In today’s age, the internet has drastically increased accessibility in every facet of life. Nowhere is that notion more prevalent than in education. Through the use of online schooling, students who would have otherwise not have attended school or further their education past a high school diploma have the opportunity to widen the breadth of their knowledge. Online education opportunities can be helpful to those with no nearby educational institutions, those who have limited means of transportation, those with one or more disabilities, or even those who don’t function efficiently in a typical schooling environment. The most relevant example of how the internet has increased the accessibility of education is the Corona Virus Pandemic. When the lockdown went into effect, this drastically impacted the education that many students would receive. In previous instances where similar lockdowns were implemented, many students had no choice but to either receive instruction from a tutor, which was inaccessible to many households, their guardians who may not have the proper tools to educate their children, or from no one and have their education halted. However, for the lockdown that went into effect in March 2020, because of the widespread implementation of internet usage, most students across the nation were able to continue their education through the pandemic. Though this was not a perfect solution, it exemplified how the internet had increased accessibility for education on a broad level. However, there is one issue that many students have with the practicality of their education. One major complaint is that the education that is learned in educational institutions is difficult to apply once in a workplace environment. Learning from a textbook and a lecturing professor differs from receiving tasks from an employer. A plethora of students has a difficult time transitioning from the standard method of education to the hectic pace of the corporate world.

Additionally, many students have difficulty entering the workforce after graduating with their degrees. Many jobs today require some form of work experience related to the job, and many students’ only exposure to said job is what they learned in school. This is where the concept of an internship is expressed. An internship is a way for a student or trainee to gain work experience or qualifications through an organization. It bridges the gap between schooling and work experience, allowing the students to use the tools learned in school and apply them to a work environment. The accessibility of internships has increased as more organizations have partnered with educational institutions to help students find the training they need. However, there are a plethora of reasons why a typical “in-person” internship is not available to a student. A student may not be able to get an internship because the available opportunities have been taken. There may not be any that apply specifically to their field of study, or there may be more physical barriers like location barriers or disabilities. However, similarly to how the internet increased the accessibility of education, the internet can increase the accessibility of internship and training opportunities as well. The solution comes in the form of a concept that is gaining traction in the digital world, virtual reality.

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, it can be used to create internship opportunities for those with accessibility issues. This introduces the concept of Virtual Reality Cybersecurity Training. Cybersecurity is a very hands-on career field. Many who are currently working in a facet of cybersecurity believe that most of their retained knowledge came from applying the foundational concepts they studied in school to practical applications in training, internships, or the workforce. This poses a disadvantage to those who don’t have access to internship or training opportunities due to the reasons previously listed. They often lag behind when thrust into the corporate world because of their lack of experience. Therefore, Virtual Reality Cybersecurity Training provides the solution to this inaccessibility. Those who couldn’t get in-person internship opportunities can receive similar experience and training through a virtual space created to simulate the field of cybersecurity they are currently studying and the tasks that they would typically complete.

Virtual Reality Cybersecurity Training would be offered in place of a traditional internship. The business would sell or rent virtual reality headsets out to students using this method as a form of internship. Using the headset, the students would be set in an environment that would be created by a team of developers. These developers would be able to simulate an appropriate work environment and tasks using their technical skills in addition to their knowledge of the aforementioned work environment. This knowledge would be provided by businesses that agree to a partnership that involves sharing information on typical workplace activities and settings. On the surface, it seems like this agreement would benefit the Virtual Reality Cybersecurity Training business alone. However, by securing this collaboration, the partnering businesses would be ensuring that they would be generating a slew of potential employees with applicable and proficient work experience. Additionally, since many cybersecurity jobs could be remote, this would also display to the partnering businesses which employees could efficiently perform outside of a structured work environment. In order to reduce costs at the onset, the company would only replicate a few cybersecurity-related fields and their relevant responsibilities. When the business proves to be more profitable, more job opportunities would be replicated in the virtual environments to broaden accessibility.

This business is not expected to be implemented without issues. One barrier expected to be faced is finding companies who are willing to partner with the business. Their collaboration is vital to this system being a valid form of internship. Thus, their cooperation is a fundamental piece of the business. Another barrier expected to be confronted is the marketing of this business. The target demographic of the Virtual Reality Cybersecurity Training is primarily university students. However, they cannot join a program that they are knowledgeable of. Without the target demographic buying the virtual reality headsets and utilizing the digitized environment, there would be no profits and, thus, no business. The business also needs to ensure that the virtual environments and duties are depicted as accurately as possible without violating the privacy and intellectual property of the parenting businesses. Companies rely on their intellectual property staying private in order for them to effectively compete in the market and make a profit. The Virtual Reality Cybersecurity Training business could face severe legal issues if steps are not implemented to protect the partners. Another barrier is, notably, accessibility. The fundamental reason for this business being created is to increase accessibility to those who are disenfranchised. This includes those with disabilities. Proper features need to be implemented and available to those with disabilities that would otherwise affect their ability to perform in the environment, such as those with visual impairment, audible impairments, or neurodivergences.

In order to expand the business past a few avenues of cybersecurity, there need to be ways to assess the performance of the business. One way is to get correspondence from those involved on both sides of the business. That would include gaining feedback from the students on how the experience is, how well they are learning, and how they are adjusting to the workplace after their training is complete. It would also involve gaining feedback from the business on how the employees who were educated through the training are performing in their jobs, particularly in comparison to those who were trained through traditional methods and those who received no prior training. This feedback could be dispersed through interviews and surveys. These would also help assess the virtual environments’ technical performance to check for any bugs or inaccuracies.