Course Awards
2018
Mitra has curated instructional materials and assessments from open access and library-subscription content, including journal and magazine articles, podcasts, videos, tutorials, mobile and gaming applications, and courseware. She is currently working with students to test and document an open-source cyber game for lab work, which will provide students with a virtual hands-on introduction to cybersecurity skills and concepts. Free and remote access are key factors in the curriculum design, as many cybersecurity students are working full time and prefer to take classes online.
More from Mitra:
“While designing and developing the online BBA cyber curriculum, I have had the opportunity to review existing resources across the field. Moving toward open access instructional materials brings several benefits. It allows for flexibility and quick adaptation of materials to align with the rapidly evolving nature of the field, current events, and updated tools with which students must be familiar with upon graduation. I also believe that course quality will be higher with a more hands-on and cyclical approach to curation among our faculty. Another important factor is the critical need to provide high-quality virtual cyber labs, which are often expensive. We can offset this cost through lower-cost or no-cost textbooks. Finally, piloting as many cyber courses with open access resources as possible and documenting the outcomes will likely lead to increased adoption from other faculty members in our department, some of whom are already advocates of such an approach. Ultimately, looking at course materials from both a cost and quality perspective will provide a broad demographic of students the opportunity to enter this exponentially growing field.”