is to help teachers design and implement a certification-centered curriculum that has accessibility, safety, and creativity in mind. This session proves that a good cybersecurity program isn’t out of reach. It proves that hacker training for the sake of attracting students isn’t necessary, let alone ethical. Attendees will see that simple cost-effective methods to attract and teach a variety of students exist. In addition, this session discusses how to foster professionalism while developing technical skills through activities that keep learning interesting, relevant, and fun.
Session Type
Concurrent Session (45 minutes)
Topic
Computer Science (coding/computational thinking)
Level
High School (grades 9-12)
Curriculum Area
Computer Science (Coding/Robotics/etc.)