Curriculum

Calling All Cyberspace Cadets ...

By Ian Quillen — June 14, 2010 1 min read
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Two school districts are deciding to couple the growing need for cybersecurity professionals with a hefty supply of technologically savvy students.

The school systems in Howard and Baltimore counties in Maryland are joining with technology educators at the CyberWatch Center, based out of a community college in nearby Prince George’s County, Md., to launch the second phase of the organization’s K-12 SECURE IT program. After a first phase where CyberWatch designed and tested courses for assorted grade levels, the new wave will create a curriculum that runs the gamut of K-12 and ultimately helps fill a growing gap between demand and supply of cybersecurity professionals.

Will it work? There are certainly a lot of “cool” careers that could get kids to buy into the idea, such as jobs with the FBI and CIA. And, according to this recent story, there is truth in the claim that demand exceeds supply.

More interesting to me is the prospect of what types of apprenticeship/internship opportunities students might have. Would you see kids who receive proper training get the chance to help tackle cybersecurity issues at their own schools? Or would instructors feel there was too much danger in giving some students the type of access to school networks they would need to learn on campus?

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A version of this news article first appeared in the Digital Education blog.