Event Registration

Description:

More than 4.4 billion people saw their personal data stolen in just three of the top data breeches in the last decade! Key personal, financial, and business data is unintentionally released, or worse, hacked, when digital information is not properly secured in cyberspace. Cyber-viruses crippled and compromised major businesses long before Coronavirus was in the news. This is why the cybersecurity industry is in high demand, with a job growth projection of 38% per year and starting salaries in excess of $100,000!

This course is an introduction to fundamentals of cybersecurity in an interactive, information technology (IT) class taught by a cybersecurity expert and college professor. The course is designed to give students an overview of cybersecurity as a potential career field and get them interested in pursuing cybersecurity learning at a higher level.

First semester, students will learn the basics about computer operating systems (OS) and hardware and how to secure them. The class will cover operating system components, drivers, applications, networking, troubleshooting, data protection, and preventing and responding to threats. Students will also examine personal computers (PCs) to understand all of the functions and components, such as processors, memory, motherboards, drivers, storage, and peripheral devices.

Topics in this Series: Operating Systems/Hardware (Semester 1) and Networks (Semester 2). Students continuing from first semester receive priority pre-registration for second semester.

Prerequisites: None.

Workload: Students should expect to spend 1-2 hours per week outside of class completing reading and virtual labs.

Assignments: Homework will be a combination of reading chapters, completing online quizzes, virtual labs, and a semester project. All assignments will be posted on password-protected Canvas classroom management site. There, students access assignments, upload homework, take automated quizzes and tests, track grades, and message instructor and classmates.

Assessments: Points will be awarded for the competition of assignments, quizzes, and projects, and parents can assign a grade based on the number of points earned as compared to the number of points available.

Textbook/Materials: First semester, students should purchase or rent CompTIA A+ Core 2 Exam: Guide to Operating Systems and Security, 10th edition, by Jean Andrews, Joy Dark, Jill West. (ISBN 978-0357108502). This text is available as an e-book or a loose-leaf publication.

Software Fee: Students will have to pay a fee of $119 (estimated) for a one-year subscription to the Cengage online learning platform which allows students to complete virtual lab exercises.

What to Bring/Equipment: Students must bring a PC or Mac laptop to class each week. These should be no more than 3 years old. Chromebooks and tablets cannot be used. Students should also bring their laptop charger and a 6 foot extension cord to class each week.

Credit: Homeschool families may wish to count this course as a component (partial) credit in Technology or Career Exploration for purposes of a high school transcript.