Title
The Complete On-line Learning Environment (Computer Security)
Department
School of Computing
Disciplines
Computing
Title Name
Prof Bill Buchanan, Richard Macfarlane
Description
This module has one of the most extensive on-line environments, from complete on-line lectures to a unique simulator. It also has a foundation of a printed teaching pack, which supports students who prefer to read written material. It includes a unique simulator (developed within Edinburgh Napier University), in which students can learn about state-of-the-art computer security principles. Along with this there are fun on-line activities and tutorials, all of which integrate completely with the teaching pack, and many guest speakers from industry.
Impact
The module received nomination for “I love my Tutor”, which showed that it fully engaged some of the students on the course. Overall there were 28 returns from about 50 students who completed the module, and every student graded the module as “Very Good”. Some comments included: - Overall … brilliant. - On-line lectures are perfect. - Presentations are fantastic. - Richard was brilliant in the tutorials … he was passionate and extremely helpful. - This is by far the best module so far. - Lecture and practicals are related to each another. - Found the material to be the most comprehensive and user friendly to date. - The online tutorials were especially good. - It is very good! - The recorded lectures and other Web-CT content helped me learn and study. - Most rewarding … Bill’s lectures, the online material, could always get help from either Bill or Richard. - Good practicals, teaching in-depth. - Good mixture of lecture and practical labs. - Most rewarding … Online lectures, labs and other information relevant, readily on Bill’s Web site. - Overall very good and interesting module. - Lots of practical stuff, really learnt a lot. - Liked the guest speakers. - Bill’s on-line recorded lectures were very very helpful. - Leant a lot of relevant material for degree. - Very good and rewarding. - Enjoyed guest speakers and gave an in-sight into real-world. - Most rewarding … guest lectures and Bill’s banter during lectures. - Probably the best module this semester. - Great Web material. - Videos and tests and demonstrations very useful to understand and great for exams. - The practical sessions were very useful and well staffed. - Web-CT content has been very good. - Lectures always seemed structured and organised… got class thinking. - Most rewarding … lectures, including guest lectures. - All of the support and material greatly exceeded every other module. - Lecturer always on hand to help in tutorial. - The Web content was fantastic. - Interactive videos and NetworkSims. - Good lectures. - Good teaching and course content. - Very complete teaching material. Student feedback from are available to be viewed.
Reflections
Students enjoyed the module greatly, and felt supported in every way. The assessment of two tests with one coursework seems to work very well, as students get early feedback on their performance. For this session, every student who did poorly in the tests was invited to special extended one-to-one session, where they were talked-through their first test, and given advice on how to undertake the second one. Along with this every student had the opportunity to attend a one-to-one session to discuss their strengths and weaknesses on their first test. Student also received their grades and initial feedback for their tests within two hours of the test. Other successful areas include: - Individualised feedback sheet, with face-to-face or MSN Messenger feedback on test and coursework feedback. - Continual feedback given to students on their courseworks. - A wide range of fun activities, including games related to the material. - Wide range of industrial speakers (from the Drug Enforcement Agency to a Senior Director in Microsoft). - Coverage of security in a wide form. - Unique security simulator package. This allows students to practice on different security systems. - Integration of professional certification into the module. - Integrated Teaching pack and Web material. The module now has a completed teaching pack, along with a completely on-line system which contains notes, challenges, tests, multimedia, and so on. - Extensive Web material on encryption/authentication simulations. - MSN Messenger/Skype support. Students can gain fast access to the academics using MSN Messenger or Skye. - Fun and engaging lectures, which fully match up with the on-line versions.
References
The module received a nomination within “I love my Tutor”, which showed that it fully engaged some of the students on the course. Overall there were 28 returns from about 50 students who completed the module, and EVERY student graded the module as “Very Good”. Some comments included: - Overall … brilliant. - On-line lectures are perfect. - Presentations are fantastic. - Richard was brilliant in the tutorials … he was passionate and extremely helpful. - This is by far the best module so far. - Lecture and practicals are related to each other. - Found the material to be the most comprehensive and user friendly to date. - The online tutorials were especially good. - It is very good! - The recorded lectures and other WebCT content helped me learn and study. - Most rewarding … Bill’s lectures, the online material, could always get help from either Bill or Richard. - Good practicals, teaching in-depth. - Good mixture of lecture and practical labs. - Most rewarding … Online lectures, labs and other information relevant, readily on Bill’s Web site. - Overall very good and interesting module. - Lots of practical stuff, really learnt a lot. - Liked the guest speakers. - Bill’s on-line recorded lectures were very very helpful. - Leant a lot of relevant material for degree. - Very good and rewarding. - Enjoyed guest speakers and gave an in-sight into real-world. - Most rewarding … guest lectures and Bill’s banter during lectures. - Probably the best module this semester. - Great Web material. - Videos and tests and demonstrations very useful to understand and great for exams. - The practical sessions were very useful and well staffed. - WebCT content has been very good. - Lectures always seemed structured and organised… got class thinking. - Most rewarding … lectures, including guest lectures. - All of the support and material greatly exceeded every other module. - Lecturer always on hand to help in tutorial. - The Web content was fantastic. - Interactive videos and NetworkSims. - Good lectures. - Good teaching and course content. - Very complete teaching material.
CCLURL
The Complete On-line Learning Environment (Computer Security) by Prof Bill Buchanan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Notes
Most of the teaching material is at: http://buchananweb.co.uk/index_sfc_napier.html The lectures are at: http://ceres.napier.ac.uk/staff/bill/e_presentations/fundamentals.htm http://ceres.napier.ac.uk/staff/bill/e_presentations/ids.htm http://ceres.napier.ac.uk/staff/bill/e_presentations/encyption.htm http://ceres.napier.ac.uk/staff/bill/e_presentations/authentication.htm http://ceres.napier.ac.uk/staff/bill/e_presentations/software/software.htm http://ceres.napier.ac.uk/staff/bill/e_presentations/network_fun/network_fun.htm http://ceres.napier.ac.uk/staff/bill/e_presentations/digital_forensics_part1_alt/digital_forensics_part1_alt.htm The teaching pack is at: http://www.dcs.napier.ac.uk/~bill/2010.pdf The online demonstrations are at: http://buchananweb.co.uk/security00.aspx
StudyDate
29 January 2010