Advancing GenCyber Education for North Georgia Teachers (AGENT)

Empowering Teachers for a More Secure Georgia

June 5 - June 9, 2023

The UNG GenCyber AGENT Initiative, Advancing GenCyber Education for North Georgia Teachers (AGENT), is a professional development program designed for middle and high school STEM teachers/administrators who are interested in cybersecurity and improving computer science instructional practices.

It is fully funded through a grant from the National Security Agency (NSA). This grant provides 24 teachers with 30+ hours of cyber and computer science professional development at absolutely no cost to the participants. Additionally, due to a new collaborative partnership with the Georgia Institute for Technology’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC), participants who do not have their Computer Science Endorsement can complete their course work through the AGENT program for free!

Participants without their Computer Science Endorsement will take the following online for Professional Learning Unit credit offered through the UNG College of Education and endorsed by the Professional Standards Commission:

Spring 2023: CSED 6002 Fundamentals of Computer Science (online)
June 2023: Teaching CS Pedagogy through Georgia Tech’s CAPACiTY grant (online)
June/July 2023: CSED 6001 Introduction to Cybersecurity (hybrid with in-person camp)
Fall 2023: CSED 6003 Principals of Computer Programming (online)

All tuition and fees associated with the four courses are covered by the NSA and CAPACiTY grants.

Participants who already hold a Computer Science Endorsement will:

Gain knowledge and skills in cybersecurity from the leading experts in the field across three semesters (Spring, Summer, Fall 2023)
Develop cyber lesson plans for their STEM classroom.
Team teach a cyber mini lessons to fellow GenCyber participants.
Create a brief professional development presentation about a cyber topic for your school.

agent initiative students in the classroom

agent initiative students in the computer lab

Qualifications

Unendorsed applicants must be teaching in a middle or high school and have an interest in becoming a computer science teacher. They should also have a basic understanding of computers and technology. This opportunity is intended for teachers who want to further their teaching abilities in computer science, so it is not intended for those with extensive computer science industry experience who could pass a CS GACE test without the above coursework.

Applicants who currently hold a CS Endorsement must be teaching in a middle or high school STEM or computer science classroom (public or private), have an interest in teaching cybersecurity, and have a intermediate understanding of computers/technology

Although all qualified applications will be considered, the following applicants are preferred:

Teachers in public middle or high schools with a clear, renewable teaching certificate (T4 or higher)
Teachers from the UNG College of Education’s Professional Development Schools
Teachers from Title I schools
Teams of two or more teachers from the same school
Administrators and their teams

Additionally, due to the high need for computer science teachers around the state, those without Computer Science Endorsement credentials will be admitted first.

Approved Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) Courses Compatible with this Program

High school:

Introduction to Hardware Technology
Introduction to Software Technology
Introduction to Cybersecurity
Advanced Cybersecurity
Computer Science Principles
AP Computer Science Principles

Middle School:

Foundations of Secure Information Systems
Foundations of Computer Programming

What You Will Receive In this Program

More than 80 hours of tuition-free professional development from expert professors and cyber leaders from agencies such as the GBI, NSA, etc.
Either a full tuition waiver for 4 CS Endorsement courses OR an $1100 stipend for those who already have their CS Endorsement (received upon completion of the entire program sequence)
Rasberry Pi Cana Kits
USB flash drive with all AGENT lesson materials, virtual machines, and related classroom software

An AGENT Initiative T-Shirt and AGENT Initiative Challenge Coin
Admission to the annual Hacker Halted Conference in Atlanta, GA
Five Professional Learning Unit Credits (pending district approval)
Free lodging in Dahlonega or a small gas stipend for local teachers (under 20 miles)
Free breakfast and lunch daily during the program

Consider the Following Before Applying

Phase 1: January - May 2023: CS and Cyber Foundations

Unendorsed AGENTs complete in CSED 6002 (5 PLUs) online, which will include about 3-5 hours per week of work
Endorsed AGENTs will participate in synchronous/asynchronous digital training sessions that last roughly one hour per week.

Phase 2: June 5 - June 9, 2023: In-Person AGENT Camp in Dahlonega

All AGENTs will need to attend the camp in-person, COVID restrictions permitting. Local teachers are permitted to commute, if desired. Otherwise, housing and two meals/day are provided.

Phase 3: Improving CS Teaching Pedagogy: June 12 – 30, 2023 (online, exact dates vary by selected courses)

Unendorsed AGENTs will participate in at least two of Georgia Tech’s fully online CAPACiTY project, which is short for Culturally Authentic Practice to Advance Computational Thinking in Youth. CAPACiTY offers three professional learning experiences at different weeks during the last three weeks of June. You should participate in at least two different CAPACiTY courses based on the grade level(s) you teach to satisfy the pedagogy requirement for the PSC and cover the pedagogy seminars EDUC 6020, 6030, and 6040 (5 PLUs) for the UNG Computer Science Endorsement. You may participate in all three, if desired. Each of the courses comes with a $250 stipend (up to $750 total for all three).
- High School Teachers: SCC Foundations and AP CSP
- Middle School Teachers: Computing Explorations and SCC Foundations

Note: See CAPACiTY website above for June schedule options and to select your two pedagogy trainings. If you are unable to participate in one or more of the CAPACiTY courses, please contact Lindsay.

Endorsed AGENTs will select and complete a pre-camp outreach menu of cyber professional development items.

Phase 4: July - Cyber Continued Learning – July 1 – August 1, 2023 (online)

Unendorsed AGENTs will complete the remaining online portion of CSED 6001: Intro to Cyber (5 PLUs).
Endorsed AGENTs will participate in synchronous/asynchronous follow-up activities designed to support cyber instruction and pedagogy.

Phase 5: Capacity Building – August 21 – December 8, 2023 (online)

Unendorsed AGENTs will complete CSED 6003: Principals of Programming (5 PLUs) online.
Endorsed AGENTs will continue their cyber capacity building efforts.

Commitment Required:

Participation in this program includes a sizeable investment from the federal government in Georgia teachers (about $4000 per person). Due to the four-course nature of the program, if an accepted AGENT participant drops out, a replacement would not be able to benefit from the full program. For example, if an AGENT drops out in May, his or her replacement would have missed the entire first course. Therefore, please apply ONLY if you are willing to commit to the program from January 2023 – December 2023. Also, applicants are accepted as an endorsed or unendorsed AGENT, they cannot switch to the other. AGENT participants must commit to either the full CS Endorsement pathway or the cyber-only pathway.

Travel:

Participants are responsible for their own transportation to and from Dahlonega and dinner each day during the in-person camp. Participants will have the option to stay on campus. Participants that live less than 20 miles away from the Dahlonega campus have the option to commute. Once the program begins, all on-campus lodging, travel, and activities are paid for by the GenCyber grant (a $4000+/person value).

Application Process

To be considered for the AGENT Initiative, you must complete the following:

The UNG GenCyber AGENTs of Change program application form
You will need to you to provide a link to a 2-5 minute YouTube video containing:
- A brief introduction about you
- Why are you interested in becoming a GenCyber AGENT?
- How will cyber/computer science be used in the classroom?
- If you do not currently hold a CS Endorsement, please tell us why you would like to teach Computer Science.
You will need the name and email of a supervisor (principal preferred) who will receive a recommendation form to fill out as part of the application process.

Note: Application Due Date: November 15, 2022. AGENTs will be notified of acceptance: December 15, 2022

UNG GenCyber AGENTs of Change Initiative