SaTC: EDU: Cybersecurity Education Using Interactive Storytelling with Social Robots

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Children ages 8-12 spend an increasingly large amount of time online consuming digital media on computers, tablets and smartphones. Educating children at an early age of the dangers that exist online is critical for safeguarding against such dangers and helping children become responsible digital citizens. This project will develop and implement a promising approach to cybersecurity education that utilizes interactive stories to advance children's learning of online safety, privacy and security. The project will deliver these stories on a social robot, which can autonomously interact with students through a set of rules. The use of social robots as learning companions will provide students with an interactive experience and will promote greater engagement and interest in cybersecurity. There are four goals driving this work: (1) iteratively design a collection of interactive stories addressing key cybersecurity concepts; (2) prototype the stories on a social robot; (3) increase student knowledge of key cybersecurity concepts, understanding of the importance of cybersecurity, and potential interest in cybersecurity careers; and (4) create instruments for monitoring project goals and participant outcomes. The work will be situated in schools and community-based organizations, serving a diverse population, including students who are traditionally underrepresented in computing. Ongoing research as well as formative and summative evaluation will help identify insights and lessons learned for advancing cybersecurity education and broadening student participation in computing. Given the wide attention on cybersecurity in the workforce, this work will serve as a model for promoting changes in K-12 education in a manner that supports students' learning by using cutting edge technologies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.