Educational Aids for Teaching Hacking Principles to Strengthen Computational Thinking Skills to Elementary

Abstract

Modern society is changing into an era of digital transformation with the development of advanced information and communication technology (ICT) and information systems. Various information is digitized and stored, and the value of information is increasing. As the value of information increases, hackers' techniques to take advantage of unfair profits using them are subdivided and advanced, causing unexpected big problems in society. In particular, it was noted that cases in which elementary school students, a digital native generation, are often reported to be involved in crimes. Therefore, based on the basic concepts and principles of computing for elementary school students, we developed a learning teaching tool that can provide hacking-related education in an interesting way using gamification based on computing thinking ability that can efficiently solve unexpected problems. The learning goal was set for the development of educational aids by analyzing the cyber-attack process, and the game material was selected by applying the information security hacking principle learning to Samuel Livingstone's simulation game model. Then, we set game figures, roles, resources, external factors, and goals of the educational game and designed game boards, mission papers, and worksheets. We also established the game rules using the game data designed. Lastly, we found complementary points with security experts and education experts to supplement the learning aid while running the game. This paper helped learners to understand the security equipment applied in the network environment. In the end, we developed a teaching aid that can strengthen learners' computational thinking and understand hacking principles. This game ensures infinite scalability of the challenge by having students perform three missions per challenge. The educational aids proposed in this paper are limited at the primary level that elementary school students can understand. However, it can be designed and extended to infer interleaving by combining transaction and lock functions.