Work Groups
Curriculum Alignment
Victoria Ferrell, Forsyth Technical Community College
The curriculum alignment working group is focused on aligning CCN member schools’ cyber security curricula with the Center of Academic Excellence knowledge units (KUs) and industry needs. The group conducted a comprehensive analysis of existing required cybersecurity courses for North Carolina community colleges leveraging the CAE-Cyber Defense (CD) Designation Requirements as the guiding framework to develop recommendations for a set of core cyber courses aligned with those requirements. The group will also compile a list of resources that may be used with those courses.
Educational Technology
William “Nikitah” Cummings, Fayetteville Technical Community College
A valuable benefit to the CCN member institutions is the provision of licenses for students to access cyber ranges where they can apply skills learned to defend against simulated cyber attacks. The cyber ranges provide students with the simulated “real-world” experiences that have proven to be invaluable in developing the skills of our students, preparing them for cyber competitions, and to be work-ready upon graduation. The CCN currently has contracts with Hack-the-Box, Range Force and Cyberbit. The Educational Technology work group develops strategies and processes for allocating range licenses to member schools, providing guidance on using those licenses in courses, with clubs, and/or in training for competitions.
K-12
Thomas “Tony” Brown, Forsyth Technical Community College
The K-12 Working Group is exploring ways to work with the NC Department of Public Instruction to incorporate cybersecurity education into K-12 curricula. The group is researching strategies in other states to gain an understanding of best practices in K-12 cyber education and to inform the development of strategies for building a successful and effective K-12 cybersecurity education pathway.