outreach – Seidenberg School News

Pace GenCyber brings cybersecurity to high school classrooms for the third year

Pace University’s GenCyber teacher workshop has completed its third year! The NSA and NSF-funded program, organized and run by the Seidenberg School, took place from July 13-21 and involved a wonderful cohort of high school teachers from across the nation attending lectures, discussions, lab exercises and activities pertaining to topics in cybersecurity.

Twenty-three high school teachers attended the Pace University Pleasantville campus to learn fundamental cybersecurity concepts and to study new resources and methods to facilitate integration of cybersecurity material into their class curricula or after-school activities.

Workshop participants were introduced to cybersecurity first principles, cryptography, web security, access control, biometrics, and cybersecurity analytics. The curriculum, designed and delivered by Seidenberg faculty and staff, was based on a combination of interpersonal, intrapersonal and kinesthetic learning activities that aimed to ensure participants got the most from their time at Pace University.

The GenCyber program is part of Seidenberg’s outreach efforts to infuse STEM and cybersecurity education into high school classrooms. As a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education, Pace strives to prepare the next generation of cybersecurity professionals for the challenges of the future. Through programs like GenCyber, Pace University supports teachers across the country in teaching the fundamentals to their students.

GenCyber participant Ron Conwell, who teaches Career and Technical Education at Clarkson Community School is Clarkston, MI, said: “Of the professional development experiences I have been to, this rises to the top just based on the amount of student engagement experiences that we were able to participate and engage in. We got to actually use [Raspberry] Pis, actually do the labs, and engage in the experiences ourselves rather than have to focus on just taking notes while other people talked.”

Ed McGinnis, who teaches Computer Science at St. George’s School in Newport, RI, agreed. “There were lots of resources and lots of info received. We were given links and tangible things to take home to use immediately in the classroom.”

Andreea Cotoranu, Assistant Dean of Academic Innovation and program director said that “through Pace GenCyber we aim to educate high school teachers about cybersecurity. Curricula taught in high schools is particularly well suited for integration of cybersecurity, since cybersecurity problems can often be reduced to the fundamentals of mathematics and computer science.

“Through the Pace GenCyber curriculum, we not only teach cybersecurity, but we also showcase the connections between cybersecurity topics and the participants’ teaching disciplines, as well as provide the tools needed to infuse the material into the classroom. Pace GenCyber is more than just a summer workshop, it is a community of faculty, students, teachers, alumni, government and corporate leaders who contribute to shaping the future of cybersecurity.”

GenCyber is made possible through funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Security Agency. The 2017 Pace University GenCyber program was designed and administered by Andreea Cotoranu (Program Director) and Dr. Li-Chiou Chen (Lead Instructor), with teaching support from Seidenberg School faculty Dr. Charles Tappert, Dr. Yegin Genc, and computer science high school teacher Jigar Jadav (Mamaroneck High School). Credit is also due to Barbara Woodworth and Jill Olimpieri, as well as Seidenberg students Tianyu Wang, Elizabeth Molloy, Kaitlyn Bestenheider, Steven Porras and Tristan Still.

Fifth STEM Camp kicks off at Pace University’s Seidenberg School

On Friday, July 7th, 2017, the 5th annual STEM Collaboratory NYC’s STEM Camp kicked off as a cohort of bright and ambitious high school students walked through the Seidenberg School’s doors.

The 26 students, who were carefully selected from 109 applications, will spend the next two weeks with us for an intensive summer experience that will include delving into programming with python, understanding data science, using design thinking approaches for projects, and having massive amounts of fun!

On Day 1, the day began with a brief intro to camp and the Seidenberg School. Program manager Olga Bogomolova got everyone acquainted with an opening presentation and the infamous name game, where everybody cements one another’s names in their heads through a creative repetition game. It works!

Dr. Lauren Birney welcomes our STEM Campers for 2017!

Dr. Lauren Birney of Pace University’s School of Education (a partner in STEM Camp!) greeted the students. “You are the cream that rises to the top,” she told them, adding that they should be proud they were selected for the program. Dr. Birney added that the program would be challenging, however “every challenge we get is another opportunity to get further in our careers.”

Students spent the afternoon getting an introduction to python programming language with Dr. Christelle Scharff, chair of the computer science department.

STEM camp is organized and managed by Olga Bogomolova and offers Seidenberg and fellow Pace students the opportunity to mentor campers individually and in groups. The following two weeks will include more coding, project-based learning, a trip to the Billion Oyster Project on Governor’s Island to learn data analytics, museum visits, and more. Stay tuned to hear all about it and check out Seidenberg social media for pics!

Seidenberg students set up tech infrastructure at Isaac Newton MS for Math and Science after $1m Apple grant

Seidenberg students have gone back to middle school because they missed it so much. Not really, but this is one middle school that our students may wish they had attended! The Isaac Newton Middle School School for Math and Science recently received a grant from Apple to the tune of one million dollars, with an end goal of each and every student at the school being equipped with an iPad to help them engage better with their education.

Modern technology is increasingly being rolled out in primary and secondary education, with several similar initiatives like providing students with laptops and other personal devices arising within the last few years. This time, it’s Isaac Newton MS for Math and Science’s turn, and we’re excited to be a part of it!

Top Seidenberg graduate students Bhushan Suryawanshi, Jigar Mehta, Hardik Patel, Dhruvil Gandhi and Pratik Dhiman have been visiting the school in order to provide support with getting its technical infrastructure up and running. Together, the students are modifying existing smart class and smart board tech to get it at par with the requirements. The school’s computer lab is also being modified to a greater standard, and they are also setting up the iPads and classrooms for new tech.

Different applications on iPad and smart class together will make the class more interactive, which can have far more appeal to middle school students who are growing up with access to various kinds of technology. With this generous grant from Apple, we’re confident the school will put its brand new tech to good use – and maybe we’ll see those students again come college application time!