Advanced Cybersecurity Training for Teachers

The advent of COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of digital learning, with many learning institutions deploying various technologies for blended or full online learning to ensure continuity in education.

Teacher Ayanna, a secondary school teacher from Trinidad and Tobago, decided to use Zoom sessions to deliver her lessons soon after the school closures in her country. During a class with her form 3 students, she experienced a disturbing Zoombombing attack within the first five minutes of the lesson. She reported the matter to the Cyber Crime Unit and Children’s Authority for advice. Coincidentally, similar incidents had occurred on the same day at other schools. The authorities were able to investigate and apprehend the perpetrator. Since then, she has implemented safety measures on the learning platforms to protect her students from such attacks.

Like Teacher Ayanna, many educators have been increasingly exposed to cybercrimes in recent times. Responding to a poll in a recent cybersecurity training course for teachers, 30% indicated that they had experienced various attacks including ransomware, Zoombombing, phishing, account hijacking, malvertising, email account takeover, and credit card fraud, among others. It is, therefore, important for educators to be equipped with the skills to mitigate these attacks for a safer and more effective learning environment.

The Advanced Cybersecurity Training for Teachers (ACTT) course is designed to provide teachers, teacher educators and education practitioners with superior knowledge necessary to protect themselves and their students online, as well as create awareness for parents and other stakeholders in digital learning. The course will run over four weeks, and it will require between 4-6 hours of time each week. Participants will learn from video lectures, articles, case studies, webinars as well as discussions with fellow learners and mentors.

This course material is available as an accessible digital book