Security LiteracyGoal:

The prime goal of practical computer security literacy is to provide students with security context for many of the activities they encounter throughout their everyday use of computers and the Internet.  As a result, the topics and objectives of the corresponding modules are designed specifically to meet this goal and presented in a tangible format for students of all backgrounds to learn.

Educational Methods:

Multiple integration methods

  • Stand alone course
  • Integrated in several courses (security across the curriculum)
  • Clubs and/or after school activities

Multiple delivery methods

  • Traditional lecture
  • In-class videos
  • Flipped course

Multiple assessment methods

  • Informal in-class
  • Formal

Educational Materials (all provided below)

  • All materials (except textbook) are under creative commons license
  • Textbook (available online for free or purchase at CRC Press or Amazon)
  • Web site (www.security-literacy.org)
  • Lesson plans
  • Discussion Guides
  • Writing Assignment
  • Assessments
  • Enrichment ideas
  • In class activities
  • Teacher tools
  • Cyber Toons
  • Video lectures
  • Power point slides

Each day, people are inundated with alerts and pop-ups informing them about patch updates, antivirus signatures, firewall exceptions, suspicious emails, and malware threats. These notifications fail to educate the user on how to make value-based decisions regarding the benefits and consequences of taking specific action on these items. A formal pedagogical approach to practical computer security education provides the context and knowledge for students to apply computer security best practices when faced with a novel situation and the ability to be proactive, not reactive, in the face of new threats.

Iowa State University offers a successful security literacy course. Because of its success, they developed a program for use by educators in grades 9 – 12 to use for free. The Partnership for A Healthy Iowa collaborated with Iowa State to provide these materials on our website. Read on!

Textbook

See the full list of chapters below within the Lesson Plans. This is a PDF of links to each online chapter: Security Literacy Online Chapters (0 downloads ) . You can also purchase the textbook using the links above.

Video Presentations

Power Point Slides

Download all the Power Point presentations that mirror the ones shown in the above videos. This download is a Zip file.

Lesson Plans

Note: Chapter 13 (Case Studies) and Chapter 14 (Moving Forward with Security and Book Summary) are not part of a Unit and are instead used as references.