The Gambit - Cybersecurity: New Engaging Course at AHS

Cybersecurity: New Engaging Course at AHS

Have you ever been interested in how to protect yourself from cyber-attacks? Well, Cybersecurity is a new class for students this year and Mr. Kukarola is the teacher.

Kukarola said that the class was started to fill the curriculum and to allow students to have other opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have: “We started the course for several reasons. First to help fill a gap in our curriculum. We felt that Cybersecurity was a course that is completely different than other opportunities here at AHS. The students will have the opportunity to be trained in a multitude of cybersecurity skills… Cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly important topic in our everyday lives. There are over 4 million job openings in the United States alone right now in fields related to Cybersecurity.” Therefore, it sounds like this course is a great addition to students’ course options.

Also, senior Olivia Milicia said the reason she took the class was that she wanted to take a range of classes for her senior year and to see if she would like it: “I didn’t know what I wanted my major to be at the time to I took a wide range of courses to try and see what I liked the most and what interested me the most. I took Cybersecurity to see if a possible tech career interested me.”

Senior Kavya Balreddygari said the reason she took the class was because she is planning on going into the technological field and wanted to know more about cybersecurity: “I really wanted to take the class because I am planning to go into the technology field and I wanted to learn more about cybersecurity as it is a big topic in technology.”

Kukarola says the course covers main topics including computer skills and different operating systems: “The course starts out covering basic computer skills and then in the first year of the course starts to train the students to use different Operating Systems. Once the students are familiar with the systems, the course then begins to train the students how to recognize and combat cyber threats. There are many different avenues that the students can pursue that branch off of this cybersecurity course.”

Also, Kukarola explained that so far this year he has liked teaching the course: “So far it has been great. Everyday has been something new. I have had to do a lot of things that I have never done before in my career. We have set up several guest speakers, field trips and soon internship opportunities.”

Milicia shared that her favorite part of the class has been learning about computers: “So far, my favorite part of the course has been learning about the hardware of computers.” Given that computers aren’t going away anytime soon, this knowledge would be useful.

Balreddygari shared, “My favorite part of the course was learning about how to protect ourselves from common cybersecurity attacks.” Having this knowledge is good because computer security is a vastly growing concern with the fact that many threats have come.

Both Milicia and Balreddygari explained that the course has not been too difficult for them. Balreddygari shared that the course has some harder days than others. “The course is not particularly challenging. Some days are harder than others, but the course generally takes you step by step through what you need to learn.” Milicia shared the same thing: “Overall the course isn’t too challenging however certain topics/units are more challenging than others.”

Kukarola shared that the course is led by the student: “This course is completely student centered. I serve as a facilitator organizing lessons and keeping the students accountable. As for the learning, that is all on the students. I give them the resources they need and they are responsible for learning the new information. There are no paper/pencil tests in this course. The students complete a performance task at the end of each unit. This allows them to demonstrate what they learned in the unit.”

Balreddygari explained that there is not a lot of work that needs to be done outside of class: “I spend almost no time on the course outside of class as it is generally not required. We usually have enough time to finish assignments in class. And, the timing is flexible enough to change due dates if necessary. I only spend time on it outside of class if I’m exploring something we are learning in more depth in class.” Therefore, if students are weary of taking the course due to a lot of outside work, it seems like it would fit into anyone’s schedule.

Since this is a brand new class, Kukarola had to prepare for the school year, which meant partnering with a company: “We partnered with a company (Paradigm Cyber Ventures) to provide resources for the class. But they also provide training and guidance for me. I am essentially learning alongside the students this year. I have also enrolled in several other training sessions to help build my background knowledge for the course. In the ffuture we are hoping to provide a dual enrollment (CCP) option for this course. This will require me to get additional certifications at the college level as well.” Just like his students, Kukarola is learning all the information alongside them.

Finally, Milicia and Balreddygari both recommend that people take the class. Milicia shared, “I would highly recommend this course to others. Rather you want a career in cybersecurity, don’t know what career you want or simply have an extra elective and want to fill it up with something fun.”

Balreddygari mentioned, “I would definitely recommend this class to others as it explores personal cybersecurity, ethics of cybersecurity, and many other topics relevant to individuals in a modern and technology-driven world such as ours. Moreover, the content is presented in a way that is not super boring and the courseload for the class is not super heavy.”

Overall, it seems like Cybersecurity is a great addition to the program of studies. It doesn’t seem like it is going anywhere.

Written by Megan Rentfrow

(All pictures from Kukarola's Twitter)