Technocamps and USW Cyber Partnership: Using Technology to Teach Computing, Cyber Security and Digital Forensics at Primary Level

This Technocamps and USW Cyber project was in partnership with Severn Primary School, Cardiff. Severn Primary is very culturally diverse with over fifty languages spoken in the school. The aim of the project was to develop years 5 and 6 pupils’ investigative, problem solving and computational thinking skills, and introducing them to programming through a variety of workshops, presentations, and activities. The objective of the project was to expand the pupils’ understanding of computer coding and its application in Cyber Security and Digital Forensics. During this twelve-week project, representatives of Technocamps and USW Cyber developed and delivered weekly in-school workshops covering topics, such as Artificial Intelligence, Chat Bots, Digital Footprint, Encryption, Lie Detectors, Metadata, and Turing Test. A steganography session was developed and delivered by second year BSc Computer Forensics students. The project used technology to enrich the pupils’ comprehension of the various topic areas, such as using the BBC mirco:bit to send and receive encrypted messages, Scratch to mimic artificial intelligence, Python programming to create a chat bot, and using PTRK to demonstrate a Crime Scene Investigation. The project culminated with a Crime Scene Investigation Project Day at University of South Wales Treforest Campus, where all the pupils’ learning and skills were brought together. This project was made possible through a Royal Society Partnership Grant.