Every morning at 6:58 a.m., after Good Morning Charleston, News 4 airs a class reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. We invite the individual classes at your schoo

Submit your class to be featured on Good Morning Charleston!

A third-party review of the Nov. 30, 2021 shooting that killed four students at Oxford High School found that administrators "too often" denied or shifted their responsibility.

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Student dies at Desert Vista High School

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Schoo

schoo

Artificial intelligence is rampant in schools, but education professionals aren’t teaching students the importance of ethical utilization. The problem is that it’s a complex topic, and educators simply don’t have the time or resources to tackle it. Where do they get the relevant materials? How do they fit it into their existing lesson plans? Here’s how questions like these are holding AI ethics classes back — and what decision-makers are doing to fix the problem. The Importance of Teaching AI Ethics in School AI ethics is a set of principles that govern the development, deployment and utilization of algorithm-based tools. They are meant to guide stakeholders, minimizing the damage such technologies can do to the environment, society or the economy. On a smaller scale, they focus on preventing bias, discrimination, misinformation and abuse. Teaching AI ethics in school may seem unnecessary, but its importance cannot be overstated. AI has already become a staple in many industries. According to a McKinsey & Company report, 72% of organizations use it for at least one business function. If its upward trajectory continues, its impact could rival that of computers, smartphones or the internet. Avoiding talking about AI in the classroom because of its newness needlessly repeats history. It is the same as years ago when students were told they wouldn’t always have a calculator in their back pocket right after the smartphone was invented. This technology’s popularity is growing in both personal and professional domains. Students must be prepared to use it responsibly when entering the workforce to ensure better outcomes for their industry and society. AI is powerful. Advanced algorithms can analyze massive datasets exponentially faster than humans. They excel at pattern recognition, trend prediction and content creation. Whether educators like it or not, AI will likely change the world. If they prepare their students accordingly, they can ensure that change is positive. Ethical Dilemmas Students Face When Using AI Typical ethical risks students face when using AI include technology abuse, harassment and plagiarism. The latter is one of the most common. Thanks to generative tools, academic dishonesty is easy to get away with. Google Trends reveals that searches for “AI essay writing” increased by a staggering 2,041% after ChatGPT’s release. Unfortunately, plagiarism isn’t the most severe offense. Lately, university, high school and even middle school students have been caught using generative tools to take part in deepfake-related sex crimes. In South Korea, one journalist uncovered one such group that had over 2,000 members. Many victims were believed to be under 16 — under Korea’s age of consent. Even if kids aren’t using regular photos of their classmates to create explicit material, AI use still revolves around consent. This concept revisits data privacy and security principles — all data end users enter is no longer private. The platform or service provider may use it to train their model or enhance their marketing strategies. Many of today’s students view generative and machine learning models as entertaining, harmless tools — even when they are actively harming others. Teachers have a unique opportunity to educate them early on about the consequences of such actions, stopping unacceptable behavior like this at the source. Is Ethical AI Use Being Taught in Schools Today? School board standards, classroom policies and state laws vary dramatically, so AI adoption has been erratic at best. This split between those who embrace it and those who don’t has stalled standardization. However, some are still taking a chance on ethics courses. Elementary School While various academics and industry experts argue ethics discussions should start in elementary school, relatively few institutions even use algorithm-based tools that early. There are virtually no public resources available for grade school administrators. Middle and High School Many middle and high schools aren’t discussing the intricacies of ethical AI. Instead, they are cracking down on AI use. Studies show that the accuracy of AI detection tools is typically about 50%, so most instances slip by unnoticed. As a result, kids often learn bad habits. Promisingly, some decision-makers have seen the need for AI ethics. For instance, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Bill No. 2876 into law in September 2024. When curriculum frameworks are revised in January 2025, schools must incorporate AI literacy content — which guides critical and ethical use — into the classroom. Not all educators receive playbooks from experts. Some, like Jeff Simon, a mathematics teacher at Sage Creek High School, are navigating this new field on their own. Simon said he is trying to “teach the ethical use” of AI since it is  “just going to keep on growing.” College and University Most AI ethics classes are offered at higher education institutions because working those discussions into data science or computer engineering courses is easier. At the very least, many have developed policies for generative AI use. Reasons Why AI Ethics Isn’t Being Taught in School AI is not just present in education — it is thriving. For reference, in 2024, 86% of students admitted to using AI for schoolwork. Despite its popularity, many schools have no guiding principles on how to use these models ethically. Time is one of the main constraints — educators face the impossible task of doing more with less. They already spend 54 hours at work per week. How will they learn about AI and develop classroom policies that align with ethics in addition to teaching curriculum, grading papers and creating lesson plans? The field of AI is complex and rapidly evolving. Even with district-wide support, educational materials may quickly become outdated. Many schools still use decades-old textbooks to teach, so any solution would require extensive retrofitting. Moreover, how do they send home ethics homework? What would tests look like? How would they assign fair grades? Educators may be willing to embrace the concept of ethical AI classes if given the resources, but there’s no clear framework on how that could be done. Should they begin teaching it in elementary school? Will it replace a class, be offered as an elective or be integrated into the existing curriculum? There’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Many teachers have adopted “not in my classroom” policies in response to these concerns. As a result, students likely won’t learn how to use these tools the right way. Many will take whatever inaccurate, unregulated knowledge they cobble together from peers, parents and the internet as the truth — which may have far-reaching impacts. Addressing Concerns to Make AI Ethics Classes a Reality There are several ways education professionals can address why AI ethics isn’t being taught in schools. Place AI Ethics Wherever It Fits Integrating AI ethics into the classroom can mean creating a new elective or squeezing it in at the end of the period. Placing it where it naturally appears is best. For example, when students are assigned an eight-page essay, they can hear about responsible generative AI use. Teachers and administrators should adapt these new courses to students’ grade, technical expertise and knowledge levels to make the subject matter age-appropriate and engaging. Assignments should be relatively open-ended but follow a clear ethical framework. Tailor Subject Matter for End Users Typically, conversations about ethical AI focus on data privacy and output bias, centering around people who develop, deploy or manage these tools. End users interact with the user interface — not the backend — so their approach must differ slightly. Core principles should be accountability, value alignment, explainability, fairness and integrity. Pupils should learn critical thinking to combat bias, reasoning to prevent overreliance and objective analysis to mitigate the spread of misinformation. Model Responsible AI Use If state law or school board policies make teaching the ethics of AI in the classroom difficult, educators should take advantage of workarounds. Modeling responsible, honorable behavior goes a long way. Alternatively, they can invite a guest speaker. Facilitate In-Class Ethics Discussions Facilitating discussions, debates and group work in class lets high school teachers and college professors act as moderators. Posing questions about data de-identification, copyright infringement and summarization as they relate to AI can initiate productive conversations. Modern Lessons for a Modern Age Digitalization’s popularity is exponentially increasing. Soon, AI may be a part of every industry in the world. If educators modernize their lessons for this modern age, they can ensure today’s youth have a headstart once they reach the workforce. Artificial intelligence is rampant in schools, but education professionals aren’t teaching students the importance of ethical utilization. The problem is that it’s a complex topic, and educators simply don’t have the time or resources to tackle it. Artificial intelligence is rampant in schools, but education professionals aren’t teaching students the importance of ethical utilization. The problem is that it’s a complex topic, and educators simply don’t have the time or resources to tackle it. Where do they get the relevant materials? How do they fit it into their existing lesson plans? Here’s how questions like these are holding AI ethics classes back — and what decision-makers are doing to fix the problem. The Importance of Teaching AI Ethics in School AI ethics is a set of principles that govern the development, deployment and utilization of algorithm-based tools. They are meant to guide stakeholders, minimizing the damage such technologies can do to the environment, society or the economy. On a smaller scale, they focus on preventing bias, discrimination, misinformation and abuse. Teaching AI ethics in school may seem unnecessary, but its importance cannot be overstated. AI has already become a staple in many industries. According to a McKinsey & Company report, 72% of organizations use it for at least one business function. If its upward trajectory continues, its impact could rival that of computers, smartphones or the internet. 72% of organizations use it 72% of organizations use it Avoiding talking about AI in the classroom because of its newness needlessly repeats history. It is the same as years ago when students were told they wouldn’t always have a calculator in their back pocket right after the smartphone was invented. This technology’s popularity is growing in both personal and professional domains. Students must be prepared to use it responsibly when entering the workforce to ensure better outcomes for their industry and society. AI is powerful. Advanced algorithms can analyze massive datasets exponentially faster than humans. They excel at pattern recognition, trend prediction and content creation. Whether educators like it or not, AI will likely change the world. If they prepare their students accordingly, they can ensure that change is positive. Ethical Dilemmas Students Face When Using AI Typical ethical risks students face when using AI include technology abuse, harassment and plagiarism. The latter is one of the most common. Thanks to generative tools, academic dishonesty is easy to get away with. Google Trends reveals that searches for “AI essay writing” increased by a staggering 2,041% after ChatGPT’s release. increased by a staggering 2,041% increased by a staggering 2,041% Unfortunately, plagiarism isn’t the most severe offense. Lately, university, high school and even middle school students have been caught using generative tools to take part in deepfake-related sex crimes. In South Korea, one journalist uncovered one such group that had over 2,000 members. Many victims were believed to be under 16 — under Korea’s age of consent. uncovered one such group uncovered one such group Even if kids aren’t using regular photos of their classmates to create explicit material, AI use still revolves around consent. This concept revisits data privacy and security principles — all data end users enter is no longer private. The platform or service provider may use it to train their model or enhance their marketing strategies. Many of today’s students view generative and machine learning models as entertaining, harmless tools — even when they are actively harming others. Teachers have a unique opportunity to educate them early on about the consequences of such actions, stopping unacceptable behavior like this at the source. Is Ethical AI Use Being Taught in Schools Today? School board standards, classroom policies and state laws vary dramatically, so AI adoption has been erratic at best. This split between those who embrace it and those who don’t has stalled standardization. However, some are still taking a chance on ethics courses. Elementary School While various academics and industry experts argue ethics discussions should start in elementary school, relatively few institutions even use algorithm-based tools that early. There are virtually no public resources available for grade school administrators. Middle and High School Many middle and high schools aren’t discussing the intricacies of ethical AI. Instead, they are cracking down on AI use. Studies show that the accuracy of AI detection tools is typically about 50% , so most instances slip by unnoticed. As a result, kids often learn bad habits. is typically about 50% is typically about 50% Promisingly, some decision-makers have seen the need for AI ethics. For instance, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Bill No. 2876 into law in September 2024. When curriculum frameworks are revised in January 2025, schools must incorporate AI literacy content — which guides critical and ethical use — into the classroom. signed Bill No. 2876 into law signed Bill No. 2876 into law Not all educators receive playbooks from experts. Some, like Jeff Simon, a mathematics teacher at Sage Creek High School, are navigating this new field on their own. Simon said he is trying to “teach the ethical use” of AI since it is  “just going to keep on growing.” trying to “teach the ethical use” trying to “teach the ethical use” College and University Most AI ethics classes are offered at higher education institutions because working those discussions into data science or computer engineering courses is easier. At the very least, many have developed policies for generative AI use. Reasons Why AI Ethics Isn’t Being Taught in School AI is not just present in education — it is thriving. For reference, in 2024, 86% of students admitted to using AI for schoolwork. Despite its popularity, many schools have no guiding principles on how to use these models ethically. 86% of students admitted 86% of students admitted Time is one of the main constraints — educators face the impossible task of doing more with less. They already spend 54 hours at work per week. How will they learn about AI and develop classroom policies that align with ethics in addition to teaching curriculum, grading papers and creating lesson plans? spend 54 hours at work spend 54 hours at work The field of AI is complex and rapidly evolving. Even with district-wide support, educational materials may quickly become outdated. Many schools still use decades-old textbooks to teach, so any solution would require extensive retrofitting. Moreover, how do they send home ethics homework? What would tests look like? How would they assign fair grades? Educators may be willing to embrace the concept of ethical AI classes if given the resources, but there’s no clear framework on how that could be done. Should they begin teaching it in elementary school? Will it replace a class, be offered as an elective or be integrated into the existing curriculum? There’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Many teachers have adopted “not in my classroom” policies in response to these concerns. As a result, students likely won’t learn how to use these tools the right way. Many will take whatever inaccurate, unregulated knowledge they cobble together from peers, parents and the internet as the truth — which may have far-reaching impacts. Addressing Concerns to Make AI Ethics Classes a Reality There are several ways education professionals can address why AI ethics isn’t being taught in schools. Place AI Ethics Wherever It Fits Integrating AI ethics into the classroom can mean creating a new elective or squeezing it in at the end of the period. Placing it where it naturally appears is best. For example, when students are assigned an eight-page essay, they can hear about responsible generative AI use. Teachers and administrators should adapt these new courses to students’ grade, technical expertise and knowledge levels to make the subject matter age-appropriate and engaging. Assignments should be relatively open-ended but follow a clear ethical framework. Tailor Subject Matter for End Users Typically, conversations about ethical AI focus on data privacy and output bias, centering around people who develop, deploy or manage these tools. End users interact with the user interface — not the backend — so their approach must differ slightly. Core principles should be accountability, value alignment, explainability, fairness and integrity. Pupils should learn critical thinking to combat bias, reasoning to prevent overreliance and objective analysis to mitigate the spread of misinformation. Model Responsible AI Use If state law or school board policies make teaching the ethics of AI in the classroom difficult, educators should take advantage of workarounds. Modeling responsible, honorable behavior goes a long way. Alternatively, they can invite a guest speaker. Facilitate In-Class Ethics Discussions Facilitating discussions, debates and group work in class lets high school teachers and college professors act as moderators. Posing questions about data de-identification, copyright infringement and summarization as they relate to AI can initiate productive conversations. Modern Lessons for a Modern Age Digitalization’s popularity is exponentially increasing. Soon, AI may be a part of every industry in the world. If educators modernize their lessons for this modern age, they can ensure today’s youth have a headstart once they reach the workforce.

Why Aren't We Teaching AI Ethics in Schools?

Waarom onderrig ons nie KI-etiek in skole nie?

لماذا لا نقوم بتدريس أخلاقيات الذكاء الاصطناعي في المدارس؟

¿Kunatsa Yatiqañ Utanakan jan AI Ética Yatichktanti?

Per què no estem ensenyant l'ètica de la IA a les escoles?

Hvorfor underviser vi ikke i AI-etik i skolerne?

¿Por qué no enseñamos la ética de la IA en las escuelas?

Pourquoi n’enseignons-nous pas l’éthique de l’IA dans les écoles ?

なぜ学校でAI倫理を教えないのか?

Почему мы не преподаем этику ИИ в школах?

Neden Okullarda Yapay Zeka Etiğini Öğretmiyoruz?

Ha Yini Hi Nga Dyondzisi Mahanyelo Ya AI eSwikolweni?

Tại sao chúng ta không dạy đạo đức AI ở trường học?

Building Vertical SaaS in an Old School Industry: What NOT to Do

Mä Nayra Yatiqañ Utan Industrian SaaS Vertical luraña: Kuns JANIW lurañakiti

একটি পুরানো স্কুল শিল্পে উল্লম্ব SaaS নির্মাণ: কি করা উচিত নয়

Cómo crear SaaS vertical en una industria tradicional: qué NO hacer

Izgradnja vertikalnog SaaS-a u industriji stare škole: Što NE činiti

Vertikális SaaS építése egy régi iskolai iparágban: mit NE tegyünk

旧来の業界で垂直型 SaaS を構築する: やってはいけないこと

ການກໍ່ສ້າງ SaaS ແນວຕັ້ງຢູ່ໃນອຸດສາຫະກໍາໂຮງຮຽນເກົ່າ: ສິ່ງທີ່ບໍ່ຄວນເຮັດ

Vertikāla SaaS izveide vecās skolas nozarē: ko NEDRĪKST darīt

पुरानो विद्यालय उद्योगमा ठाडो SaaS निर्माण गर्दै: के नगर्ने

Kujenga SaaS Wima katika Sekta ya Shule ya Zamani: Nini Usifanye

Köne mekdep pudagynda dik SaaS gurmak: Näme etmeli däl

پرانی اسکول کی صنعت میں عمودی ساس بنانا: کیا نہیں کرنا ہے۔

Schools have to play a crucial role in safeguarding children from all kinds of threats, and one that often flies under the radar is cyber attacks. Unfortunately, schools are a gold mine for criminals with invaluable data related to personal information and financial details which can be sold to the highest bidder on the black market. This was the case towards the end of last year, as thousands of students’ data was leaked in the Louisiana school district. A supply chain attack is one method that has been gaining a lot of traction recently, whereby an attack on an outside provider can lead to the attacker being able to infiltrate the school’s digital infrastructure. If the outside provider has been granted access rights to use the network or other applications, then the attacker would only need to get through the third party’s defenses to infiltrate the school’s system. This type of attack is particularly interesting to criminals—and devastating to victims—because they can gain access to multiple districts and mountains of data through one vendor. Types of supply chain attacks include stealing security certificates, compromising software development tools, preinstalling malware on devices, and embedding malicious code in firmware. For example, if a hacker steals a certificate used to authenticate a software update, they can use it to distribute malware disguised as a legitimate update. In schools, where IT resources may already be stretched thin, detecting these kinds of sophisticated attacks is very difficult. Supply chain attacks are very broad and can impact organizations of all types and sizes. Let’s examine where they tend to come from and their impact before discussing how schools can better defend themselves. The Source of Supply Chain Attacks Supply chain attacks can come from a variety of places and, depending on the source, can bring their own set of risks. Commercial software is something that every school will have across its network, and hackers can insert malicious code into a common software application that would then gain access to any school using that particular software. The problem is that schools often depend on software updates to patch vulnerabilities, but the updates themselves are actually one of the most common areas to exploit. One of the most famous examples came a few years back in 2020, when the major software company, __SolarWinds, was hacked with a backdoor __inserted into one of their IT management tools, and thousands of government organizations and schools around the world were affected.Another common source comes from open-source software where schools use these solutions as they’re generally more scalable and cost-effective, but this can also leave them more vulnerable. During the development process, hackers can introduce vulnerabilities, and then they wreak havoc when the software is finally implemented. There was a clear incident of this earlier this year when a software engineer found a backdoor that had gone unnoticed after two years of a group calledJia Tan implementing versions of XZ Utils, providing hours of largely benign volunteer coding into the open-source software, Linux. Lastly, we need to touch on foreign-sourced threats, which can be dangerous when schools are using systems from outside the country in their networks. Some countries have varying controls on tech industries, so schools need to be careful. What is the Impact of Supply Chain Attacks on Schools? There can be a huge impact on schools that are victims of supply chain attacks, including the disruption of administrative functions and the educational process. One of the biggest risks obviously comes from data breaches, where student records, financial details, and even potentially health data can be leaked. This could easily lead to privacy violations and identity theft.Schools also depend on software for scheduling, grading, and virtual classrooms, and if that is compromised, it can cause huge interruptions, with students and teachers unable to access vital resources. Lastly, financial costs, although seemingly not as prevalent in a supply chain attack, can still be a consequence. Ransomware can lock critical systems through compromised software. Even if the ransom is not paid, restoring systems and implementing stronger security measures is expensive. What Are The Mitigation Strategies? There are various ways that schools can go about mitigating supply chain attacks, primarily schools must have cybersecurity measures in place to protect their systems. They are outlined by the Department for Education, and involve a range of steps, from simple steps such as adopting multi-factor authentication to more complex data protection impact assessments. Regular software updates are important, but they are far from being fool-proof, schools need to be informed about any potential vulnerabilities that could arise in the software that they use. This can be done by monitoring cyber news and having open lines of communication with their vendors to stay on top of emerging threats. Access control is another element that can’t go unnoticed. Schools need to always review who has access to their systems and ensure that permissions are limited to the necessary people. The final mitigation strategy to mention is testing out incident response plans. This should involve explaining what steps would need to be taken in the event of a supply chain attack and how to isolate compromised systems, restore data from backups, and communicate with stakeholders. These kinds of drills mean that staff are ready to act quickly and effectively when an attack occurs. Supply chain attacks are undoubtedly brutal, and hackers can exploit weaknesses in schools, and their impact can be devastating. However, following some of the steps outlined above can at least mitigate the potential impact if staff are dedicated to prioritizing cybersecurity and good hygiene. Schools have to play a crucial role in safeguarding children from all kinds of threats, and one that often flies under the radar is cyber attacks. Unfortunately, schools are a gold mine for criminals with invaluable data related to personal information and financial details which can be sold to the highest bidder on the black market. This was the case towards the end of last year, as thousands of students’ data was leaked in the Louisiana school district. Schools have to play a crucial role in safeguarding children from all kinds of threats, and one that often flies under the radar is cyber attacks. Unfortunately, schools are a gold mine for criminals with invaluable data related to personal information and financial details which can be sold to the highest bidder on the black market. This was the case towards the end of last year, as thousands of students’ data was leaked in the Louisiana school district . leaked in the Louisiana school district leaked in the Louisiana school district A supply chain attack is one method that has been gaining a lot of traction recently, whereby an attack on an outside provider can lead to the attacker being able to infiltrate the school’s digital infrastructure. If the outside provider has been granted access rights to use the network or other applications, then the attacker would only need to get through the third party’s defenses to infiltrate the school’s system. This type of attack is particularly interesting to criminals—and devastating to victims—because they can gain access to multiple districts and mountains of data through one vendor. Types of supply chain attacks include stealing security certificates, compromising software development tools, preinstalling malware on devices, and embedding malicious code in firmware. For example, if a hacker steals a certificate used to authenticate a software update, they can use it to distribute malware disguised as a legitimate update. In schools, where IT resources may already be stretched thin, detecting these kinds of sophisticated attacks is very difficult. Supply chain attacks are very broad and can impact organizations of all types and sizes. Let’s examine where they tend to come from and their impact before discussing how schools can better defend themselves. The Source of Supply Chain Attacks Supply chain attacks can come from a variety of places and, depending on the source, can bring their own set of risks. Commercial software is something that every school will have across its network, and hackers can insert malicious code into a common software application that would then gain access to any school using that particular software. The problem is that schools often depend on software updates to patch vulnerabilities, but the updates themselves are actually one of the most common areas to exploit. One of the most famous examples came a few years back in 2020, when the major software company, __ SolarWinds, was hacked with a backdoor __inserted into one of their IT management tools, and thousands of government organizations and schools around the world were affected. Another common source comes from open-source software where schools use these solutions as they’re generally more scalable and cost-effective, but this can also leave them more vulnerable. During the development process, hackers can introduce vulnerabilities, and then they wreak havoc when the software is finally implemented. There was a clear incident of this earlier this year when a software engineer found a backdoor that had gone unnoticed after two years of a group called Jia Tan implementing versions of XZ Utils , providing hours of largely benign volunteer coding into the open-source software, Linux. SolarWinds, was hacked with a backdoor Jia Tan implementing versions of XZ Utils Jia Tan implementing versions of XZ Utils Lastly, we need to touch on foreign-sourced threats, which can be dangerous when schools are using systems from outside the country in their networks. Some countries have varying controls on tech industries, so schools need to be careful. What is the Impact of Supply Chain Attacks on Schools? There can be a huge impact on schools that are victims of supply chain attacks, including the disruption of administrative functions and the educational process. One of the biggest risks obviously comes from data breaches, where student records, financial details, and even potentially health data can be leaked. This could easily lead to privacy violations and identity theft. Schools also depend on software for scheduling, grading, and virtual classrooms, and if that is compromised, it can cause huge interruptions, with students and teachers unable to access vital resources. Lastly, financial costs, although seemingly not as prevalent in a supply chain attack, can still be a consequence. Ransomware can lock critical systems through compromised software. Even if the ransom is not paid, restoring systems and implementing stronger security measures is expensive. What Are The Mitigation Strategies? There are various ways that schools can go about mitigating supply chain attacks, primarily schools must have cybersecurity measures in place to protect their systems. They are outlined by the Department for Education , and involve a range of steps, from simple steps such as adopting multi-factor authentication to more complex data protection impact assessments. outlined by the Department for Education outlined by the Department for Education Regular software updates are important, but they are far from being fool-proof, schools need to be informed about any potential vulnerabilities that could arise in the software that they use. This can be done by monitoring cyber news and having open lines of communication with their vendors to stay on top of emerging threats. Access control is another element that can’t go unnoticed. Schools need to always review who has access to their systems and ensure that permissions are limited to the necessary people. The final mitigation strategy to mention is testing out incident response plans. This should involve explaining what steps would need to be taken in the event of a supply chain attack and how to isolate compromised systems, restore data from backups, and communicate with stakeholders. These kinds of drills mean that staff are ready to act quickly and effectively when an attack occurs. Supply chain attacks are undoubtedly brutal, and hackers can exploit weaknesses in schools, and their impact can be devastating. However, following some of the steps outlined above can at least mitigate the potential impact if staff are dedicated to prioritizing cybersecurity and good hygiene.

How Can Schools Be Better Prepared for Supply Chain Attacks?

Top Back-to-School Tech for Parents, Caregivers, and Kids

School is Dead. Embrace Modern Education Instead.

স্কুল মৃত। পরিবর্তে আধুনিক শিক্ষা গ্রহণ করুন।

Die Schule ist tot. Setzen Sie stattdessen auf moderne Bildung.

La escuela está muerta. En su lugar, adopte la educación moderna.

L'école est morte. Adoptez plutôt l’éducation moderne.

स्कूल ख़त्म हो चुका है। इसके बजाय आधुनिक शिक्षा अपनाएँ।

学校は死んだ。代わりに現代教育を受け入れよう。

학교는 죽었다. 대신 현대 교육을 수용하십시오.

A escola está morta. Em vez disso, abrace a educação moderna.

Школа мертва. Вместо этого используйте современное образование.

Okul Öldü. Bunun yerine Modern Eğitimi Benimseyin.

Trường học đã chết. Thay vào đó hãy đón nhận nền giáo dục hiện đại.

学校已死。拥抱现代教育。

In a few short weeks, I will be leaving my job as Director of Engineering "in the industry" and starting a new one as a high school Computer Science and Cybersecurity Instructor. I am equal parts excited and scared shitless—or some other type of scared that is more professional... like.... panicked poopless... concernedly constipated?—so I have been calling this transition my Big Scary Thing™️. Because it is big and scary, but it's also something that excites me and deserves my respect (or at least the capitalization of a proper noun). While I will be teaching at the high school level, what makes this opportunity especially exciting is the focus. The program I have joined is a public career and technical education center specifically for high school students that offers a particularly unique value proposition: For 3 hours a day, Junior and Senior high school students who apply to the program leave their home schools in order to receive a tuition-free education in a trade or career of their interest or choice. From dental assisting to cosmetology to airplane maintenance to graphic design to (you guessed it) computer science and cybersecurity, students have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to kickstart their futures. As a former student of the exact same program I am taking over (albeit a program I went through 20 years ago), I am deeply grateful that something like it even exists and provides a huge range of career paths for students who may not be able to afford or attend college due to that tricky thing called "life circumstances." The fact that it exists at all is a blessing, and I am honored to be a part of it. To anyone who knows me, a mid-career shift from working as an engineering leader "in-industry" to teaching at the public high school level is probably not all that surprising; mentorship and coaching are the things that I have enjoyed the most in my leadership roles—at this point in my life, they are just about the only things I enjoy in those roles anymore—and a not-insignificant amount of my personal time over the last few years has been dedicated to volunteering with various STEM and Computer Science programs within the state of Colorado. That said, in many ways, this isn't a new chapter in my life, but an entirely new book. For the first time in my career, I will be working solely for the betterment of others, rather than myself or my employer. I believe in the life-changing possibilities a background in computing offers because college isn't in everyone's future, but a financially secure life can be. It is a profound responsibility; one that I won't be taking lightly. As the new instructor, my goals for the program are going to primarily be career readiness. While it looks good on college applications—and I get to offer college credit to boot—my primary goal will be inspiring a passion for computing, while simultaneously driving industry certifications and internships. My hope is to give my students an opportunity to build their resumes before they even get their high school diplomas. It's going to be a lot to take in, and I know that I will be learning just as much as I am teaching, so I intend to document this (potentially insane) journey from Professional Nerd to Teacher of Professional Nerds. From lesson plans to lessons learned, I hope to build a platform both on and off HackerNoon to help others who are considering making a similar leap of faith in their own careers. It's going to be a journey, and I'm excited to bring the world along with me on it. In a few short weeks, I will be leaving my job as Director of Engineering "in the industry" and starting a new one as a high school Computer Science and Cybersecurity Instructor. I am equal parts excited and scared shitless—or some other type of scared that is more professional... like.... panicked poopless... concernedly constipated?—so I have been calling this transition my Big Scary Thing™️. Because it is big and scary, but it's also something that excites me and deserves my respect (or at least the capitalization of a proper noun). is and While I will be teaching at the high school level, what makes this opportunity especially exciting is the focus. The program I have joined is a public career and technical education center specifically for high school students that offers a particularly unique value proposition: For 3 hours a day, Junior and Senior high school students who apply to the program leave their home schools in order to receive a tuition-free education in a trade or career of their interest or choice. From dental assisting to cosmetology to airplane maintenance to graphic design to (you guessed it) computer science and cybersecurity, students have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to kickstart their futures. As a former student of the exact same program I am taking over (albeit a program I went through 20 years ago), I am deeply grateful that something like it even exists and provides a huge range of career paths for students who may not be able to afford or attend college due to that tricky thing called "life circumstances." exact deeply The fact that it exists at all is a blessing, and I am honored to be a part of it. The fact that it exists at all is a blessing, and I am honored to be a part of it. To anyone who knows me, a mid-career shift from working as an engineering leader "in-industry" to teaching at the public high school level is probably not all that surprising; mentorship and coaching are the things that I have enjoyed the most in my leadership roles—at this point in my life, they are just about the only things I enjoy in those roles anymore—and a not-insignificant amount of my personal time over the last few years has been dedicated to volunteering with various STEM and Computer Science programs within the state of Colorado. only That said, in many ways, this isn't a new chapter in my life, but an entirely new book. For the first time in my career, I will be working solely for the betterment of others, rather than myself or my employer. I believe in the life-changing possibilities a background in computing offers because college isn't in everyone's future, but a financially secure life can be. can It is a profound responsibility; one that I won't be taking lightly. As the new instructor, my goals for the program are going to primarily be career readiness. While it looks good on college applications—and I get to offer college credit to boot—my primary goal will be inspiring a passion for computing, while simultaneously driving industry certifications and internships. My hope is to give my students an opportunity to build their resumes before they even get their high school diplomas. It's going to be a lot to take in, and I know that I will be learning just as much as I am teaching, so I intend to document this (potentially insane) journey from Professional Nerd to Teacher of Professional Nerds . From lesson plans to lessons learned, I hope to build a platform both on and off HackerNoon to help others who are considering making a similar leap of faith in their own careers. Professional Nerd Teacher of Professional Nerds It's going to be a journey, and I'm excited to bring the world along with me on it.

I'm Quitting my Job to Teach High School Computer Science

Teaching High School Students Software Engineering: Project Implementation

Authors:
(1) Joseph Latessa, Department of Computer Science Wayne State University, Detroit MI USA (jlatessa@wayne.edu);
(2) Aadi Huria, Senior, Salem High School Canton, MI USA (huria.aadi@gmail.com);
(3) Deepak Raju, Senior, Salem High School, Canton MI USA (Deepak.Raju294@outlook.com). Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Related Work Project Prerequisites Project Implementation Insight and Reflections Conclusions, Acknowledgement and References 3 PROJECT PREREQUISITES We will now take a closer look at each part of the project’s development. Throughout the summer, our meetings took place using Zoom at intervals of one or two meetings per week and each session lasted between one and two hours. 3.1 Tools and Installation After introductions, a discussion about scheduling, and a discussion about what we planned to accomplish over the summer, we decided upon and installed our development tools to ensure a consistent development environment. This involved stepping through the WSL installation process and setting up Ubuntu user accounts. We then installed Windows Terminal as our command line application and Visual Studio Code as our preferred text editor. We then visited github.com to explore GitHub’s features and establish user accounts. 3.2 Linux Shell Familiarization At our next meeting, we explored Windows Terminal and entered basic commands to navigate the directory structure. Basic commands such as ls, pwd, cd, mkdir, touch, mv, cp, and clear were discussed and demonstrated. We practiced creating directories, creating files, moving files, and displaying a directory’s contents. In addition to navigating the command line on one’s local machine, automation with GitHub Actions requires command line navigation on GitHub’s runners. A familiarity with the command line will therefore be needed later in the project. 3.3 Introducing Version Control For the next few meetings, we focused on learning version control. To assist with this learning and because the students had previous experience writing Python, we implemented a simple calculator application in Python. The main function provided a menu for users to choose arithmetic operations and to input operands. Each operation such as addition, subtraction, and raising a number to a power was a separate function that received the requisite operands as parameters and returned the result. A skeleton of the Python code was provided, with unimplemented function stubs that all returned zero. The students learned to create a new repository on GitHub and clone the new repository to a directory on their local machine. Git was introduced using terminal commands rather than through a GUI to provide further command line practice, which will be useful when executing commands on GitHub’s runners. Upon cloning the remote repository, we discussed the concepts of distributed versus centralized version control and discussed the pros and cons of each system. The students added the new calculator skeleton to the repository and pushed it to the remote. The Git commands clone, pull, status, log, add, commit, and push were introduced and applied. Since two students were working on the project, one student implemented the addition function, and the other implemented the subtraction function. Each committed their local changes and pushed those changes to the remote. Each screen-shared while implementing the changes, and we noted how the second person to push needed to pull the changes already made to the remote before pushing one’s own. It was also noted that having made changes to different functions, the differences could be reconciled automatically without giving rise to a merge conflict. We next discussed the concept of branching and the benefits of developing features on specific feature branches. We created separate branches for the implementation of the multiplication and power functions. One student implemented multiplication and the other implemented power. Continuing to practice staging and committing files, we committed our local feature branches and learned to establish remote tracking for new branches. git diff was also introduced to compare un-staged changes with the most recent local commit and to compare other commits using the relevant commit hash. We then applied git merge to locally merge our feature back into our local main branch. Since each student had changed different parts of the code, it was again noted that the merge was automatic and gave rise to no merge conflict. Next, we specifically edited the code to create and demonstrate a merge conflict. Having both edited the same section of the code, the students learned to manually resolve merge conflicts. We concluded our introduction to version control with a look at pull requests and forks. In addition to merging branches locally, we discussed a typical workflow in which a developer without push access to the main branch would propose changes by submitting a pull request. We also looked at creating repository forks and saw how pull requests could be submitted across forks. The final calculator function, a square root function, was merged into the main branch through the submission and approval of a pull request. To prepare for the next phase of our project, the students created their own forks of the JETSCAPE [1] and GOMC [2] application repositories as well as the JETSCAPE and GOMC website repositories. Most of the time spent writing these tests would pertain to the website repositories. 3.4 Introducing Continuous Integration To introduce the concept of continuous integration, we created a simple Python script that uses the requests.get method to query a website and return a status code. The script can be run manually at the command line and accepts a URL as a command line argument. If the status code returned is 200, a success message is printed, and the program exits normally. If another code is returned or if there is no response from the server, the program terminates having raised an exception. We tested the program manually on popular websites like google.com and on URLs we knew to be invalid. We then discussed the usefulness of having a test run automatically either on a set schedule or whenever there are changes to a specified branch. Since there are two students and two websites (JETSCAPE [1] and GOMC [2]), each student focused on a specific website and worked on their locally cloned fork. We committed the Python script that checks for reachability and discussed the YAML file steps required to generate the automation. We decided that the test should run on push operations and pull requests to the main branch and run once per day at a specific time. We discussed the job steps including running on ubuntu-latest, checking out the current repository using GitHub’s checkout action, and executing terminal commands on GitHub’s runners to install the requests library using pip. We discussed that this step would be performed every time the workflow executes because each job runs on a new instance of ubuntu-latest. We then added the job steps to navigate to the tests/ folder on the runner and to execute the python3 command calling the URL reachability script. The students committed, pushed to the remote forks, and checked the Actions tabs on GitHub to review the running tests and their respective logs. Equipped with prior knowledge of the Python language and having now gained a familiarity with the command line, version control, and automating workflows with GitHub Actions, the students were ready to start researching and experimenting with writing and deploying the automated tests. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED license. Authors: (1) Joseph Latessa, Department of Computer Science Wayne State University, Detroit MI USA (jlatessa@wayne.edu); (2) Aadi Huria, Senior, Salem High School Canton, MI USA (huria.aadi@gmail.com); (3) Deepak Raju, Senior, Salem High School, Canton MI USA (Deepak.Raju294@outlook.com). Authors: Authors: (1) Joseph Latessa, Department of Computer Science Wayne State University, Detroit MI USA (jlatessa@wayne.edu); (2) Aadi Huria, Senior, Salem High School Canton, MI USA (huria.aadi@gmail.com); (3) Deepak Raju, Senior, Salem High School, Canton MI USA (Deepak.Raju294@outlook.com). Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Abstract and Introduction Related Work Related Work Project Prerequisites Project Prerequisites Project Implementation Project Implementation Insight and Reflections Insight and Reflections Conclusions, Acknowledgement and References Conclusions, Acknowledgement and References 3 PROJECT PREREQUISITES We will now take a closer look at each part of the project’s development. Throughout the summer, our meetings took place using Zoom at intervals of one or two meetings per week and each session lasted between one and two hours. 3.1 Tools and Installation After introductions, a discussion about scheduling, and a discussion about what we planned to accomplish over the summer, we decided upon and installed our development tools to ensure a consistent development environment. This involved stepping through the WSL installation process and setting up Ubuntu user accounts. We then installed Windows Terminal as our command line application and Visual Studio Code as our preferred text editor. We then visited github.com to explore GitHub’s features and establish user accounts. 3.2 Linux Shell Familiarization At our next meeting, we explored Windows Terminal and entered basic commands to navigate the directory structure. Basic commands such as ls, pwd, cd, mkdir, touch, mv, cp, and clear were discussed and demonstrated. We practiced creating directories, creating files, moving files, and displaying a directory’s contents. In addition to navigating the command line on one’s local machine, automation with GitHub Actions requires command line navigation on GitHub’s runners. A familiarity with the command line will therefore be needed later in the project. 3.3 Introducing Version Control For the next few meetings, we focused on learning version control. To assist with this learning and because the students had previous experience writing Python, we implemented a simple calculator application in Python. The main function provided a menu for users to choose arithmetic operations and to input operands. Each operation such as addition, subtraction, and raising a number to a power was a separate function that received the requisite operands as parameters and returned the result. A skeleton of the Python code was provided, with unimplemented function stubs that all returned zero. The students learned to create a new repository on GitHub and clone the new repository to a directory on their local machine. Git was introduced using terminal commands rather than through a GUI to provide further command line practice, which will be useful when executing commands on GitHub’s runners. Upon cloning the remote repository, we discussed the concepts of distributed versus centralized version control and discussed the pros and cons of each system. The students added the new calculator skeleton to the repository and pushed it to the remote. The Git commands clone, pull, status, log, add, commit, and push were introduced and applied. Since two students were working on the project, one student implemented the addition function, and the other implemented the subtraction function. Each committed their local changes and pushed those changes to the remote. Each screen-shared while implementing the changes, and we noted how the second person to push needed to pull the changes already made to the remote before pushing one’s own. It was also noted that having made changes to different functions, the differences could be reconciled automatically without giving rise to a merge conflict. We next discussed the concept of branching and the benefits of developing features on specific feature branches. We created separate branches for the implementation of the multiplication and power functions. One student implemented multiplication and the other implemented power. Continuing to practice staging and committing files, we committed our local feature branches and learned to establish remote tracking for new branches. git diff was also introduced to compare un-staged changes with the most recent local commit and to compare other commits using the relevant commit hash. We then applied git merge to locally merge our feature back into our local main branch. Since each student had changed different parts of the code, it was again noted that the merge was automatic and gave rise to no merge conflict. Next, we specifically edited the code to create and demonstrate a merge conflict. Having both edited the same section of the code, the students learned to manually resolve merge conflicts. We concluded our introduction to version control with a look at pull requests and forks. In addition to merging branches locally, we discussed a typical workflow in which a developer without push access to the main branch would propose changes by submitting a pull request. We also looked at creating repository forks and saw how pull requests could be submitted across forks. The final calculator function, a square root function, was merged into the main branch through the submission and approval of a pull request. To prepare for the next phase of our project, the students created their own forks of the JETSCAPE [1] and GOMC [2] application repositories as well as the JETSCAPE and GOMC website repositories. Most of the time spent writing these tests would pertain to the website repositories. 3.4 Introducing Continuous Integration To introduce the concept of continuous integration, we created a simple Python script that uses the requests.get method to query a website and return a status code. The script can be run manually at the command line and accepts a URL as a command line argument. If the status code returned is 200, a success message is printed, and the program exits normally. If another code is returned or if there is no response from the server, the program terminates having raised an exception. We tested the program manually on popular websites like google.com and on URLs we knew to be invalid. We then discussed the usefulness of having a test run automatically either on a set schedule or whenever there are changes to a specified branch. Since there are two students and two websites (JETSCAPE [1] and GOMC [2]), each student focused on a specific website and worked on their locally cloned fork. We committed the Python script that checks for reachability and discussed the YAML file steps required to generate the automation. We decided that the test should run on push operations and pull requests to the main branch and run once per day at a specific time. We discussed the job steps including running on ubuntu-latest, checking out the current repository using GitHub’s checkout action, and executing terminal commands on GitHub’s runners to install the requests library using pip. We discussed that this step would be performed every time the workflow executes because each job runs on a new instance of ubuntu-latest. We then added the job steps to navigate to the tests/ folder on the runner and to execute the python3 command calling the URL reachability script. The students committed, pushed to the remote forks, and checked the Actions tabs on GitHub to review the running tests and their respective logs. Equipped with prior knowledge of the Python language and having now gained a familiarity with the command line, version control, and automating workflows with GitHub Actions, the students were ready to start researching and experimenting with writing and deploying the automated tests. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED license. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED license. available on arxiv

Teaching High School Students Software Engineering: Prerequisites

Authors:
(1) Joseph Latessa, Department of Computer Science Wayne State University, Detroit MI USA (jlatessa@wayne.edu);
(2) Aadi Huria, Senior, Salem High School Canton, MI USA (huria.aadi@gmail.com);
(3) Deepak Raju, Senior, Salem High School, Canton MI USA (Deepak.Raju294@outlook.com). Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Related Work Project Prerequisites Project Implementation Insight and Reflections Conclusions, Acknowledgement and References 2 RELATED WORK Much has been written about the advantages of introducing version control with Git and GitHub in the classroom [4, 5, 6]. The concept of test-driven learning, which relates to the software engineering concept of test-driven-development and advocates for demonstrating the use of automated tests alongside teaching programming concepts early in students’ computer science education, is also found in the literature [7, 8]. Our experience corroborates the findings in the literature that an early introduction to version control and automated testing is advantageous but demonstrates a unique experience where the concepts are presented in a research lab setting that culminates with students submitting pull requests to deploy their automated tests to real open-source projects. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED license. Authors: (1) Joseph Latessa, Department of Computer Science Wayne State University, Detroit MI USA (jlatessa@wayne.edu); (2) Aadi Huria, Senior, Salem High School Canton, MI USA (huria.aadi@gmail.com); (3) Deepak Raju, Senior, Salem High School, Canton MI USA (Deepak.Raju294@outlook.com). Authors: Authors: (1) Joseph Latessa, Department of Computer Science Wayne State University, Detroit MI USA (jlatessa@wayne.edu); (2) Aadi Huria, Senior, Salem High School Canton, MI USA (huria.aadi@gmail.com); (3) Deepak Raju, Senior, Salem High School, Canton MI USA (Deepak.Raju294@outlook.com). Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Abstract and Introduction Related Work Related Work Project Prerequisites Project Prerequisites Project Implementation Project Implementation Insight and Reflections Insight and Reflections Conclusions, Acknowledgement and References Conclusions, Acknowledgement and References 2 RELATED WORK Much has been written about the advantages of introducing version control with Git and GitHub in the classroom [4, 5, 6]. The concept of test-driven learning, which relates to the software engineering concept of test-driven-development and advocates for demonstrating the use of automated tests alongside teaching programming concepts early in students’ computer science education, is also found in the literature [7, 8]. Our experience corroborates the findings in the literature that an early introduction to version control and automated testing is advantageous but demonstrates a unique experience where the concepts are presented in a research lab setting that culminates with students submitting pull requests to deploy their automated tests to real open-source projects. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED license. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED license. available on arxiv

High School Students Tackle Automated Testing and Version Control

Authors:
(1) Joseph Latessa, Department of Computer Science Wayne State University, Detroit MI USA (jlatessa@wayne.edu);
(2) Aadi Huria, Senior, Salem High School Canton, MI USA (huria.aadi@gmail.com);
(3) Deepak Raju, Senior, Salem High School, Canton MI USA (Deepak.Raju294@outlook.com). Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Related Work Project Prerequisites Project Implementation Insight and Reflections Conclusions, Acknowledgement and References ABSTRACT Software Engineering concepts such as version control, continuous integration, and unit testing are often not presented in college computer science curriculums until the third year of study, after completing several semesters of programming courses. Throughout the summer of 2023, two high school students volunteered in our lab at Wayne State University where I’m a graduate research assistant and Ph.D. student in computer science. The students had taken AP Computer Science but had no prior experience with software engineering or software testing. This paper documents our experience devising a group project to teach the requisite software engineering skills to implement automated tests that meaningfully contribute to open-source scientific computing projects developed in connection with our lab. We describe the concepts covered, tools used, and software tests written in this early introduction to software engineering while maintaining shared emphases on education and the deployment of our work. KEYWORDS Automated Testing, Continuous Integration, GitHub Actions, High School Summer Research, Software Engineering, Version Control, Website Debugging 1 INTRODUCTION During the summer of 2023, two high school students volunteered to assist in one of Wayne State University’s computer science research labs, which focuses on high-performance computing and software engineering for scientific applications. The students aspire to study computer science as their major when they begin their undergraduate studies in 2024. Prior to volunteering in our lab, they had successfully completed AP Computer Science courses where they learned Java and Python but had no prior experience with software engineering concepts such as version control, continuous integration, and unit testing. Our goals were to develop a summer project that would be appropriate for the students’ current experience and education, provide a learning opportunity to gain new skills relevant to assisting in a laboratory environment, and to provide an opportunity to produce work that meaningfully contributes to the scientific computing applications developed in connection with our lab. Two scientific computing applications developed in connection with our lab include JETSCAPE [1] and GOMC [2]. JETSCAPE is a multi-institutional collaboration that develops event generators to simulate ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. GOMC is an application to simulate molecular systems using the Metropolis Monte Carlo Algorithm [3]. Both projects are opensource and maintain their respective repositories on GitHub. They also use GitHub Pages to maintain and deploy their project websites. To meet our project goals, we decided to emphasize automated software testing. JETSCAPE [1] and GOMC [2] have previously developed and deployed some tests, but there was an interest among the collaborators to further expand upon the tests in place. Since the student volunteers had not yet studied software engineering and were not yet familiar with concepts such as continuous integration and unit testing, attaining these skills while working on this project would provide a unique educational value. Since the students had already completed AP Computer Science and were already comfortable with the Java and Python languages, the students could apply the programming skills they already learned to develop these automated tests. Although having studied Java and Python, the students had no prior experience with Linux or with working at the command line. They also had no previous experience working with Git or any version control platform. This project would therefore have to begin with preliminary introductions to the Linux shell environment and version control. Since continuous integration would also be a new concept, a demonstration of GitHub Actions and writing YAML files would conclude our preliminary introduction. The main substantive tasks of the project would be the implementation of three automated tests. The first two tests, an HTML validator, and a link checker, would be deployed on the JETSCAPE [1] and GOMC [2] websites. The implementation of the third test would require discussing the concept of unit testing and then deploying a series of unit tests to ensure the correctness of JETSCAPE’s XML formatted input. The tools used throughout the project include Visual Studio Code, the Ubuntu Distribution installed on WSL and accessed through Windows Terminal, version control with Git and GitHub, automation with GitHub Actions, static hosting with GitHub Pages, Python scripting to customize and enhance the functionality of GitHub Marketplace Actions, and Python’s UNITTEST framework. In the following sections, we provide a detailed description of the project and the concepts covered. We then reflect upon the successes and challenges we faced and report this experience so that other students at a similar level in their computer science education might find comparable opportunities to study these software engineering concepts earlier than they otherwise might while also attaining practical lab experience to supplement their traditional high school computer science curriculum. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED license. Authors: (1) Joseph Latessa, Department of Computer Science Wayne State University, Detroit MI USA (jlatessa@wayne.edu); (2) Aadi Huria, Senior, Salem High School Canton, MI USA (huria.aadi@gmail.com); (3) Deepak Raju, Senior, Salem High School, Canton MI USA (Deepak.Raju294@outlook.com). Authors: Authors: (1) Joseph Latessa, Department of Computer Science Wayne State University, Detroit MI USA (jlatessa@wayne.edu); (2) Aadi Huria, Senior, Salem High School Canton, MI USA (huria.aadi@gmail.com); (3) Deepak Raju, Senior, Salem High School, Canton MI USA (Deepak.Raju294@outlook.com). Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Abstract and Introduction Related Work Related Work Project Prerequisites Project Prerequisites Project Implementation Project Implementation Insight and Reflections Insight and Reflections Conclusions, Acknowledgement and References Conclusions, Acknowledgement and References ABSTRACT Software Engineering concepts such as version control, continuous integration, and unit testing are often not presented in college computer science curriculums until the third year of study, after completing several semesters of programming courses. Throughout the summer of 2023, two high school students volunteered in our lab at Wayne State University where I’m a graduate research assistant and Ph.D. student in computer science. The students had taken AP Computer Science but had no prior experience with software engineering or software testing. This paper documents our experience devising a group project to teach the requisite software engineering skills to implement automated tests that meaningfully contribute to open-source scientific computing projects developed in connection with our lab. We describe the concepts covered, tools used, and software tests written in this early introduction to software engineering while maintaining shared emphases on education and the deployment of our work. KEYWORDS Automated Testing, Continuous Integration, GitHub Actions, High School Summer Research, Software Engineering, Version Control, Website Debugging 1 INTRODUCTION During the summer of 2023, two high school students volunteered to assist in one of Wayne State University’s computer science research labs, which focuses on high-performance computing and software engineering for scientific applications. The students aspire to study computer science as their major when they begin their undergraduate studies in 2024. Prior to volunteering in our lab, they had successfully completed AP Computer Science courses where they learned Java and Python but had no prior experience with software engineering concepts such as version control, continuous integration, and unit testing. Our goals were to develop a summer project that would be appropriate for the students’ current experience and education, provide a learning opportunity to gain new skills relevant to assisting in a laboratory environment, and to provide an opportunity to produce work that meaningfully contributes to the scientific computing applications developed in connection with our lab. Two scientific computing applications developed in connection with our lab include JETSCAPE [1] and GOMC [2]. JETSCAPE is a multi-institutional collaboration that develops event generators to simulate ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. GOMC is an application to simulate molecular systems using the Metropolis Monte Carlo Algorithm [3]. Both projects are opensource and maintain their respective repositories on GitHub. They also use GitHub Pages to maintain and deploy their project websites. To meet our project goals, we decided to emphasize automated software testing. JETSCAPE [1] and GOMC [2] have previously developed and deployed some tests, but there was an interest among the collaborators to further expand upon the tests in place. Since the student volunteers had not yet studied software engineering and were not yet familiar with concepts such as continuous integration and unit testing, attaining these skills while working on this project would provide a unique educational value. Since the students had already completed AP Computer Science and were already comfortable with the Java and Python languages, the students could apply the programming skills they already learned to develop these automated tests. Although having studied Java and Python, the students had no prior experience with Linux or with working at the command line. They also had no previous experience working with Git or any version control platform. This project would therefore have to begin with preliminary introductions to the Linux shell environment and version control. Since continuous integration would also be a new concept, a demonstration of GitHub Actions and writing YAML files would conclude our preliminary introduction. The main substantive tasks of the project would be the implementation of three automated tests. The first two tests, an HTML validator, and a link checker, would be deployed on the JETSCAPE [1] and GOMC [2] websites. The implementation of the third test would require discussing the concept of unit testing and then deploying a series of unit tests to ensure the correctness of JETSCAPE’s XML formatted input. The tools used throughout the project include Visual Studio Code, the Ubuntu Distribution installed on WSL and accessed through Windows Terminal, version control with Git and GitHub, automation with GitHub Actions, static hosting with GitHub Pages, Python scripting to customize and enhance the functionality of GitHub Marketplace Actions, and Python’s UNITTEST framework. In the following sections, we provide a detailed description of the project and the concepts covered. We then reflect upon the successes and challenges we faced and report this experience so that other students at a similar level in their computer science education might find comparable opportunities to study these software engineering concepts earlier than they otherwise might while also attaining practical lab experience to supplement their traditional high school computer science curriculum. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED license. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED license. available on arxiv

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