Graduate Studies Reports Access
Graduate Course Proposal Form Submission Detail - EDG6436
Tracking Number - 5033
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Current Status:
Approved by SCNS - 2015-04-01
Campus: Tampa
Submission Type: New
Course Change Information (for course changes only):
Comments: for C&I - Elective. To GC. Appd To USF Sys 2/27/15. Nmbr 6441 approed as 6436. Effective 4/1/15
Detail Information
- Date & Time Submitted: 2014-06-27
- Department: Secondary Education
- College: ED
- Budget Account Number: 0-1714-000
- Contact Person: Michael Berson
- Phone: 9747917
- Email: berson@usf.edu
- Prefix: EDG
- Number: 6436
- Full Title: Cybersecurity in the Schools
- Credit Hours: 3
- Section Type: C -
Class Lecture (Primarily)
- Is the course title variable?: N
- Is a permit required for registration?: N
- Are the credit hours variable?: N
- Is this course repeatable?: N
- If repeatable, how many times?: 0
- Abbreviated Title (30 characters maximum): Cybersecurity in the Schools
- Course Online?: B -
Face-to-face and online (separate sections)
- Percentage Online: 0
- Grading Option:
R - Regular
- Prerequisites:
- Corequisites:
- Course Description: Knowledge in developing and implementing cybsersecurity policies that govern schools and districts.
- Please briefly explain why it is necessary and/or desirable to add this course: Needed to compete with national trends
- What is the need or demand for this course? (Indicate if this course is part of a required sequence in the major.) What other programs would this course service? The course addresses the latest technology policies from a practitioner’s perspective and is aligned with the initiatives of the new Florida Center for Cybersecurity housed at USF. As educators and educational leaders are increasingly implementing technologies into their classrooms, schools and districts, they need to engage in critical conversations analyzing security issues and exploring solutions that are safe but do not inhibit technology use. Cybersecurity in the Schools will allow the students to gain knowledge in developing and implementing technology policies that govern schools and districts. Based on research and best practices, the course experiences will provide the knowledge to understand opportunities and challenges associated with technology use and policies and equip aspiring and practicing leaders with the necessary tools to protect their schools while empowering children and youth to optimize the benefits of digital resources. Future school administrators must be able to effectively understand the policies governing the many growing technologies that are part of our rapidly changing society. This course is designed for candidates to become more effective leaders by becoming familiar with the emerging technologies for diverse applications. Additionally, this course enhances candidates’ theoretical and practical knowledge of available instructional and administrative technologies to construct healthy digital environments in schools.
- Has this course been offered as Selected Topics/Experimental Topics course? If yes, how many times? No
- What qualifications for training and/or experience are necessary to teach this course? (List minimum qualifications for the instructor.) Ph.D. required and published research in the area of cybsersecurity in the schools
- Objectives: Students will:
1. Advocate for, establish, and adhere to policies for safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology
2. Promote and model responsible social interactions by using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity
3. Establish metrics, collect and analyze data, interpret results, and share findings to manage and minimize student exposure to risk when using digital technologies
4. Stay current with educational research and emerging trends regarding effective use of technology in teaching and learning, digital citizenship, and cybersecurity
5. Collaborate with teachers and administrators to select and evaluate digital tools and resources that enhance teaching and learning and are compatible with the school technology infrastructure
6. Recognize and respond to cyberbullying and exploitation, using methods, strategies and solutions to support and assist students and teachers who experience victimization online
7. Model effective classroom management and collaborative learning strategies to maximize teacher and student use of digital tools and resources and access to technology-rich learning environments
8. Discuss and adhere to copyright and fair use
9. Identify and implement curriculum and resources for students, families, faculty, and staff
10. Promote and model strategies to protect privacy online.
- Learning Outcomes: After successful completion of this course students will be able to:
-Complete a digital footprint audit.
-Evaluate the cybersafety/cybersecurity policies of a school and develop recommendations to update the policies and procedures.
-Design a plan to notify students, faculty, staff and families in the event of a data breach.
-Design training for educators who incorporate social media, blogs and new technologies in class understand the privacy and security implications.
- Major Topics: Introduction to Cybersecurity in the Schools
Security Threats and their Effects on Access to Digital Technologies
Policies for Appropriate Use of School Networks:
Acceptable Use Policy & Supervision
Authentication Policy
Internet-Use Policy
Access Policy (Data & Identity Protection)
Policies for Monitoring & Surveillance
Auditing Policy
Physical Policy
Analysis Policy
Privacy Policy
Threats to Students
Cyber Bullying
Cyber Harassment
Inappropriate Images, Audio, Video, & Content
Copyright and Fair Use
Countermeasures to Cheating with Mobile Devices
Cyber Risk Assessment Checklist Profile and Questionnaire
Cyber Security Action Plan
- Textbooks: Phillips, R., & Sianjina, R. R. (2013). Cyber security for educational leaders: A guide to understanding and implementing technology policies. New York: Routledge.
- Course Readings, Online Resources, and Other Purchases: Boyd, D. (2014). It's complicated: the social lives of networked teens. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Englander, E. K. (2013). Bullying and cyberbullying: What every educator needs to know. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Robinson, L., Brown, A., & Green, T. D. (2010). Security vs. access: Balancing safety and productivity in the digital school. Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education.
Patchin, J. W., & Hinduja, S. (2012). Cyberbullying prevention and response: Expert perspectives. New York: Routledge.
Patchin, J. W., & Hinduja, S. (2014). Words wound: Delete cyberbullying and make kindness go viral. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing.
Willard, N. (2014). Positive relations @ school (& elsewhere): Legal parameters & positive strategies to address bullying & harassment. Eugene, OR: Embrace Civility in the Digital Age.
Additional Readings:
Álvarez, M., Torres, A., Rodríguez, E., Padilla, S., & Rodrigo, M. J. (2013). Attitudes and parenting dimensions in parents’ regulation of Internet use by primary and secondary school children. Computers & Education, 67, 69-78.
Amichai-Hamburger, Y. (2013). Youth Internet and wellbeing. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 1-2.
Amichai-Hamburger, Y., Kingsbury, M., & Schneider, B. H. (2013). Friendship: An old concept with a new meaning? Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 33-39.
Amichai-Hamburger, Y. (Ed.). (2013). The social net: Human behavior in Cyberspace. Second Updated version. New York: Oxford University Press.
Berson, I. R. (2010). Framing children as citizens: A journey from the real world to digital spaces. In R. Diem & M. J. Berson (Eds.), Technology in Retrospect: Social Studies Place in the Information Age 1984-2009. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Berson, I. R. (2008). Using digital resources to explore the role of children in the framing of social issues. Social Education, 72(3), 136-139.
Berson, I. R. (2003). Grooming Cybervictims: The Psychosocial Effects of Online Exploitation for Youth. Journal of School Violence, 2(1), 5-18.
Berson, I. R., & Berson, M. J. (Eds.). (2010). High-tech tots: Childhood in a digital world. A Volume in I. R. Berson & M. J. Berson (Series Eds.) Research in Global Child Advocacy. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Berson, I. R., & Berson, M. J. (Eds.). (2010). High-tech tots: Childhood in a digital world. A Volume in I. R. Berson & M. J. Berson (Series Eds.) Research in Global Child Advocacy. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Berson, I. R., Berson, M. J., Desai, S., Falls, D., & Fenaughty, J. (2008). An analysis of electronic media to prepare children for safe and ethical practices in digital environments. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 8(3), 222-243.
Berson, I. R., & Berson, M. J. (2007). Digital literacy. In K. M. Borman, S. E. Cahill, & B. A. Cotner (Eds.), The Praeger Handbook of American High Schools (pp.119-122). Westport, CT: Praeger.
Berson, I. R., & Berson, M. J. (2007). Ubiquitous mobile phone technology and youth: Cross-national findings. In M. van’t Hooft & K. Swan, Ubiquitous Computing in Education: Invisible Technology, Visible Impact (pp. 287-302). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Berson, I. R., & Berson, M. J. (2006). Children and their digital dossiers: Lessons in privacy rights in the digital age. Enhancing Democracy with Technology in the Social Studies [Special Issue]. International Journal of Social Education, 21(1), 135-147.
Berson, I. R., & Berson, M. J. (2006). Privileges, privacy, and protection of youth bloggers in the social studies classroom. Social Education, 70(3), 124-128.
Berson, I. R., & Berson, M. J. (2005). Challenging online behaviors of youth: A comparative analysis of research in the United States and New Zealand. Social Science Computer Review, 23(1), 29-38.
Berson, I. R., & Berson, M. J. (2003). Digital literacy for cybersafety, digital awareness, and media literacy. Social Education, 67(3), 164-168.
Berson, I. R., Berson, M. J., & Ferron, J. (2002). Emerging Risks of Violence in the Digital Age: Lessons for Educators from an Online Study of Adolescent Girls in the United States. Journal of School Violence, 1(2), 51-72.
Berson, M. J., Berson, I. R., & Iannone, J. (Fall/Winter 2000-2001). Promoting civic action through online resources: An emphasis on global child advocacy. The International Journal of Social Education, 15(2), 31-45.
Berson, M. J., Berson, I. R. & Ralston, M. E. (1999). Threshing out the myths and facts of Internet safety: A response to “Separating Wheat from Chaff.” Social Education, 63(3), 60-61.
Berson, M. J., & Berson, I. R. (2014). Bringing the cybersecurity challenge to the social studies classroom. Social Education, 78(2), 96-100.
Berson, M. J., & Sheffield, C. C. (2012). Cyber behavior in the social studies education. In Z. Yan (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Cyberbehavior (pp. 1124-1135). Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.
Berson, M. J., & Berson, I. R. (2005). Children’s exposure to trauma and violence in the media: Evolving literacy skills to counter hype and foster hope. In M. S. Crocco (Ed.), Social Studies and the Press: Keeping the Beast at Bay? (pp. 159-169). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
Berson, M. J., & Berson, I. R. (2004). Developing thoughtful “cybercitizens.” Social Studies and the Young Learner, 16(4), 5-8.
Berson, M. J., & Berson, I. R. (2003). Lessons learned about schools and their responsibility to foster safety online. Journal of School Violence, 2(1), 105-117.
Diem, R., & Berson, M. J. (Eds.). (2010). Technology in Retrospect: Social Studies in the Information Age, 1984-2009. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Dolev-Cohen, M., & Barak, A. (2013). Adolescents' use of instant messaging as a means of emotional relief. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 58-63.
Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. W. (2009). Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. W. (2011). Cyberbullying: A review of the legal issues facing educators. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 55(2), 71-78.
Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. W. (2012). School Climate 2.0: Preventing Cyberbullying and Sexting One Classroom at a Time. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. W. (2013). Social influences on cyberbullying behaviors among middle and high school students. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(5), 711-722.
Jang, H., Song, J., & Kim, R. (2014). Does the offline bully-victimization influence cyberbullying behavior among youths? Application of General Strain Theory. Computers in Human Behavior, 31, 85-93.
Katz, C. (2013). Internet-related child sexual abuse: What children tell us in their testimonies. Children and Youth Services Review, 35, 1536-1542.
Li Q. (2008). Cyberbullying in schools: An examination of preservice teachers’ perception. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 34(2), 75-90.
Mitchell K. J., Ybarra M., Finkelhor D. (2007). The relative importance of online victimization in understanding depression, delinquency and substance use. Child Maltreatment, 12, 314-324.
Palfrey J., Gasser U. (2008). Born digital: Understanding the first generation of digital natives. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Patchin, J. W. & Hinduja, S. (2014). Words Wound: Delete Cyberbullying and Make Kindness Go Viral. Minneapolis, MN, Free Spirit Publishing.
Patchin, J. W. & Hinduja, S. (2013). Cyberbullying among Adolescents: Implications for Empirical Research. Journal of Adolescent Health 53(4), 431-432.
Patchin, J. W. & Hinduja, S. (2010). Changes in adolescent online social networking behaviors from 2006 to 2009. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(6), 1818-1821.
Sabella, R. A., Patchin, J. W., & Hinduja, S. (2013). Cyberbullying myths and realities. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(6), 2703-2711.
Schenk A. M., Fremouw W. J. (2012). Prevalence, psychological impact, and coping of cyberbully victims among college students. The Journal of School Violence, 11, 21-37
VanFossen, P. J., & Berson, M. J. (Eds.). (2008). The electronic republic? The impact of technology on education for citizenship. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press.
Wang, X. C.,Berson, I. R., et al. (2010). Children's experiences with technology in multiple contexts: Re-conceptualizing the ecology of learning and development. In I. R. Berson & M. J. Berson (Eds.), High-tech tots: Childhood in a digital world. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Wolak J., Mitchell K., Finkelhor D. (2007). Does online harassment constitute bullying? An exploration of online harassment by known peers and online-only contacts. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41, S51-S58.
Zalaquett, C. P., & Chatters, S. J. (2014). Cyberbullying in College Frequency, Characteristics, and Practical Implications. SAGE Open, 4(1), 2158244014526721.
- Student Expectations/Requirements and Grading Policy: Grades in this class will be a result of completion of the course requirements, listed below.
Participation 20%
Field Assignments 50%
Research Paper and Dissemination Plan 30%
- Assignments, Exams and Tests: Field Assignments: There are 4 field assignments for this class. You must complete each assignment by the due date.
• Digital Footprint Audit (audit time and places spent online that contribute to your digital footprint)
• Evaluate the cybersafety/cybersecurity policies of a school and develop recommendations to update the policies and procedures
• Design a plan to notify students, faculty, staff and families in the event of a data breach
• Design a training for educators who incorporate social media, blogs and new technologies in class understand the privacy and security implications.
Research Paper: Write a 10-15 page research paper on a component of cybersecurity. Include in the paper a dissemination plan to use social media to disseminate evidence-based tips and advice to students, families, and teachers.
- Attendance Policy: Course Attendance at First Class Meeting – Policy for Graduate Students: For structured courses, 6000 and above, the College/Campus Dean will set the first-day class attendance requirement. Check with the College for specific information. This policy is not applicable to courses in the following categories: Educational Outreach, Open University (TV), FEEDS Program, Community Experiential Learning (CEL), Cooperative Education Training, and courses that do not have regularly scheduled meeting days/times (such as, directed reading/research or study, individual research, thesis, dissertation, internship, practica, etc.). Students are responsible for dropping undesired courses in these categories by the 5th day of classes to avoid fee liability and academic penalty. (See USF Regulation – Registration - 4.0101,
http://usfweb2.usf.edu/usfgc/ogc%20web/currentreg.htm)
Attendance Policy for the Observance of Religious Days by Students: In accordance with Sections 1006.53 and 1001.74(10)(g) Florida Statutes and Board of Governors Regulation 6C-6.0115, the University of South Florida (University/USF) has established the following policy regarding religious observances: (http://usfweb2.usf.edu/usfgc/gc_pp/acadaf/gc10-045.htm)
In the event of an emergency, it may be necessary for USF to suspend normal operations. During this time, USF may opt to continue delivery of instruction through methods that include but are not limited to: Blackboard, Elluminate, Skype, and email messaging and/or an alternate schedule. It’s the responsibility of the student to monitor Blackboard site for each class for course specific communication, and the main USF, College, and department websites, emails, and MoBull messages for important general information.
- Policy on Make-up Work: Assignments will be given a letter grade based on the University grading system and the scoring guidelines that accompany each assignment. Assignments may not be revised for resubmission after the due date so it is strongly recommended that students arrange to meet with the professor in advance to receive feedback and additional guidance regarding progress on submissions. There are no extra credit assignments.
All assignments are due on the date specified on the Calendar of Assignments. Assignments will be considered turned in on-time if they are submitted to the professor during class on the date due, emailed on the due date, or if the assignment is mailed to the professor’s university address and is postmarked with the due date. If an assignment is mailed, you may want to consider sending it registered/certified mail so that you have a record that it was sent. Papers received one to two days late will automatically be dropped a letter grade after the assignment has been evaluated using the criteria in the syllabus. Any student who does not turn their work within two days of the due date will earn a grade of F on the respective assignment. This means that the highest grade you can earn is 59 points for the late submission.
Course Completion
An “I” grade will only be considered by the instructor for students with otherwise excellent attendance and only for documented circumstances of the greatest magnitude that are unavoidable (usually hospitalization or immediate family tragedy). Students who find themselves in such a circumstance, should petition by e-mail – within 2 days of the precipitating event - explaining the circumstance. At that time a judgment will be made as to the merits of the petition, the kind of documentation to be submitted for verification will be explained, if necessary, and then the student will be informed of the required remedy. Judgments also take into account the overall quality of work and professional disposition.
Honor Policy
Plagiarism is defined as "literary theft" and consists of the unattributed quotation of the exact words of a published text or the unattributed borrowing of original ideas by paraphrase from a published text. On written papers for which the student employs information gathered from books, articles, or oral sources, each direct quotation, as well as ideas and facts that are not generally known to the public-at-large, must be attributed to its author by means of the appropriate citation procedure. Citations may be made in footnotes or within the body of the text. Plagiarism also consists of passing off as one's own, segments or the total of another person's work. Former or current students or their assignments may not be used as a source. Furthermore, helping another student plagiarize by sharing with them your work products is also a violation of the honor policy.
Punishment for academic dishonesty will depend on the seriousness of the offense and may include receipt of an "F" with a numerical value of zero on the item submitted, and the "F" shall be used to determine the final course grade. It is the option of the instructor to assign the student a grade of "F" of "FF" (the latter indicating dishonesty) in the course.
Detection of Plagiarism
The University of South Florida has an account with an automated plagiarism detection service which allows instructors to submit student assignments to be checked for plagiarism. I reserve the right to ask students to submit their assignments to Turnitin through myUSF. In order to comply with federal (FERPA) and state privacy laws, you are not required to include personal identifying information such as your name, SSN, and/or U# in the body of the work (text) or use such information in the file naming convention prior to submitting. Your submission will be placed in the course grade center in your account that can be accessed by the instructor and attributed to you. Assignments are compared automatically with a database of journal articles, web articles, and previously submitted papers. The instructor receives a report showing exactly how a student's paper was plagiarized.
- Program This Course Supports: Course may serve as an elective for graduate students in the College of Education
- Course Concurrence Information:
- if you have questions about any of these fields, please contact chinescobb@grad.usf.edu or joe@grad.usf.edu.