Cybersecurity Education in Utah High Schools: An Analysis and Strategy for Teacher Adoption

• Main Author: Cornel, Cariana June
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2019
• Subjects: Utah; High Schools; Teacher; Secondary Education; Utah State Board of Education; Public schools; Cybersecurity Education; CTE; STEM; Cybersecurity
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/8592; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=9592&context=etd

The IT Education Specialist for the USBE, Brandon Jacobson, stated:I feel there is a deficiency of and therefore a need to teach Cybersecurity.Cybersecurity is the “activity or process, ability or capability, or state whereby information and communications systems and the information contained therein are protected from and/or defended against damage, unauthorized use or modification, or exploitation” (NICE, 2018). Practicing cybersecurity can increase awareness of cybersecurity issues, such as theft of sensitive information. Current efforts, including but not limited to, cybersecurity camps, competitions, college courses, and conferences, have been created to better prepare cyber citizens nationwide for such cybersecurity occurrences. In 2017, a meeting was proposed to discuss cybersecurity training methods for Utah high school teachers. Meeting attendees included the researcher, Brigham Young University Cybersecurity Professor, Dale Rowe, the Alpine IT Career and Technology Engineering (CTE) Program Area Specialist, Karsten Walker, and the IT Education specialist for the Utah State Board of Education (USBE), Brandon Jacobson. However, due to limited budget, resources, and time, few results were achieved since the meeting, including a cybersecurity class certification and offering of advanced cybersecurity related courses on UEN’s WebEx Platform (Alpine District only).However, due to limited budget, resources, and time, few results were achieved since the meeting, including a cybersecurity class certification and offering of advanced cybersecurity related courses on UEN’s WebEx Platform (Alpine District only).The research shows that of the 9 school districts reviewed, only 2 of the public high schools taught cybersecurity-focused courses as outlined by the Utah State Board of Education. This is a scarcity that cannot be ignored. There are insufficient offerings of cybersecurity courses in Utah high schools. As a result, Utah is one of the many states unable to fill the shortage of cybersecurity professionals. Thus, this research was conducted to better understand what is inhibiting potential teachers from offering a cybersecurity-focused course. In the hopes of answering the mentioned query, the research involved surveying high school computer teachers about their experience, as well as their perspective on teaching cybersecurity.