Monday 27 July 2015

NSA hosts summer camp to attract young talent

The NSA is hosting summer camps to teach school students hacking techniques.

“The goal of GenCyber, as the summer camp program is called, is to catch the attention of potential cybersecurity recruits and seed interest in an exploding field as more and more of the nation’s critical transactions, from warfare to banking, move into the realm of cyberspace.”

“It’s a fine balance for me as a teacher, because you have to teach them some of the hacking techniques, and layer that in with an ethical discussion,” said Diane Murphy, a professor of information at Marymount University, home to one of the NSA camps this summer.

Interesting development....

Monday 6 July 2015

Review of Quality Assessment

On the 29th June  HEFCE announced a Review of Quality Assessment. A Steering Group seeks views on future approaches to assessing the quality of education. The deadline for responding is 18 September 2015 (and 31 August 2015 for Wales).

An interesting THE article, 'Quality assurance to face overhaul' captures some of the proposals:

  • Instead of the “process-driven” review process, universities will instead be monitored via analysis of student academic outcomes, which may include data about student satisfaction, dropout rates and graduate employment rates.
  • Under the new plans outlined by Hefce in a consultation document, there will also be an enhanced role for universities’ and colleges’ own assurance systems, with governing bodies asked to confirm that their senates or academic boards were reviewing the quality of their students’ academic experience and academic standards.
  • External examining is also to be strengthened, with the creation of a national register of external examiners and the development of training schemes.