Back to school part 2 and 3
In 2024, CyberShield once again imparted knowledge to pupils and visited two different schools for this purpose. After we reported on our last workshop, a few questions arose. I would like to answer them again for you here:
What grade or levels are the students in?
The students are all in upper secondary school. In some cases, two levels were mixed in order to accommodate as many students as possible in the workshop. The students should all have been in grade 10 or 11, but of course the grades are not simply called grade 10 or 11, but are coded here according to GDPR in such a way that no one can trace exactly which school year the learners are in, so I can’t tell you with absolute certainty.
What prior knowledge do the students have?
The students have all had computer science lessons at school and some of them have also taken an advanced computer science course, which means they already have a basic knowledge of computer science. Unfortunately, the curriculum does not provide for IT security or even OT security for either basic or advanced courses, which means that most of the students have their first introduction to cyber security with us.
How is the workshop structured?
The workshop consists of two parts: Attack and defense, both parts are deepened in theory and practice. In the theory parts, we ask the students questions and develop concepts together with them. In the practical part, the students are then allowed to carry out some penetration testing. Want to find out more? Just get in touch with Adela and maybe you’ll be part of our next workshop! Maybe you know a school that would be happy to have us visit?
So on 17.05.2024 it was time again and Christian and Till visited a school to conduct our workshop together with the pupils. The special thing: It was the Winfriedschule in Fulda, Christian’s old school. Even during the first visit to test our setup, it quickly became clear that there was a great deal of interest in our workshop here. Mr. Höpping, the responsible teacher and deputy principal, quickly mentioned that not only one class would be present and that he had invited a second teacher to come and take a look at our workshop. He also expressed his own interest in IT security and explained how he secures his network at home. When asked about the students‘ level of knowledge, he replied that although it is not part of the curriculum, he nevertheless tried to incorporate the topic into the course and explained SQL injections to the students on the subject of databases, for example. So the signs were good that the students were also interested. This assumption was confirmed during the workshop. The more than 20 learners were very interested right from the start and it quickly became clear that some of them are also involved in IT security in their free time. Many questions were asked, answers given and suggestions made right from the start. This enthusiasm and willingness lasted until the end of the course and we were able to work out a lot together, have fun and gain practical experience with IT security.
The second workshop of this year was on June 4, 2024 and was held by Christian, Alex and Till at Max-Born-Gymnasium Neckargemünd. Does the name sound familiar? Exactly, this is where we held our first school workshop last year. That means we didn’t have to travel here beforehand to test our setup, we already knew the school and the conditions. The students‘ interest in a 4-hour workshop was probably limited in the run-up to the event. Some of them probably decided that they felt ill that day or preferred to spend their time elsewhere. Well, it’s their own fault. After the teacher had found a few more students in the canteen, we were able to start our workshop. Over the course of the workshop, the students developed an interest in IT security and became increasingly active during the course. There was a lot of interest, especially during the practical phase, and we could have gone on for much longer without anyone getting bored.
Both workshops were a great success! So, as you can see, it makes no difference whether the interest is already there before the workshop or whether the topic is perceived as uninteresting or possibly not at all, our workshop is fun either way and either deepens the interest or awakens it in the first place!
Thank you for reading!
Till
