Including Cybersecurity in Standards of Learning
Including cybersecurity in standards of learning is an expanding topic in the education system. While there are political implications that come along with this topic, there may also be a few social implications as well. Including cybersecurity in standards of learning is important because it will introduce cybersecurity and cyber space to the younger generations (K-12) and also expand what they are already learning about technology whether it be through normal standards of learning or advanced learning centers. This would also help solve problem of scarcity when it comes to finding cyber professionals to fill critical roles.
One Social implication that can arise from including cybersecurity in standards of learning is barriers that prevent teachers from being able to teach and educate younger students on this topic. Younger children (to a certain age) do not have the mental capacity to take in and fully comprehend the complex topics and material that would come with including cybersecurity in standards of learning. This meaning that there would have to be strategies put in place to effectively teach the subject to students in a broader and more understandable way and add more material for higher grade levels and advanced material for advanced learning centers.
There are ways that society and this policy connect considering that everyone has a cyber presence and has a form of technology that stores their personal information. Including cybersecurity in standards of learning would be more beneficial to society because the younger generation would be able to detect potential threats that they were introduced to in school. Kids nowadays are more present on social media and the internet more than any other generation and that number will only increase as time goes on. Since the younger generation has a huge online presence they need to what is right from wrong, and information is safe to put on the internet and what information needs to be stored securely and away from the internet.
Social factor that led to the development of including cybersecurity in standards of learning are repetitive incidents like cyber bullying, stolen information, harassment, and other incidents where K-12 students get affected negatively. Cyber bullying being a major problem for decades in K-12 and increasing as time goes on is a major reason cybersecurity needs to be implemented into standards of learning, so students understand how to mitigate and protect themselves against cyber bullying.
The knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of society are amongst the main influences that have shaped this policy. These factors all tie into each other which impact how people interact in society not only physically but digitally as well in the cyber world. Dealing with younger individuals (K-12 students) these behaviors and attitude are not stable and are subject to change often leading to rapid, and unconscious decisions. This is another reason it is important to include cybersecurity in standards of learning and how different influences have shaped this policy.
To conclude this policy analysis. There are social implications that come along with political implications. One of these social implications being the barrier that makes it difficult to include cybersecurity in standards of learning considering the mental capacity of younger students in K-12. The policy should be shaped around grade level and include more material when moving up in grade level. Learning centers could potentially get more complex material and even hands-on learning experience in cybersecurity. The influences in society that have shaped this policy have been discussed as well.
References
Payne, B. K., He, W., Wang, C., Wittkower, D. E., & Wu, H. (2021). Cybersecurity, technology, and society: Developing an interdisciplinary, open, general education cybersecurity course. Journal of Information Systems Education, 32(2), 1334.
AlDaajeh, S., Saleous, H., Alrabaee, S., Barka, E., Breitinger, F., & Choo, K. K. R. (2022). The role of national cybersecurity strategies on the improvement of cybersecurity education. Computers & Security, 119, 102754. Catota, F. E., Morgan, M. G., & Sicker, D. C. (2019). Cybersecurity education in a developing nation: The Ecuadorian environment. Journal of Cybersecurity, 5(1), tyz001