“How technical do you get? I’m an English teacher”: Teaching and Learning Cybersecurity and AI Ethics in High School

Shuchi Grover Derek Babb B. Broll

2 Maret 2023

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity are becoming increasingly intertwined, with AI and Machine Learning (AI/ML) being leveraged for cybersecurity, and cybersecurity helping address issues caused by AI. The goal in our exploratory curricular initiative is to dovetail the need to teach these two critical, emerging topics in highschool, and create a suite of novel activities, 'AI & Cybersecurity for Teens' (ACT) that introduces AI/ML in the context of cybersecurity and prepares high school teachers to integrate them in their cybersecurity curricula. Additionally, ACT activities are designed such that teachers (and students) build a deeper understanding of how ML works and how the machine actually "learns". Such understanding will aid more meaningful interrogation of critical issues such as AI ethics and bias. ACT introduces core ML topics contextualized in cybersecurity topics through a range of programming activities and pre-programmed games in NetsBlox, an easy-to-use block-based programming environment. We conducted 2 pilot workshops with 12 high school cybersecurity teachers focused on ACT activities. Teachers' feedback was positive and encouraging but also highlighted potential challenges in implementing ACT in the classroom. This paper reports on our approach and activities design, and teachers' experiences and feedback on integrating AI into high school cybersecurity curricula.

Vidushi Ojha Christopher Perdriau Brent Lagesse + 1 lainnya

2 Maret 2023

Artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity are in-demand skills, but little is known about what factors influence computer science (CS) undergraduate students' decisions on whether to specialize in AI or cybersecurity and how these factors may differ between populations. In this study, we interviewed undergraduate CS majors about their perceptions of AI and cybersecurity. Qualitative analyses of these interviews show that students have narrow beliefs about what kind of work AI and cybersecurity entail, the kinds of people who work in these fields, and the potential societal impact AI and cybersecurity may have. Specifically, students tended to believe that all work in AI requires math and training models, while cybersecurity consists of low-level programming; that innately smart people work in both fields; that working in AI comes with ethical concerns; and that cybersecurity skills are important in contemporary society. Some of these perceptions reinforce existing stereotypes about computing and may disproportionately affect the participation of students from groups historically underrepresented in computing. Our key contribution is identifying beliefs that students expressed about AI and cybersecurity that may affect their interest in pursuing the two fields and may, therefore, inform efforts to expand students' views of AI and cybersecurity. Expanding student perceptions of AI and cybersecurity may help correct misconceptions and challenge narrow definitions, which in turn can encourage participation in these fields from all students.

Brian Jordan C. Breazeal Nisha Devasia + 5 lainnya

1 Agustus 2022

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing many industries and becoming increasingly ubiquitous in everyday life. To empower children growing up with AI to navigate society’s evolving sociotechnical context, we developed three middle school AI literacy curricula: Creative AI, Dancing with AI, and How to Train Your Robot. In this paper we discuss how we leveraged three design principles—active learning, embedded ethics, and low barriers to access – to effectively engage students in learning to create and critique AI artifacts. During the summer of 2020, we recruited and trained in-service, middle school teachers from across the United States to co-instruct online workshops with students from their schools. In the workshops, a combination of hands-on unplugged and programming activities facilitated students’ understanding of AI. As students explored technical concepts in tandem with ethical ones, they developed a critical lens to better grasp how AI systems work and how they impact society. We sought to meet the specified needs of students from a range of backgrounds by minimizing the prerequisite knowledge and technology resources students needed to participate. Finally, we conclude with lessons learned and design recommendations for future AI curricula, especially for K-12 in-person and virtual learning.

Tianchong Wang Eric C. K. Cheng

12 April 2022

Cybersecurity threats have grown exponentially, posing a heavy burden on organisations. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are particularly vulnerable, and their cybersecurity issues are receiving greater attention. However, existing research on cybersecurity has limited referencing value for HEI leaders and policy-makers because they are usually technology-focused. Publications that showcase best practices often lack system-wide perspectives towards cybersecurity in HEIs. Our paper, therefore, aims to bridge this literature gap and generate institutional cybersecurity strategies for HEI leaders and policy-makers from a system perspective. We first review how the cybersecurity landscape has evolved over the last few decades and its latest trends and projections for the next decade. By analysing these historical developments and new changes, we further illuminate the importance of strengthening HEI cybersecurity capacities. As we explore why HEIs face severe challenges to tackle the ever-escalating cyberattacks, we propose a system-wide approach to safeguard HEI cybersecurity and highlight the necessity to reassess prioritised areas. By taking an extensive literature review and desk research of methods that could respond to the cybersecurity vulnerabilities of the next decade, we synthesise our findings with a set of institutional strategies, with takeaways designed to equip HEIs better to address cybersecurity threats into the future. The strategies include: (1) Strengthening Institutional Governance for Cybersecurity; (2) Revisiting Cybersecurity KPIs; (3) Explicating Cybersecurity Policies, Guidelines and Mechanisms; (4) Training and Cybersecurity Awareness Campaigns to Build Cybersecurity Culture; (5) Responding to AI-based Cyber-threats and Harnessing AI to Enhance Cybersecurity; (6) Introduction of New and More Sophisticated Security Measures; (7) Paying Attention to Mobile Devices Use, Using Encryption as a Daily Practice; and (8) Risk Management. We believe that cybersecurity can be safeguarded throughout the new decade when these strategies are considered thoroughly and with the concerted effort of relevant HEI stakeholders.

Belle Dang Yvonne Hong Andy Nguyen + 2 lainnya

13 Oktober 2022

The advancement of artificial intelligence in education (AIED) has the potential to transform the educational landscape and influence the role of all involved stakeholders. In recent years, the applications of AIED have been gradually adopted to progress our understanding of students’ learning and enhance learning performance and experience. However, the adoption of AIED has led to increasing ethical risks and concerns regarding several aspects such as personal data and learner autonomy. Despite the recent announcement of guidelines for ethical and trustworthy AIED, the debate revolves around the key principles underpinning ethical AIED. This paper aims to explore whether there is a global consensus on ethical AIED by mapping and analyzing international organizations’ current policies and guidelines. In this paper, we first introduce the opportunities offered by AI in education and potential ethical issues. Then, thematic analysis was conducted to conceptualize and establish a set of ethical principles by examining and synthesizing relevant ethical policies and guidelines for AIED. We discuss each principle and associated implications for relevant educational stakeholders, including students, teachers, technology developers, policymakers, and institutional decision-makers. The proposed set of ethical principles is expected to serve as a framework to inform and guide educational stakeholders in the development and deployment of ethical and trustworthy AIED as well as catalyze future development of related impact studies in the field.