We are excited to share that CYBER.ORG is now officially a curriculum partner of Microsoft’s Technology Education and Literacy in Schools (TEALS) program. TEALS is a philanthropic effort that builds sustainable computer science (CS) programs in high schools, with a focus on serving students who are typically excluded from learning CS because of race, gender, or geography. CYBER.ORG is funded by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) with the mission to bring cybersecurity content and awareness into K-12 classrooms at no cost to the school, student or educator.
This nationwide cybersecurity partnership comes on the heels of CYBER.ORG’s collaboration with TEALS in North Dakota and Louisiana to champion CS in K-12 classrooms.
As the TEALS program’s first partner to offer free cybersecurity curriculum, CYBER.ORG is now providing professional development support to help train TEALS volunteers and teachers to deploy cyber curriculum in high schools around the country. Ultimately, we aim to increase nationwide K-12 cybersecurity literacy and ensure that more students can explore the possibility of careers within the field.
Working with schools to create an action plan focused on inclusive instruction and learning spaces, as well as diversity in enrollment, TEALS enables classroom teachers to teach CS with the support of industry volunteers and proven curricula. Teachers participating in the TEALS program can now enroll in CYBER.ORG’s content platform, at no cost to them or their school, and complete training to teach cybersecurity skills.
Access to K-12 cybersecurity education is often unequally distributed. This partnership aims to increase equity in cybersecurity education and ensure that all students, regardless of background or socioeconomic status, can pursue cybersecurity in the classroom and as a career.
This announcement comes on the heels of several other CYBER.ORG equity initiatives, including Project REACH, a feeder program designed to connect K-12 schools to HBCU cybersecurity and CS programs, in an effort to close the diversity gap in cybersecurity; and the organization’s work with the Virginia Department of the Blind and Vision Impaired (DBVI) to make cybersecurity accessible to students with disabilities.
CYBER.ORG has trained over 25,000 educators to teach cybersecurity, and 18,000 teachers are enrolled in its curriculum platform, reaching over 3.4 million students nationwide. TEALS has provided over 93,000 students with CS education and currently serves over 17,000 students at over 500 high schools. Through this collaboration, CYBER.ORG and TEALS will help thousands more teachers and students gain access to CS education.
To learn more about the TEALS program and how to get involved as a volunteer, visit www.microsoft.com/en-us/teals.
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