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uhi cyber course reflections

TEACHER’S REFLECTIONS ON CLPL – UHI INTRO TO CYBER SECURITY ONLINE COURSE FOR TEACHERS

“Courses like this are vital to give teachers the skills and confidence to deliver Cyber Security to their pupils.”

by Darren Brown, Computing Science Teacher from Inverness High School in Highland (@invernesshigh), Northern Alliance

I’ve been keen for a few years to bring in more Cyber Security into my school but admittedly I was a little put off due to my lack of knowledge and having no idea how to even start to approach the practical work.

The Intro to Cyber Security course from UHI was exactly what I needed. It did require a few hours a week of work but I progressed through all the basics of Cyber Security building my knowledge. Having done online courses before I was used to working independently but on this course although I could work when suited it me we also had a specific recorded lecture a week to watch and tutorial session where all the students could tune in, ask questions and share ideas. There was also a discussion board for interaction and posting ideas, issues or questions anyone had. There were various extra resources, links, videos and websites available to go into more detail if I wanted to and all related to the latest real world scenarios. There were plenty of practical tasks on various online systems to do hands-on work to build on the theory as well as setup of virtual machines to do proper Ethical Hacking.

At all times what was studied was brought back to thinking about how you could introduce and bring concepts to life in your own classroom. Even the assessments are tailored to creating materials and ideas for classes.

The course had a mix of primary, Computing and other subject secondary teachers so was very accessible for all introducing the key building blocks of Cyber Security but allowing those who wished to do hands on Ethical Hacking to upskill to think about delivering the SQA National Progression Award (NPA) in Cyber Security.

Everyone is very busy but this is a CPD course that will directly help your teaching on the ground of Cyber Security. The lecturers were very approachable, gave any help required, answered questions as well as being flexible to teacher’s busy weekly schedules with deadlines. Like general Computing Science it is very clear we need to bring more Cyber Security into all schools at all levels.

“Courses like this are vital to give teachers the skills and confidence to deliver Cyber Security to their pupils.”

TEACHERS’ REFLECTIONS ON ADDITIONAL TEACHING QUALIFICATION IN COMPUTING

Jonathan Henderson, Lasswade Primary School, Midlothian, @MrHenderson321
Emma Hedges, Victoria Primary School, Falkirk, @MissHedgesVPS

We are delighted to be part of the first cohort of a new program of CLPL aimed at up-levelling primary teachers’ skills in delivering the Technologies curriculum. This online program leverages some of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI)’s existing courses for cross-qualifying existing secondary teachers into Computer Science but provides primary teachers with the expertise necessary to deliver the computing curriculum up to SCQF Level 3. This course has been designed and supported by the British Computer Society, Microsoft, Education Scotland and the Scottish Government.

Currently, we are in Week 4 of the first 12 week module on Databases and Computer Systems, with a second module planned to start in September which will focus on Coding and Web Technologies. So far we have learned about Software, Hardware, Numbering Systems and Logic Gates, and we will soon be moving onto learning about databases and SQL. The work for each week is split up into sections which has contributed to making the course manageable to fit in around a full time teaching job. Each week has involved gaining new knowledge via videos and Sways. There have also been interactive elements such as mini quizzes and using what we have learned to complete tasks such as calculations involving binary numbers. There has been a feeling of satisfaction when we have been able to use our new found knowledge, or from learning from our mistakes, to complete these tasks.

We have also been given the opportunity to complete an additional entry-level Cisco course about Linux which many participants have signed up to complete.

So far, it has been fascinating to go further into subjects which are beyond the normal scope of the primary curriculum and refresh and update our understanding of computing. Through being provided with this opportunity we are once again in the role of the learner. This has been an interesting experience and has made us consider the different ways in which we can share what we are learning to the wide range of needs of our learners, as well as with our colleagues.

We are also enjoying the opportunity to network with colleagues from across Scotland as well as across primary and secondary education. It has been interesting to learn about the different backgrounds of our colleagues who are also enrolled on the course and to be able to interact with them online either on the UHI learning space or on Twitter. With the submission date of our first assessment approaching, we’re very much focussed on doing our best in order to get the most out of the course both for ourselves and for our pupils.

Find out more about the qualification here