Learning Blade for National Cybersecurity Awareness Week

Cybersecurity is everywhere. Computers and networks are a part of every industry and protecting data is critical to the world’s economy. November 9-14 is National Cybersecurity Awareness Week, and you can log into Learning Blade to explore careers and technologies in the Cybersecurity, STEM, and Computer Science fields.

As you look at the careers and technologies in Learning Blade, keep in mind that they all have relationships with cybersecurity professionals and skills. Explore and think about how people interact with technology and different types of information (particularly about people) and how it is important to protect that data. 

To participate in the Learning Blade for Cybersecurity Week, either:

• If you do not currently have Learning Blade for your school, click here and enter the class code " a974e1" to have your students register themselves. This will give you and your students access until Dec 1, 2020.
• Already have an account to Learning Blade: Log in with your existing Learning Blade accounts and work on the Flu Outbreak Mission.
• To jump start the discussion of cybersecurity careers with any of the Learning Blade Missions, ask students to consider these questions:

  - What kind of information is used by people in this field?  What information is needed to complete this mission?
  - Is any of this information confidential  – information that the company does not want others (competitors, the public, hackers) to have access to?
  - Does this field use any special electronic devices or computerized systems?
  - Are these devices networked (e.g., company internal network, Bluetooth, WiFi) or do they access the internet?
  - What might happen if the data or systems are not available when needed?
  - Is it important that the data or systems be available 24/7?
  - What could happen if confidential data was accessed by a competitor? By a hacker?
  - If data was deliberately changed to be wrong, what negative results might occur?
  - Do professionals in this field use mobile devices to allow them to work away from the office?  Might they use their own cell phones?

• To help teachers and students observe National Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week (NCCAW) this year, Learning Blade has teamed up with Comic-BEE to provide K12 teachers even more ways to introduce their students to cybersecurity concepts and careers. Comic-BEE is offering a unique way to further extend the three Mission Challenges by providing teachers with FREE access to Comic-BEE for one month. Students can use Comic-BEE to create web comics that explore core aspects of a Mission Challenge, specific cybersecurity concerns related to a Mission, or cybersecurity work roles that could be involved in a Mission. Learn more about this opportunity here.

• Want to find out more about Learning Blade for your school go to learningblade.com/states.

Learning Blade for Cybersecurity Week is supported by the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE). For teachers seeking additional information about K12 cybersecurity career awareness, the K-12 Subgroup of the NICE Working Group (sponsor of NCCAW) has provided the following resources:

One pager on Cybersecurity Career Awareness for School Administrators and Counselors 
Why Consider a Career in Cybersecurity?: A flier with key talking points
K12 Cybersecurity At Home: free education resources curated by the K12 Subgroup

Please register by letting us know the name of your school here so we can count your participation!

Tweet and tag @LearningBlade with the hashtags #CyberCareerWeek and #MyCyberJob!