Teachers get chance to learn more about cyber security after Inverness College UHI has been awarded £11,600 to develop and deliver an online course in cyber security
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Inverness College UHI has been awarded £11,600 to develop and deliver an online course in cyber security.
Monday marked the launch of the third annual Cyber Scotland Week – cybercrime has been on the rise since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and the National Cyber Security Centre defending the UK from more than 700 cyber attacks in the past year.
The grant from Education Scotland will be used to support up to 40 people to gain a professional development qualification.
The funding has been announced during Cyber Scotland Week which aims to increase cyber awareness, encourage innovation in cyber security and inspire people to discover a career in cyber technology.
The online module is directed at primary or secondary school teachers who may not have a computing science background.
It aims to help them develop knowledge, understanding and problem-solving skills related to cyber security.
It also aims to develop a deeper understanding of cyber security and cyber resilience and their relationship to each other.
The funding will enable the module to be delivered to 20 teachers from this month, followed by another 20 in September.
Nicola Macdonald, the college’s head of the school of business, computing and hospitality, said: “Inverness College UHI runs a range of CPD (continuing professional development) programmes for primary and secondary school teachers, including programmes designed to help teachers upskill in the areas of computing and information technology.
“Having spoken to teachers on these programmes, we identified the need for an introductory module in cyber security and resilience and thanks to continued support from Education Scotland we have been able to develop and deliver this module, with 40 funded places available initially.”
She added: “No prior knowledge of cyber security is required, and it will allow teachers to develop their confidence to teach all pupils the underpinning knowledge required in cyber security and to raise awareness among young people of this growing area of importance.”
Gayle Gorman, Her Majesty’s chief inspector of education and chief executive of Education Scotland, said: “We are delighted to award funding to Inverness College UHI for this project which aims to help embed cyber security skills into the broad general education curriculum.”
She added that training teachers in the issues would also support children and young people to gain vital cyber resilience and internet safety skills which they could build upon as they progressed through their education and learning.
