Teaching Cyber Security
7/6/2021
July 6, 2021
Long hours of teaching cyber security is not for the faint of heart, but what is good for the heart is sharing your passion for cyber security 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 cyber security back in April and all the prep for it came to fruition in June. I taught the cyber security 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 cyber security 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 presentation. 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 cyber security 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 cyber security?
What types of cyber-ethical issues do you face?
What online behaviours 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 privacy and data online?” They had smart answers and I know that this affected them because they actually told me that they went home and enacted change. 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.
We ended up having great discussions around Edward Snowden and how CIA applied. They were also really interested in social media and online privacy, as well as passwords, cyber bullying 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 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.
