Cybersecurity

Introduction to Hardware Technology is the foundational course for Information Support & Services, Networking, and Cybersecurity pathways. This course is designed for high school students to understand, communicate, and adapt to a digital world as it impacts their personal lives, society, and the business world. Exposure to foundational knowledge in hardware, IT support, networks, and cybersecurity are all taught in a computer lab with hands-on activities and project-focused tasks. Students will not only understand the concepts but apply their knowledge to situations and defend their actions/decisions/choices through the knowledge and skills acquired in this course.

Various forms of technologies will be used to expose students to resources, software, and applications of networking. Professional communication skills and practices, problem-solving, ethical and legal issues, and the impact of effective presentation skills are enhanced in this course to prepare students to be college and career ready. Employability skills are integrated into activities, tasks, and projects throughout the course standards to demonstrate the skills required by business and industry. Competencies in the co-curricular student organizations are integral components of both the employability skills standards and content standards for this course.

Introduction to Hardware Technology is the first course in the Networking, Cybersecurity, and Information Support and Services pathways and is appropriate for all high school students. The prerequisite for this course is advisor approval.

Introduction to Cybersecurity is designed to provide students the basic concepts and terminology of cybersecurity. The course examines how the concept of security integrates into the importance of user involvement, security training, ethics, trust, application of cybersecurity practices and devices, and best practices management. The fundamental skills cover internal and external threats to network security and design, how to enforce network level security policies, how to protect an organization’s information, and a broad range of other topics. Various forms of technologies will be used to expose students to resources, software, and applications of cybersecurity. Professional communication skills will be used to expose students to resources, software, and applications of cybersecurity. Professional communication skills and practices, problem-solving, ethical and legal issues, and the impact of effective presentation skills are enhanced in this course to prepare students to be college and career ready. Employability skills are integrated into activities, tasks, and projects throughout the course standards to demonstrate the skills required by business and industry. Competencies in the co-curricular student organization, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), are integral components of the employability skills standard for this course. Introduction to Cybersecurity is the second course in the Cybersecurity career pathway of the Information Technology Career Cluster and primarily focuses on the National Cybersecurity Workforce Framework category Protect and Defend and the Computer Network Defense work roles. Students enrolled in this course should have successfully completed Introduction to Digital Technology.

Advanced Cybersecurity is designed to provide students the advanced concepts and terminology of cybersecurity. The course explores the field of cybersecurity with updated content including new innovations in technology and methodologies. It builds on existing concepts introduced in Introduction to Cybersecurity and expands into malware threats, cryptography, organizational security, and wireless technologies. Various forms of technologies will be used to expose students to resources, software, and applications of cybersecurity. Professional communication skills will be used to expose students to resources, software, and applications of cybersecurity. Professional communication skills and practices, problem-solving, ethical and legal issues, and the impact of effective presentation skills are enhanced in this course to prepare students to be college and career ready. Employability skills are integrated into activities, tasks, and projects throughout the course standards to demonstrate the skills required by business and industry. Competencies in the co-curricular student organization, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), are integral components of the employability skills standard for this course. Advanced Cybersecurity is the third course in the Cybersecurity career pathway in the Information Technology Career Cluster. Students enrolled in this course should have successfully completed Introduction to Digital Technology and Introduction to Cybersecurity.