Cyber Security Awareness Month - Day 15 - What Teachers Need to Know About Their Students
Today's cyber security awareness month topic looks at the problem through the eyes of the teacher. For most students, their teachers are not just people well versed in economics, mathematics, science, or history. They also serve as mentors, role models, and confidants to their students and are expected to be able to demonstrate their vast knowledge of how to conduct one's self in today's society. Unfortunately for many educators, especially those who are a bit advanced in their years, this new thing called the Internet has created a very large divide between students and their teachers, often leaving the teacher with little understanding of how to integrate their students' online experience into the classroom, the playground, homework, and extracurricular activities.
There are many resources online with ideas for teachers in terms of teaching cyber security ethics and etiquette to their students. For example, see
http://www.staysafeonline.org/cybersecurity-awareness-month/what-educators-can-do
and
https://wiki.internet2.edu/confluence/display/itsg2/Cybersecurity+Awareness+Resource+Library
But what we need to ask is "what should teachers know about their students?" Being a parent with both of my daughters out of school and on their own (OK, my youngest is in grad school...) I have many years of experience watching the divide between them and their teachers as they were growing up. Here are some of my observations, known to many of their teachers but completely unknown to others:
- Homework is often done in collaboration with other classmates via online chat rooms, even if told to do it alone
- Wikipedia is more valid as a research tool than the school library
- In chat rooms and social media sites students can be very vicious with their comments about other students, their teachers, and their schools
- Access to computers and the Internet is everywhere, and when told that they cannot use the Internet they will find a way to do so
- There is little respect for authority while online, causing some students to routinely break laws that they would not dare to do in the physical world (for example, theft of intellectual property via file-sharing sites, or accessing pornography that is restricted to adults over the age of 18)
- Students have created sites such as http://www.ratemyteachers.com/ where they discuss and "rate" their schools and teachers
I know that the list above is more focused on the dark side of what "digital students" are thinking and doing, but there are certainly many good things that the Internet brings which were not available to us when we were growing up. So now it's your turn - use the "comment" link below to add your own observations about what teachers should know about their students when it comes to online behavior. It doesn't matter if you are a teacher, a student, a parent, or a friend, let us know what you are seeing and hearing. And while talking about the bad stuff students do is useful for awareness, we also would like to hear about the good things they are doing, too!
Marcus H. Sachs
Director, SANS Internet Storm Center
Comments
- Any new "necessary" electronic device or advancement in computers creates a new opportunity for clever students to cheat. For example, consider handheld video games with wireless chat or internet capability, bluetooth headsets, and smartphones. Devices that were once dumb now have many added features. Consider how few teachers realized that students were storing notes in their programmable calculators when they were introduced to schools two decades ago.
Tisiphone
Oct 15th 2010
1 decade ago
CoastalView
Oct 15th 2010
1 decade ago
SANS ISC
Oct 15th 2010
1 decade ago
RobM
Oct 15th 2010
1 decade ago
I'm kind-of considering that the world (in particular the USA and Europe) needs more science-technology-engineering-math skilled people; and that a healthy attitude towards experimenting with Internet is likely to achieve this better.
So I wouldn't watch, and I wouldn't expect anyone to watch me.
I think that's the "Common Carrier" argument. Would anyone like to discuss it ?
Chris
Oct 15th 2010
1 decade ago
> ... So I wouldn't watch, and I wouldn't expect anyone to watch me. (Chris)
I'd watch, but I'd allow some slack (for learning through experience). You DO monitor your day-job logs, don't you?
> I think that's the "Common Carrier" argument. Would anyone like to discuss it ?
I am not ashamed of acting "in loco parentis" when I AM a parent!
Dick Rawson
Oct 15th 2010
1 decade ago
stuen93
Oct 18th 2010
1 decade ago
As to the student's claim, our answer was "maybe" for any given definition of "take down the school." Our contact did explain the student was advised that the school network was not more secure as it was a trusted environment and that responsible students would not abuse the school's resources. On thought, that was not unreasonable, in their environment. (Our advice for higher security have been met with their acceptance of the level of risk for a more trusted environment - which is, of course, their choice.)
doj8
Oct 19th 2010
1 decade ago
I couldn't agree more. There is sometimes and epic void between students and instructors. However, I believe even the oldest and most out of touch instructor can teach students lessons that only can be learned with real life experience. Granted, if it is an IT related class, then the teacher should be well versed in IT and computers.
Edgar@ECPI
Oct 20th 2010
1 decade ago