The Virginia Cyber Range is hosting its first Virginia Cybersecurity Education Conference Aug. 14-15 at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va.

The conference is open to all Virginia high school, community college, and higher education faculty, administrators, and partners. The two-day conference will explore how to more effectively teach cybersecurity topics, including network defense, secure coding, digital forensics, and methods to secure critical infrastructure.  

Conference organizers are now accepting proposals addressing this year’s theme, Innovative Teaching and Learning in Cybersecurity. Presentations and workshops should describe novel and practical ways to increase classroom effectiveness and improve student outcomes in cybersecurity education.

“The Virginia Cyber Range is thrilled to host this conference,” said Virginia Cyber Range Director David Raymond. “Part of our mission is to build a strong community of practice around cybersecurity education in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This conference will provide attendees the opportunity to share ideas and resources, and to make contacts that they can reach out to when needed.”

Scholarships to attend the conference will be available for faculty teaching or planning to teach cybersecurity in Virginia public schools. Support will cover registration costs, a continuing education certificate of credit hours, and hotel accommodations for one night. To be considered, teachers must fill out an application no later than May 31st.

“Scholarships will allow educators and graduate students to attend cybersecurity workshops, connect with others teaching cybersecurity and/or cyber hygiene, and identify pedagogical approaches for using the Virginia Cyber Range in their courses,” said Edna Reid, associate professor of intelligence analysis at James Madison University and member of the Virginia Cyber Range executive committee.

“In addition, they will benefit from lessons learned from peers and experts, receive high quality curriculum materials and ideas, and enhance their cybersecurity teaching competency in diverse areas such as networking, forensics, and malware.”

Sponsorship opportunities are available for companies and organizations. All sponsorship packages enable sponsors to provide scholarship support for Virginia teachers attending the conference.

The Virginia Cyber Range brings together a consortium of faculty from nationally designated Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity to enhance cybersecurity education in the Commonwealth of Virginia. State-of-the-art training exercises give graduates the skills they need to enter the cybersecurity workforce. This revolutionary cloud-based educational resource can be accessed anywhere in the state, positioning Virginia to be the leading source of critical cybersecurity expertise for the nation.

 

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