Context of practice
Type of context: face-to-face teaching
Type of teaching: Degree.
Year: First year
Problem and objectives
Public Wifi: Danger
One of the risks involved in networking is the type of connection to a public wifi network. It is important to know that unlike wifi networks that you may have at home or at work, open networks do not usually have protection elements such as passwords, so anyone can connect to them virtually anonymously.
It is important to mention to students that this lack of security, coupled with the great creativity of cybercriminals to invent new strategies to obtain information or money, has meant that the variety of scams that we can face when surfing a free wifi network has multiplied in recent years. It is worth mentioning some of the most common: Fake wifi network, man in the Middle, Malware, Ramsonware, Data theft, the latter one of the most common risks when connecting to a public wifi network is the classic theft of the information contained in the files of our laptop or Smartphone. Data such as our personal and professional information or passwords can then end up falling into the wrong hands.
It is known that every problem has its solution, here are several mechanisms and tools that exist to know how to log on to an open wifi network without running the risk of losing private things including savings or the most important files.
Objectives: To raise awareness of the risks of connecting to an open wifi network. To instruct on how to protect oneself on a public wifi network. To teach you to be wary of dubious network names that redirect you to pages where you have to give more information than usual to connect and to make sure that it is really the network of the establishment where you are. Be aware of Antivirus, virtual private network or VPN applications, which are mainly used to pretend that you are connecting to the internet from another network, which will make it much more difficult for cybercriminals to gain access to a device. Know how to use online banking, no matter how much you need to know if your salary has been paid or your rent has been collected, never try to find out from an open wifi network, as it will be much easier for hackers to obtain sensitive information such as your transactions or your bank account password.
Tools and resources
Encryption: to ensure that the website they access from a public network is https and not http.
Description of practice
This practice will be carried out with the first practical part to learn by doing and then the second theoretical part, where the students will form groups of 4 or, depending on the number of students, they will carry out simulations in the classroom with parts of the topic they have been assigned. Some will play the role of victims and others will play the role of perpetrators on the other side of the screen and others will be in charge of presenting the theoretical parts.
Expected results
Students are expected to learn how to search safely and not to expose themselves to accessing open wifi.
Strengths or advantages
The advantages of using this strategy are that it is more interactive and therefore learning becomes more enjoyable, which is a strong point, as it encourages participation and learning by doing. Another strength is
Risks or weaknesses
The disadvantages or risks that can be foreseen are that each time pupils gain access to technologies, they lose their sovereignty. A drawback or risk that can also be foreseen is that if the different characteristics of learners or content are not taken into account, cookies can be accessed that will later enslave users.
Need for support
If I do it the way I have developed it, yes, I think that this subject could be developed taking into account the needs of the students and taking into account the contents in order to make the most of it. On the other hand, if I were to do this practice in a different way, I would need a different training.
Others:
With this course I have learned a lot, because, from being a digital illiterate, I have been able to understand many things that will help me to be more cautious when using technology with students and for the day to day in the classroom, these tools facilitate the teaching work.