Integrated Cybersecurity Plus Robotics Lesson Using NAO

This paper describes a novel experimental study that investigates the merits of an integrated cybersecurity plus robotics lesson plan, using the NAO humanoid robot, when it comes to introducing cybersecurity and robotics together to college and pre-college learners. We first present our unique cybersecurity plus robotics lesson, which is based upon a nifty experiential-learning model that combines basic cybersecurity concepts with educational robotics (ER) in the form of a hands-on experiment with NAO. Our lesson plan includes a demonstration of a successful hack into NAO's video stream, followed by covert capturing of its live camera feed. We then discuss results from two separate experimental case studies, the first one being a conventional approach of introducing cybersecurity concepts via a traditional lesson plan, which involves no robot. The second study involves our non-traditional technique of introducing cybersecurity plus robotics using NAO. We present the student survey data collected from these two studies and discuss their respective outcomes. We also analyze the pre and post student survey-based assessment data from these studies for showing preliminary evidence of the effectiveness and potential of our approach. Existing literature indicates that there is limited work on investigating the efficacy of learning cybersecurity plus ER using an interactive, humanoid robot, like NAO. Our work is an attempt to address this research gap in the literature. We intend to prepare the grounds for further research within this emerging topic of integrated cybersecurity and robotics education, so that students can gain from a positive and engaging experiential-learning experience.