The digitization forms an essential basis for progress towards a contemporary society. Against the backdrop of high development dynamics in the field of cybersecurity on the one hand, and in anticipation of upcoming breakthroughs in other emerging and disruptive technologies, it is crucial to further advance society’s awareness of cybersecurity. Lack of awareness and knowledge regarding the complex topic of cybersecurity pose challenges to companies across industries. Unfiltered data access and unrestricted sharing of data and content on the internet offer new, easily and rapidly exploitable attack surfaces for cybercriminals. Therefore, the integration of cybersecurity into school education is essential, with the need to advance efforts and content in terms of cybersecurity competence as preparation for professional life.
Based on existing initiatives to increase awareness of cybersecurity at schools (e.g., Digital Basic Education), CLEMENTINE addresses research needs through the following objectives:
Main Objective: Developing an educational, societal, and socio-technical approach to educate the topic of cybersecurity to 14- to 19-year-olds with a particular emphasis on vocational competency acquisition and the job market. This is achieved through the following three sub-goals.
Objective 1: Obtaining a structured overview of key actors in the field of cybersecurity competencies in upper secondary education in Austria. In CLEMENTINE, relevant actors from the education sector in Austria (educational providers, educational authorities, school administrations, interest groups, associations, etc.) are systematically identified, and an overview of the relevant players is created. This overview serves as the basis for establishing networking and communication structures between actors to support educational policy and pedagogical discourse in the design of measures for cross-school cybersecurity competence for 14-19-year-olds in Austria.
Objective 2: Identification of work-related cybersecurity topics and connection points in curricula and teaching materials of upper secondary education in Austria. Necessary competencies regarding cybersecurity from the labor market perspective, exemplarily for the banking, energy, and trade sectors, are surveyed. Additionally, curricula and teaching materials are reviewed. Based on this and starting from generally relevant topics (e.g., phishing, handling cybersecurity tools, malware, network security), specific cybersecurity topic areas are identified.
Objective 3: Development of exemplary didactic concepts for imparting cybersecurity topics and their connection points in teaching in the field of upper secondary education in Austria. Based on the analysis of curricula and teaching materials and starting from the scientific state of research, exemplary didactic foundations for teaching formats of a pre-defined selection of school types (e.g., general secondary schools, vocational schools, technical schools) as well as teaching and learning contexts (e.g., use of digital media, methods) are developed. It is ensured that the proposed concept sketches align with the didactic requirements of existing formats (Digital Basic Education, etc.). Furthermore, opportunities and limitations of integration possibilities as well as potentials for adaptability of teaching content are discussed, as the field of cybersecurity, in particular, is subject to constant change, driven by ever-new technical advancements (e.g., AI) and novel possibilities of cyberattacks.
The objectives are developed through desk research (actors, teaching materials, and didactic concepts) as well as through interviews with experts, focus groups with students, working groups, and stakeholder workshops.
