When Being Awesome Can Help Kids Become Cyber Savvy
Turns out, cyber skills can be taught through puzzle games.
Adults often have trouble keeping themselves secure online, so imagine the trouble a kid can get into: clicking on suspicious links, choosing weak passwords and unwittingly sharing sensitive information on social media.
To combat this, tech company Google has developed an interactive, online program dubbed Be Internet Awesome to teach kids how to stay safe online.
Google collaborated with other organizations to develop the content, including the Family Online Safety Institute and the Internet Keep Safe Coalition, in order to guarantee the program meets the standards of the International Society for Technology in Education.
Be Internet Awesome features a 48-page curriculum, a video series for families to watch together and "Interland," a series of four educational puzzle games centered around cybersecurity. One game, "Tower of Treasure," focuses on how to create strong passwords, while "Reality River" teaches the player how to identity whom to trust online.
While these games are colorful and sure to hook kids, plenty of adults could learn a thing or two from playing them.