NATIONAL CYBERWATCH CENTER ANNOUNCES WINNERS FOR 2020 INNOVATIONS IN CYBERSECURITY EDUCATION PROGRAM
LARGO, MD. (PRWEB) JULY 16, 2020
Four winners and three Honorable Mentions across four categories: Evidence-based Strategies, Instruction, Practice, and Program Development, were chosen among the 40 creative ideas, curricula, and projects submitted for the fourth annual National CyberWatch Center’s Innovations in Cybersecurity Education awards and recognition program.
The Innovations program was built on the premise that National CyberWatch members are some of the best information security educational innovators, and that through the Center, they can share their innovations, accelerate their adoption throughout the academic community, and receive proper recognition for their work.
“A Cybersecurity Strategy for At-Risk Youth” won in the Evidence-based Strategies category. This innovation, submitted by Ben Izadi, Cypress College, was designed to empower at-risk youth with cybersecurity education before entering college. From opportunities to develop employability skills to passing industry certification exams in one semester, this strategy showed how 25 students went from uncertain, skeptical, and dejected individuals to confident, optimistic, and cheerful ones.
The Instruction innovation winner, submitted by Karen Ribble from Augusta University, “Girl Scouts Learn What It Takes for an Incident Response Team,” was a collaboration between Girl Scouts USA, the local Girl Scout Council of Augusta Georgia, Raytheon Technologies, and Augusta University. This event gave 125 Girl Scout Cadettes, seniors and ambassadors (6-12th graders) a glimpse of a “real-world” experience in a facility designed for teamwork. The Honorable Mention selection in this category, “STOQ-SRA: A Self-Learning Tool of Quantitative Security Risk Assessment,” was submitted by Amos O. Olagunju & Hari G. Shrestha from St. Cloud State University.
Kean University’s Stan Mierzwa’s submission, “Situational & Cybersecurity Awareness for Public Health Researchers,” won in the Practice category. He said, “The ‘Center’ is created under the direction of pursuing a collaborative methodology, emphasizing a multidisciplinary approach for students and staff in cybersecurity awareness and education.” This toolbox helps global public health researchers implement technologies with greater cybersecurity knowledge. The Honorable Mention selection in this category, “Cybersecurity for All,” was submitted by Eman El-Sheikh from the University of West Florida.
The Program Development winner, submitted by Cara Tang of Portland Community College, “ACM Cyber2yr2020 Curriculum Guidelines,” is a set of guidelines that complies with government-sponsored frameworks for a broad variety of cybersecurity programs at the post-secondary level. Two-year institutions can benefit from program-specific criteria provided in this document. “This award validates the work of the ACM Committee for Computing Education in Community Colleges (CCECC) to produce practical, high-quality curriculum guidance for computing programs, which is now available at ccecc.acm.org,” said Cara Tang, Task Group chair for the ACM Committee for Computing Education in Community Colleges (CCECC). The Honorable Mention selection in this category, “CyberTech Girls: Developing Interest in Cybersecurity Education and Career Pathways,” was submitted by Tobi West from Coastline College.
These winners and honorable mention submissions will be recognized during the opening plenary at the 2020 Virtual Community College Cyber Summit on Tuesday, Aug. 4, from 6 to 8 p.m. ET. Register here: https://www.my3cs.org/3cs-virtual-summit
A reference document was created listing all the submissions, with a brief write up for each. For more information, visit https://www.nationalcyberwatch.org/resource/2020-innovations
About National CyberWatch Center
National CyberWatch Center is a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education-funded cybersecurity consortium working to advance cybersecurity education and strengthen the national workforce. Since 2005, National CyberWatch has played a key role in developing, promoting and providing cybersecurity education solutions nationally. To learn more, visit https://www.nationalcyberwatch.org.
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