Introduction to Encryption and Cryptography

CO220 Online course

Discover the history of encryption and learn how it's used in the modern world

Computer networks Data & information Computing Key stage 3 Key stage 4 CS Accelerator

Free online course Approximately 8 hours of self-study

Discover the history of encryption and learn how it's used in the modern world. On this course, you will learn about what encryption is and understand its use in the past by using the Caesar and Vigenère ciphers. You will also look at the present and future of encryption and investigate both symmetric and asymmetric encryption schemes. The course includes several practical encryption activities which you can complete and use in your own classroom. There are several optional steps involving using Python to implement some forms of encryption. We recommend that for these you are comfortable using functions with parameters.

Who is it for?

This course is for prospective teachers of Key Stage 3 computing and GCSE computer science, who may be new to the subject.

No prior experience or knowledge of computer science is expected before attending this course.

Topics covered

Encryption and decryption
Using ciphers to teach encryption
Symmetric and asymmetric encryption
How encrpytion is used in the modern world

How long is this course?

This is approximately 8 hours of self-directed learning.

How will you learn?

This course is not facilitated. You can learn independently or with colleagues to directly address your individual needs.

Outcomes

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

Describe the general process of encryption and decryption
Apply a Caesar Cipher and a Vigenère Cipher
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different encryption algorithms
Compare symmetric and asymmetric encryption
Demonstrate methods of breaking simple encryption schemes
Describe how encryption is used in the modern world, and some of the possible ethical implications of this

This course is part of the Subject knowledge certificate

Subject knowledge certificate

Our professional development programme, Computer Science Accelerator, is designed to help you develop or refresh your subject knowledge and leads to a nationally recognised certificate.

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