Learning From a Malware Mistake

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Course Information:

  Career Cluster: Information Technology

  Program Name:

  CIP Number: 149009500M

  Course Name: Fundamentals of Web and Software Development

  Course Number: 9009500

  Course Type: EXPL Middle School Program

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson is designed to be used with the case study, “Don't Click on That” see CPALMS Resource ID#220458.

• Career Connection

  
  

  This lesson supports the durable skills of communication as students identify the best way to explain a digital safety concept to their peers. This lesson also encourages leadership skills as students will be developing a training and then acting as a trainer in front of their peers. These durable skills are very important in the field of information technology. IT personnel often need to be able to explain technical information to non-technical personnel, this lesson will encourage organizing and disseminating information to others.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Differentiate between malware and viruses.
  • Explain how to avoid malware and viruses.
  • Organize and communicate ideas in informational technology environments.
  • Create a presentation using digital media that will enhance audience engagement.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with/ able to:

  • Basic understanding of digital safety concepts.
  • Experience with a variety of digital media used to create a presentation.

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • How can we differentiate between malware and viruses?
  • How can we avoid malware and viruses in our daily use of technology?
  • What are ways we can organize and communicate ideas in a informational technology environment?
  • How can we create a digital media presentation that engages the audience?

• Procedure

  
  
  1. To introduce the lesson, the teacher will ask the students, “Have you ever clicked on something that turned out to be fake or suspicious? If so, what happened?” Invite a conversation about the many different ways students could be victims of malware.
  2. Let students know that they will be reading a case study about malware. Read the case study, “Don't Click on That’ see CPALMS Resource ID#220458. This can be done individually or in small groups.
  3. After the students have had time to read the case study, discuss what they have read. Use the following discussion questions:
  • What mistake did Sajan make?
  • What are some signs of malware that Sajan should have looked for in the email?
  • What are the consequences of his mistake?
  • Who is affected by this mistake?
  • What should Harvey in IT do for the computer?
  • What should happen to Sajan?
  4. Discuss with the students the idea that often a company will use a mistake as a training opportunity for the rest of the company. Mistakes happen, and a company can use those instances to educate or reteach expectations to the entire company. In this case, a training on malware is needed.
  5. Let students know that they will be working in a team to create an employee training for “TrackIt” on the dangers of malware and how to avoid it. Let students know that their training or presentation will be judged using a rubric. Discuss with students the importance of training programs for employees. Brainstorm together what makes a good training. Some ideas to encourage.
  • Gives new knowledge
  • Engages the user
  • Checks for understanding
  • Entertains the user
  • Is visually appealing
  6. Place students in teams of 3-4 students. Provide the groups with the rubric for their training. Review the rubric and discuss how teams will be scored.
  • Accuracy of training content
  • Prevention strategies
  • Engagement of the audience during training.
  • Digital media will be used to create the training content.
  7. Provide time for students to research and plan their presentation, and encourage students to use a variety of digital media methods for their presentation.
  8. Organize the students to share their training with their peers. This could be done in a multitude of ways. The teacher could partner up groups to share training, have groups present to the whole class, or find another class that each group could present to. Students could additionally record their presentation to be shown later in the week.
  9. To bring the lesson to a close, the teacher will provide an exit slip or journal prompt. "Give a one-sentence tip to Sajan or another employee to avoid malware.”
  10. The teacher will ask the following questions as a closing discussion:
  • Why is communication in the workplace important?
  • What are the benefits of employee training?
  • What leadership and communication skills does a trainer need?
  • How often should employees get retrained? Why?

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • This lesson could be broken down into multiple classes or days.
  • The rubric can be altered to meet the needs of the teacher.