3.2: Education
The Education of Cyber-Capable Citizens Other Information:
Our society will benefit when all K-12 students gain a better understanding of how digital technologies work and how to use
their applications safely and wisely. Innovation in several dimensions of education could accelerate this process: employing
learning technologies in all grades and subjects; incorporating “computational thinking” – the concepts, mathematics, and
logic of digital processes – throughout the formal curriculum at all levels; and expanding outreach efforts to raise public
awareness and better inform people of all ages about best practices for IT users. Where we are now: Early IT educational applications
offered mainly reading lessons or “skill and drill” testing; emerging science-based knowledge about learning (e.g., its neural
basis, psychological theories of knowing, and biologically inspired learning algorithms) is informing the development of more
sophisticated learning technologies. In addition, precollegiate educators could exploit the types of computational resources
that have transformed the conduct of science and engineering – e.g., authentic and realistic data, digital telescopes, immersive
environments, mobile and portable devices, modeling and simulation capabilities, sensor networks, remote instruments – to
transform classroom learning. Deploying such approaches widely will require educators able to apply IT expertise to subject-matter
pedagogy. Today, however, according to computer science (CS) experts who spoke at a NITRD strategic planning public forum
in 2008, the K-12 curriculum in computer science is extremely limited, mainly focused on beginning programming at the senior-high
level. The Computer Science Teachers Association has reported that the proportion of high schools offering an introductory
CS course dropped from 78 percent in 2005 to 65 percent in 2009; only 27 percent offered an Advanced Placement (AP) course,
and about 11 percent of AP test takers were CS students. As The Washington Post noted, “It would be hard to find a student
who has never used the Internet for a research assignment or played a video game, but few know much about how computers and
the Web actually work.” Recognizing the implications of the disconnect between these trends and the requirements of the technological
future, NSF has initiated programs to: 1) recruit 10,000 skilled CS teachers for schools and transform the CS curriculum;
2) introduce computational thinking into STEM education at all levels (C-STEM); and 3) create a new conceptual framework bringing
together the fields of pedagogy and learning science. But this work is just beginning. A new Administration initiative coordinated
by NIST is launching a multi-pronged educational effort specifically targeting cybersecurity, with the goals of increasing
public awareness; expanding cybersecurity education and training at all levels; recruiting skilled cybersecurity workers for
Federal missions; and boosting cybersecurity training for Federal employees. Many NITRD agencies, such as DOE/SC, NASA, NOAA,
and NSF, sponsor a variety of educational activities and Web materials for schools related to their scientific missions. Research
and education needs: Developing the cyber-capable society will require ongoing advances in all the areas discussed. Public
awareness and education reform take time, persistence, sustained coordination of efforts, and high-visibility support in every
sector. It is possible that a great national challenge, similar to winning the space race in the 1960’s, may also be needed
to focus the attention of students and their parents, educators, and the public at large on the strategic importance of acquiring
IT knowledge and skills.
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