Teaching Cybersecurity
7/6/2021
July 6, 2021
Long hours of teaching cybersecurity is not for the faint of heart, but what is good for the heart is sharing your passion for cybersecurity with a new generation of learners. That admittedly, is very good for my heart.
Nina Amey, the Department Chair of Computer Networking at Arapahoe Community College asked me to teach cybersecurity back in April and all the prep for it came to fruition in June. I taught the cybersecurity segment of two STEM workshops and an additional two weeks of a summer Cyber Camp for the first time. I primarily taught high school kids ages 13-18. The range of knowledge of cybersecurity concepts and techniques really varied each week.
In addition, representatives from the National Security Agency (NSA) visited twice during my Cyber Camps. Needless to say, I totally geeked out when they brought the Enigma Machine along with other cryptography devices, like a cryptex and shared about the history of World War II. I can hardly believe that I got to touch and type on the Enigma. Insert head exploding emoji!
Like any teacher, I still had to supervise kids from searching on the internet or playing on their phones during my class. After the first week of teaching, I received some feedback about how the kids wanted it to feel less like a school lecture and more interactive. So, I modified the presentation to ask more questions rather than reading off the slide. I hid the comments and notes that I had for the slides, so it felt more personal and less like school.
I have to say that we had some great conversations and discussions around different cybersecurity and online safety topics. When I posed the questions, as basic as they were, I got great responses.
What is the internet?
What is technology?
Can the internet be physically attacked? How? By whom?
What is C - I - A (Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability)?
How do you define cybersecurity?
What types of cyber-ethical issues do you face?
What online behaviors will you change?
True or False: Technology is always good AND Technology changes society
The kids need the ability to think critically about the world and technology around them. I made it a point to be constantly asking them, “What are you going to do to protect your data privacy and online identity?” They had smart answers and I know that this affected them because they actually told me that they went home and made changes. They changed their passwords to make them stronger or began using MFA (multi-factor authentication). They also shared with me that they told their family about what they learned and their families made changes too. Digital safety for the win!
We ended up having great discussions around Edward Snowden and how CIA applied. They were also really interested in social media safety and online privacy, as well as passwords, cyberbullying and cyber ethics. I was able to tie in all of these concepts together and illustrate how they are all intertwined. It was nice to have things come full circle and see the kids have their own AHA! moment.
I told the STEM coordinator, “My hope is that the takeaway from my portion is that they go home and make their privacy and data more secure. I will call that a win.” She wrote back to me and said, “The kids had really good feedback about your segment, so yep. I’d say you win! If I get to do this again, I will certainly enlist your services. Thank you so much, Teressa!”
I’m glad I got this opportunity to teach and shine in something I feel so passionate about. I’m also looking forward to teaching internet safety more.
If you are interested in having me present to a group or organization, you can book me directly. I can be reached by email at Teressa@PopCykol.com for a free consultation.
