Platform of open educational resources (OER) on cybersecurity and profession

Abstract

This work has been carried out in the framework of the Erasmus+ Project 2018-1-ES01-KA201-050461, entitled: Be@CyberPro - A videogame for fostering cybersecurity careers in Schools. The aim of this project is to address the gender gap facing the cybersecurity industry, and to foster the vocation of cybersecurity careers with a special focus on young teenage girls. The project has been developed by a consortium of institutions composed of private sector companies and academic institutions of higher education, in collaboration with secondary, high and vocational schools. Better information, in a more attractive format, on cybersecurity careers could positively impact more young people choosing this path, and female role models can motivate girls to enrol in cybersecurity education.

Therefore, one of the objectives of this project has been to generate quality content on cybersecurity for schools taking as a reference the European Framework of Digital Competences for Citizens (DigComp). For this purpose, an educational platform on cybersecurity has been created with open educational resources (OER) on cybersecurity, focused on training and raising awareness among students, teachers and families. The resources are accessible at the following link: Educational Resources – Be@CyberPro (https://www.beacyberpro.eu/educational-resources/). Specifically, a learning environment has been developed based on the LMS Moodle system, accessible through mobile devices. The material can also be used in a traditional way via the web, in order to facilitate its use at schools.

The platform contains an online course that introduces teachers to the basics of information security so that they acquire the right knowledge to teach cybersecurity to their students. Moreover, they learn about various cybersecurity professional profiles to be able to guide their pupils. Such courses contain basic content and activities on cybersecurity based on the European DigComp standard on digital competencies, and more specifically, the module on cybersecurity. The course develops problem-solving and critical thinking skills, two of the most important competencies in the area of cybersecurity, using security challenges to motivate students.

These courses are structured around four modules: Modules: 1) Protecting Devices and Content, 2) Protecting Personal Data and Privacy; 3) Protecting Health, Wellbeing and the Environment, 4) Career Profiles.

In order to know the impact of the students' experience with the learning content on the electronic platform, a 12-question questionnaire was carried out amongst a total of 60 pupils from JOYFE school in Madrid. Its main results show a desired impact with the contents of the platform. Specifically, with the content of this course 75% of the students consider that they have learned the importance of cybersecurity, followed by 72.2% who indicate that they have learned technical aspects of cybersecurity. One of the best rated aspects of the platform is the ease of use (4.54 out of 5) and the navigation through the platform and course material without the help of teachers (4.51 out of 5).

In conclusion, we have seen that the project has aroused great interest among organisations and schools. In particular, we have been able to train teachers in ICT security apart from that, we have provided schools and families with useful information about the IT security industry so that they can inform students in turn.