Area educators learn about cybersecurity at camp

August 20, 2024 (Volume 47, Number 21)
Article by Michele Coffill

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Mary Spoelhof, at far computer, sits next to Xinli Wang, associate professor of computing, during GenCyber camp at the DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health in Grand Rapids.

Photo Credit: Cory Morse

College of Computing faculty and participants in the GenCyber teacher camp are pictured on the balcony of the DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health.

The College of Computing hosted its first cybersecurity camp for area middle and high school teachers but the training for educators went beyond one week in a classroom on the Health Campus.

Sara Sutton, camp director and assistant professor of computing, said the GenCyber program for teachers started in the spring and will continue through December. Teachers applied and were accepted into the cohort of 25; they received professional development hours and a $1,000 stipend.

"We have three sessions. A pre-camp in April prepared them for the week of summer camp, and we will host post-camp monthly meetings through December. The camp is a learner-centered, hands-on, intensive program focusing on the Gencyber Cybersecurity Concepts Framework," Sutton said.

Participants learned how to develop lesson plans around cybersecurity while discussing recent cyber attacks, password protection and phishing, and how to protect their technology. 

Mary Spoelhof, a teacher at Creekside Middle School in Zeeland, was one of the few middle school teachers in the cohort. Spoelhof teaches computing technology for sixth and eighth graders and said her bolstered lesson plans will work well toward her students' digital citizenship skills.

"It's also nice to be in a cohort of teachers learning the same material, so you can bounce ideas off each other and ask questions once the school year begins," she said.

GenCyber is a national program funded by the National Security Agency and the National Science Foundation.

“By investing in our instructors, we make a meaningful difference today while also shaping and uplifting generations to come, year after year," Sutton said.

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