EDU: CySec: A Cybersecurity Collectable Card Game for Children

我们认为，从小培养美国网络安全专家是国家的当务之急。然而，来自代表性不足群体的中学生通常不知道网络安全领域的职业机会，以及这些机会带来的后果。属于代表性不足群体的儿童往往缺乏对STEM领域和努力的认同感，应该向他们介绍具有文化相关性和发展适宜性的职业道路。网络安全专业人士采用某些思维习惯来确保持续的安全，这些习惯可以从很小的时候就培养出来，包括高度创造性的解决问题的能力、紧急的集体谈判行动、理解混乱的复杂性和其他“21世纪的技能”。该项目致力于创建一款可收藏的纸牌游戏(CCG)，类似于其他流行的战斗纸牌游戏(如Magic：The Gathering和Pokemon)，用于向未被充分代表的中学生群体(6-8年级)传授已成为网络安全专业人员的第二天性的习惯，并向他们介绍该领域日益增长的机会。芝加哥市区的两所K-8学校参与了该项目。该项目涉及结合当前的网络安全学习进展来探索CCG的潜力，以开发CCG，该CCG以文化相关和适合发展的方式利用常见的游戏负担，如背景故事和角色识别。了解多个手势系统之间的相互关系是学习的核心。CCG通过将现实世界中的网络安全概念和行动映射到针对中学生的CCG上，为捕捉这种复杂性提供了一条合适的途径。

We believe it is a national imperative to cultivate American cybersecurity experts from a young age. However, middle school students from underrepresented groups are typically unaware of career opportunities in cybersecurity, and what they entail. Children who are members of underrepresented groups often lack a sense of identification with STEM fields and endeavors and should be introduced to career paths that are culturally relevant and developmentally appropriate. Cybersecurity professionals employ certain habits of mind toward ensuring continuous security which can be cultivated from an early age, and involve a high degree of creative problem solving, emergent negotiated action in groups, making sense of chaotic complexity and other "21st century skills." This project endeavors to create a collectible card game (CCG) similar to other popular battle card games (such as Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon) to be used for teaching underrepresented groups of middle school children (grades 6-8) the habits that have become second nature to cybersecurity professionals and introducing them to growing opportunities in the field. Two K-8 schools in urban Chicago participate in the project. The project involves exploring the potential of CCGs in conjunction with current cybersecurity learning progression to develop a CCG that utilizes common game affordances such as backstory and character identification in ways that are culturally relevant and developmentally appropriate. Garnering an appreciation for the interrelations between multiple sign systems is central to learning. CCGs offer an appropriate path for capturing this complexity by mapping real world cybersecurity concepts and actions onto a CCG for middle school students.