Cyber security education for children through gamification: research plan and perspectives

Abstract

With the advancement of technology and the development of new tools, games, applications and social media sites, it is getting difficult every day to keep up with threats and vulnerabilities associated with these tools, apps or websites, especially for children. The goal of this research is to investigate and further develop new knowledge and tools that will be helpful and effective to teach the children about cyber security by performing various gamified actions in a playful, engaging and motivating manner. The methodology of this research would be both qualitative and quantitative, using interviews, questionnaires, focus group and observations. Initially, this project will define the theoretical and existing practices of cyber security awareness education for children. In the next phase, this research will design and implement interventions based on learning activities like workshops and collaborative tasks; followed by empirical test and evaluation of the proposed interventions.