Overview
This WebQuest is part of a larger course about information security, cryptography, and the Internet. It is placed early in the course, but students should have a basic familiarity with some if not all of the concepts presented. It is intended for undergraduate level students of all majors. Assumptions about student knowledge and skills include:
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Students are computer and Internet literate, i.e. they can operate a web browser and surf the web competently.
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Students know of and understand social media: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.
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Students have been introduced to and have a basic understanding of the five competencies outlined in the Introduction.
Other assumptions include:
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Students are not color-blind or otherwise visually impaired. This WebQuest was not designed to handle color-blind students.
The WebQuest was designed using the Understanding by Design template and is intended to be completed in three 1-hour sessions (with homework assignments).
Understanding by Design
Stage I: Identify Desired Results
Established Goals
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Students will have a basic awareness of information exposure.
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Students will have an understanding of their own level of information exposure.
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Students will understand the basic risks associated with their information exposure level.
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Students will understand the privacy-convenience tradeoff.
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Students will have been introduced to basic cryptographic principles.
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Students should have the beginnings of an understanding of basic tradeoffs between different protocols.
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Students should understand that a major problem in cryptography is verifying identity.
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Essential Questions
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How valuable is information about you?
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What is an acceptable level of information exposure?
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Is it reasonable to expect privacy in this day and age?
Desired Understandings
Students will understand that…
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information about them and others carries real, in some cases monetary, value.
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any information they surrender is exposed and carries with it a degree of risk.
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convenience is bought by selling privacy.
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only they are responsible for managing their information exposure and risk.
Key Knowledge and Skills
Students will know…
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the level of their own information exposure and risk.
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general types of cryptographic protocols and the basic tradeoffs.
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verifying identity is a real problem on the Internet.
Students will be able to…
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ascertain and assess their level of information exposure and risk.
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evaluate various security schemes for their strengths and weaknesses.
Stage II: Determine Acceptable Evidence
Performance Tasks
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Activity I
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Students are expected to evaluate their own level of information exposure in order to provide concrete, personally relevant motivation for action.
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Students reflect upon the experience and how it changed their attitude towards the value of information.
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Activity II
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Students take the role of aggressors and generate ideas as to how to maliciously use information about them. In doing so, students will develop the skills to evaluate the risk of information exposure in real-world situations in the future.
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Students reflect upon the experience to encourage cognitive restructuring regarding the relationship between risk and information value.
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Activity III:
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Students engage in a thought experiment in which they defend and attack various security protocols. This experiment will illustrate some of the factors and design choices that must be made during the design of a protocol.
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Students engage in self-directed learning about basic cryptographic principles to create a foundation and baseline for further study and comparison.
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Students apply the previous two experiences to an example real-world security protocol to evaluate its effectiveness.
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Students write a narrative linking together all previous activities in an effort to chart any changes in the way they think about these topics.
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Supporting Evidence
The WebQuest is sprinkled with various questions with answers intended for students to engage in self-evaluation of their own understanding. By providing quick checks, students will be able to gauge their process in a larger context. Further evaluation is accomplished through the longer latency feedback loop of writing, grading, and returning the two reflection papers and the narrative.
Stage III: Plan Learning Experiences
The WebQuest itself serves as a structured learning experience.