An example from history
About 20 years ago, the idea of K-12 engineering education struck many people as bizarre. It registered as little more than a gleam in the eyes of a small number of educators seen as fringe by most of their colleagues, a few policy-makers worried about the technology innovation ecosystem, and scattered engineering professionals involved in outreach events to kids in their local communities. In short order, though, engineering became a basic pillar of K-12 science education, written into the 2010 Next Generation Science Standards, engaging students in new and numerous ways, and now a teaching imperative in nearly every part of the country.
This time, CS
This phenomenon could well be repeating itself with computer science. It is driven in particular by urgency felt far and wide about building interest and capability among students oriented towards careers in areas of the field like cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, software development, data science, and the various multi-disciplinary combinations of these and related fields.
Cybersecurity, for various reasons
Cybersecurity especially captures people’s attention as a topic to embed in K-12 education activities. Students need to learn necessary online safety practices, as an initial matter. Like wearing a mask to prevent COVID-19 spread, exercising appropriate online safety protocols helps keep both their own data safe and protect everyone else in kids’ online orbits. And career opportunities in cybersecurity are rich in variety, reward, and pathways of entry. Students of all backgrounds and interests can find career opportunities in the field — from the tech-focused to the much more generally oriented — and they can enter the field via certificate programs, two-year programs, four-year programs, or combinations of all three educational options. See our Cybersecurity Career Guide, need I add, for much more on this topic.
Gathering efforts
Earlier this month, we participated in an event that highlighted the rising profile of cybersecurity education as both a compelling individual career opportunity and vital national need. As part of a year-long, high-profile effort to render a new vision for US cybersecurity preparedness, the Cyberspace Solarium Commission convened a virtual roundtable of almost 100 cybersecurity education leaders to share lessons and coordinate strategies in K-12 education activities.
A big idea
The concept at the heart of the Commission’s recommendations is “layered cyber deterrence.” This concept envisions interrelated roles and activities for government, industry, education, and the public at large to take on, with an overall goal of “broad public resilience” as a steady state in the face of the ongoing cyber threats that bombard online networks and systems. As a prominent plank in “layered cyber deterrence," K-12 cybersecurity education should benefit notably from action items coming out of Commission recommendations. For example, the final Commission report included 50 legislative proposals, and 19 are currently under consideration in Congress. Most of these proposals include education and career development components.
The PROMOTES Act
Another legislative proposal before Congress related to K-12 cybersecurity education is the PROMOTES Act of 2020. This bill directs the Secretary of Defense to institute a STEM education grant program that would support computer science, and especially cybersecurity education, in the 3,400 high schools serving Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps students. A core element of the bill would fund computer science learning among the 545,000 students enrolled in JROTC programs, with a strong emphasis on cybersecurity. Specifically, the JROTC-CS Demonstration Project, part of a partnership with CSforALL, would be in line for substantial support. JROTC students are 55 percent minority and 40 percent female, and over 50 percent attend Title I schools, so the legislation would provide significant support for reaching exactly the underrepresented groups that cybersecurity and other computer-related fields need to reach.
Hub of activity
Because of the national security implications of cybersecurity education, the federal government has been a leader in catalyzing efforts. One of the longest-running, most influential sites of activity in K-12 cybersecurity education is the National Initiative in Cybersecurity Education, a collaborative effort of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Department of Commerce. It runs and supports numerous efforts to develop educational and career resources, raise attention and visibility, and support networking and collaboration activities. Every year, NICE runs a K-12 education meeting, to take virtual format this year, where many of the same people participating in the Solarium Commission meeting will be attending, building on exchanges and plans laid out in virtual roundtable earlier this month.
History repeating?
This kind of infrastructure building helped drive the growth of K-12 engineering education some 20 years ago. Educators, professionals, and interested parties gathered at meetings and in coalitions to hash out tactics and strategies. Commissions produced white papers and reports laying out a vision for change and reform. Policy makers heard from advocates and responded with legislative proposals. And over time, the educational landscape evolved to accommodate a newly flowering field of inquiry and learning.
Where we are
We have been working to realize a vision of K-12 cybersecurity education with our new CyberCAP learning program. A robust, engaging career awareness program, it includes a career guide, student workbook, and teacher’s guide, and it is designed from the ground up for educators who have little or no background in the field. We have had a great response from early adopters, who value it for being flexible and adaptable. It works both as a program unto itself — with over 20 hours of sequenced lessons — and also as a modular resource, with pieces that can be dropped into existing curricula to support and extend what teachers are already doing. Please take a look and be in touch with any questions or comments. We’re really excited about it, and interested organizations can also request training in how to make it work in their particular circumstances.
Eric Iversen is VP for Learning and Communications at Start Engineering. He has written and spoken widely on STEM education and related careers. You can write to him about this topic, especially when he gets stuff wrong, at eiversen@start-engineering.com.
You can also follow along on Twitter @StartEnginNow.
The new, 2nd edition of Cybersecurity Career Guide shows middle and high schoolers what cybersecurity is all about and how they can find the career in the field that’s right for them. Now with an updated Student Workbook and new Teacher’s Guide for classroom or afterschool use!
To showcase STEM career options, pair our cybersecurity books with the updated, 2019 edition of our Engineering Career Guide.
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