The CyberCivics curriculum was developed to address concerns that have arisen because of advances in internet technology. The goal of the CyberCivics curriculum is two-fold: to raise the awareness of the issues related to emerging technologies and to provide students with the technical skills to investigate them.
The traditional rights and responsibilities of citizens in the United States and other countries are directly impacted by emerging technologies. In many cases, this impact is compounded by the fact that the technologies themselves are not well understood by most citizens. Through hands-on activities, such as data-mining, students explore important social and political issues. Some of these include electronic voting, credit and debit card theft and network security. Students will learn the technical skills to both probe the process and to protect themselves from cyber-dangers. CyberCivics will help students become well-informed and competent citizens of an increasingly high-tech world.
The CyberCivics curriculum was developed by graduate student James P. Owens with support from Professor Jeanna Matthews, Associate Professor, Math and Computer Science. The curriculum has been offered in an AP Government and Politics class. It would also be appropriate for other government classes criminal justice, economics, and sociology classes.
