Soon, students anywhere in the world will be able to enroll in a course entitled Cyber Security Law and Policy. The course is currently under development by various offices of Syracuse University, including the Institute for National Security and Counter-terrorism (INSCT) – a joint venture of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and of the College of Law.
The course will not be technical in nature. No computer science or electrical engineering background will be required to enroll. Rather, the course will examine existing law and policy concerning cyber security and will challenge students to propose what the law and cyber policies should be.
A more detailed, official announcement will be made by the University at a later time, but as one of the people working o develop the course, I can share some information now. For example, the course will differ from most distance learning courses in that it will require participation in synchronous – that is, real time – seminars. Students and instructors will be separated by distance but not by time for one session each week.. Thus, students must have a computer with a high-speed Internet connection, speakers, and a microphone (although no camera will be required). During the weekly seminars, video and audio of the instructors will be sent to students’ computers. Students can participate verbally through microphones on their computers (or, probably, through a telephone link). Students will also be able to share notes, files, and reactions in real time through their keyboards or pointing device (a mouse or a touchpad, for example). Each week also will include off-line reading assignments and an online interactive presentation that is asynchronous – that is, those portions can be done at anytime convenient for the student, separate and apart from the rest of the class.
The course will last about six weeks, beginning on a not-yet-determined date in early 2012. The subject matter will be drawn from a 14-week course of the same name now in its second year at Syracuse University. The topics can be viewed at http://www.cybersecuritylaw.us/ .
Production of the on-line, asynchronous materials has begun, including video and audio taping, but the course material will be very dynamic. We intend to “teach from the headlines,” and we will update course materials as events occur during the course itself.
Some kinds of continuing education credits (CEUs) are already approved. Approvals for others are currently being sought. Students in the distance learning version of Cyber Security Law and Policy will not thereby matriculate as students of Syracuse University, but they will receive a certificate of completion and continuing education credits as appropriate and authorized. These particulars will be announced in the coming months and posted at the INSCT website: http://insct.syr.edu/ .
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