EDUCATION AS A SOLUTION TO COMBAT RISING CYBERCRIME RATES AGAINST CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS

Ninety seven percent (97%) of people between the ages of 3 and 18 are found to be users of technology and internet services daily. This number also correlates with rising cyber crime rates against people in this age bracket. It is found that people between 3 and 18 years old are found to be technologically savvy but often lack the knowledge of how to protect themselves in online environments. Researchers have suggested that cybersecurity awareness training is an effective method at combating common forms of cyberattack such as social engineering. Social engineering attacks are found to make up 98% of successful cyberattacks and it is crucial that users of these internet and technology services are knowledgeable in protecting themselves. Cybersecurity education materials are commonly found in enterprise and higher education environments, but there is a gap of available research that evaluates the effectiveness of this education in the K-12 environment. Therefore, this project evaluates the following research questions to help address the gap: (Q1) What affective methods to educate children and teenagers on cybersecurity concepts? (Q2) What are best practices for topic selection when it comes to cybersecurity education in the 3–18-year age range? (Q3) What are unique challenges that may be encountered when implementing this type of education nationwide? The research will discover the answers for the proposed research questions by analyzing existing literature and reviewing case studies of successful cybersecurity education in K-12 schools. The selected case studies went through an inclusion and exclusion criteria which required the following items to be present: publishing by a reputable journal or conference, contain empirical data in form of pre and post assessment, why the method of teaching was selected, and explain limitations. The findings and conclusions from the case studies are: (Q1) Students are receptive to learning cybersecurity principles via multiple teaching styles. The case studies displayed self-guided, collaborative, and traditional instruction methods and students were shown to improve greatly in post assessment results. (Q2) Best practices for selecting topics in the case studies was to utilize age-appropriate cybersecurity educational materials published by government agencies. A finding from this is that these materials are not readily available for educators and must be sought out as they are considered optional items. (Q3) Scaling of these type of cybersecurity workshops is difficult due to resource constraints faced by many schools found in lower income and rural districts. The availability of cybersecurity professionals and university campus’s willingness to host these camps is scarce and leaves this type of experience out of reach for many students. Areas of further study are researching methods on how to effectively scale this sort of education by utilizing a remote learning model and the creation of a standardized age-appropriate curriculum

SOK:young children’s cybersecurity knowledge, skills & practice: a systematic literature review

The rise in children’s use of digital technology highlights the need for them to learn to act securely online. Cybersecurity skills require mature cognitive abilities which children only acquire after they start using technology. As such, this paper explores the guidance and current curriculum expectations on cybersecurity aspects in Scotland. Additionally, a systematic review was undertaken of the literature pertaining to cybersecurity education for children on a wider scale including papers from around the world, with 27 peer reviewed papers included in the final review. We discovered that most research focused on assessing children’s knowledge or investigating the efficacy of interventions to improve cybersecurity knowledge and practice. Very few investigated the skills required to carry out the expected cybersecurity actions. For example, high levels of literacy, mature short- and long-term memory, attention, and established meta cognition are all pre-requisites to be able to carry out cybersecurity activities. Our main finding is that empirical research is required to explore the ages at which children have developed essential cognitive abilities and thereby the potential to master cybersecurity skills

Exploring Cybersecurity Education at the K-12 Level

K-12 cybersecurity education is receiving growing attention with the growing number of cyberattacks and a shortage of cybersecurity professionals. However, there are many barriers for teachers to implement effective cybersecurity education in formal classroom environments. This study conducts a systematic literature review to examine the current state-of-the-art on K-12 cybersecurity education. Through the systematic literature review, we identified 20 closely relevant papers and recognized that a well-designed curriculum in cybersecurity education at the K-12 level is strongly needed to motivate students to pursue cybersecurity pathways and careers. The challenge and suggestions of curriculum design, teaching strategy, and learning assessment are summarized and discussed

Case Study-Based Approach of Quantum Machine Learning in Cybersecurity: Quantum Support Vector Machine for Malware Classification and Protection

Quantum machine learning (QML) is an emerging field of research that leverages quantum computing to improve the classical machine learning approach to solve complex real world problems. QML has the potential to address cybersecurity related challenges. Considering the novelty and complex architecture of QML, resources are not yet explicitly available that can pave cybersecurity learners to instill efficient knowledge of this emerging technology. In this research, we design and develop QML-based ten learning modules covering various cybersecurity topics by adopting student centering case-study based learning approach. We apply one subtopic of QML on a cybersecurity topic comprised of pre-lab, lab, and post-lab activities towards providing learners with hands-on QML experiences in solving real-world security problems. In order to engage and motivate students in a learning environment that encourages all students to learn, pre-lab offers a brief introduction to both the QML subtopic and cybersecurity problem. In this paper, we utilize quantum support vector machine (QSVM) for malware classification and protection where we use open source Pennylane QML framework on the drebin215 dataset. We demonstrate our QSVM model and achieve an accuracy of 95% in malware classification and protection. We will develop all the modules and introduce them to the cybersecurity community in the coming days

Cybersecurity Awareness Shrewsbury Public Schools

In the 21st Century, technology reaches every aspect of our lives. As “digital citizens” we must be aware of the dangers both to our technological equipment and our personal information stored, transmitted, and processed on this equipment. The Cybersecurity Awareness curriculum developed for the Shrewsbury Public School district is designed to meet this need, as well as foster an interest in technology and ethical computer use

CYBEREDUCATION-BY-DESIGN™: DEVELOPING A FRAMEWORK FOR CYBERSECURITY EDUCATION AT SECONDARY EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN ARIZONA

Most survey results agree that there is a current and ongoing shortage of skilled cybersecurity workers that places our privacy, infrastructure, and nation at risk. Estimates for the global Cybersecurity Workforce Gap range from 2.72 million (ISC2, 2021) to 3.5 million (Cyber Academy, 2021) for 2021 and the United States estimates range from 465,000 (Brooks, 2021) to over 769,000 (Cyber Seek, 2022) open jobs as of November 2022. The most optimistic estimates still demonstrate a critical issue. As cybersecurity threats continue to grow in sophistication, scope, and scale, the ability to secure the United States from these threats lies in the ability to develop cybersecurity professionals with the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to accomplish the tasks associated with their cyber roles. The ability to supply qualified cybersecurity professionals is outpaced by the growing demand as previously outlined. This study proposes that conducting a case study of existing cybersecurity programs at secondary education institutions can identify the critical elements of these programs. These elements can be codified into program profiles and further refined into a comprehensive cybersecurity education framework for secondary education institutions. This framework can be used by school districts throughout Arizona to develop cybersecurity programs and ultimately develop qualified and competent cybersecurity professionals to overcome the cybersecurity workforce gap

Digital Educational Modules Development For The Career and Technical Cybersecurity Pathways During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Virtual learning has been used now for several decades, but it has never had a bigger impact on student learning than in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. Universities and schools faced shutdowns all around the world, and teachers had to adapt rapidly to online mode of instruction. Many educators were faced with a triage approach with no previous experience in distance learning, a lack of resources for professional development, and already existing shortages of current educational modules that could assist them in their day-to-day jobs. This gap was especially evident in areas such as career and technical education (CTE) in which there was a gap in the training and educational materials available for K-12 teachers in emerging technology fields such as computer science and cybersecurity. These problems are related to various issues, such as the lack of teacher preparation, constant changes in technology, curriculum and educational framework developments led by the various institutions dictating the nature of education, and moreover, the vast growth in the demand for such instruction, which presents challenges in meeting those growing demands. In this paper, the authors present one curriculum development effort for CTE high school programs focused on computer science and cybersecurity via a grant by the Perkins Innovation Project funded by the U.S. Department of Education and supported by engineering technology, electrical engineering, and industrial technology educators

2021 Winter Graduate Commencement

Lindenwood University Commencement program.https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/commencement/1165/thumbnail.jp

NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN EDUCATION AND SOCIETY - BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

New technologies, like artificial intelligence and virtual collaborative environments, are in our daily lives and are becoming part of the fabric of human interactions and thought processes. They are powerful tools to improve our well-being and development that also challenge and create risks to our known processes and ways of being in the world. In Education, and in other areas, several projects, initiatives, research and general use offer material for critical analysis and planning of future avenues. As in other complex challenges, networked discussions, learning from each other and creating community is an important part of the solutions to be charted. Partners in the European University for Customised Education (EUNICE) have combined efforts to organise the event Seminar New Technologies in Education and Society (NTES), allowing deep discussions based on real and/or research-based uses and cases across different countries and contexts. This 3-day seminar, featuring plenary sessions, discussions, and poster sessions, will dive into the exploration and discourse surrounding new technologies in education and society. The plenary sessions will showcase new technologies utilized in education, while also serving broader social needs. Attendees will gain insight into the innovative concept of the EUNICE Virtual Lab, explore the opportunities and challenges posed by the Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and blended real/virtual teaching approaches. Attendees will also have the unique opportunity to experience the virtual world first-hand through the use of VR headsets. This seminar aligns with the EUNICE4U project, which aims to develop a shared system of support for pedagogical innovation. One of the primary goals of EUNICE activities is to improve student learning through continuous pedagogical innovation, including effective integration of learning technologies, interdisciplinary teaching methodologies, and challenge-based learning approaches. EUNICE strives to harness the potential of immersive learning, particularly through virtual collaborative environments, as a promising method for delivering distance academic programmes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio