Teaching Tips: Careers in Information and Security Technologies

Here are suggested ways to engage students with this interactive activity and with activities related to this topic.

• Doing research projects—individual: Have students do a Web search to hunt for community colleges and universities with programs in information and security technologies. What programs are available in your state or region?
• Doing research projects—individual: Ask students to choose one of the careers in this interactive activity and do further research on it. Have them write a short paper that reviews the education requirements and discusses potential job opportunities. Then have them prepare a presentation that describes what a typical day might be like for someone in that position.
• Doing research projects—groups: Divide the class into pairs or groups of three based on shared interests. Have the students in each team contact someone who works in their field of interest. Students should arrange to speak with the person to find out more about the career and, if possible, make plans to shadow the person at work. You may need to come up with a list of appropriate businesses or organizations for the students to contact. Have students prepare a presentation to share with the rest of the class.
• Doing research projects—groups: Have students work in small groups to create a presentation for the rest of the class. Ask each group to imagine that they are starting a company (such as an architecture firm, law firm, medical practice, television network, or pharmaceutical company). What would the computer support team look like? Identify the positions that would be needed, and describe the responsibilities of each position.

For more media and information about the topics in these Teaching Tips, see these links:

• To learn more about how computers and computer systems work, check out Bandwidth and Data Conversion.
• To learn more about computer networks, check out Computer Networks.
• To learn more about software development, check out Computer Game and Simulation Technology and Shaundra Bryant Daily.
• To learn more about Internet security, check out Luis von Ahn: Computer Scientist.