Computer security... I don't know how feasible this is, but it sure would've inspired me a lot more at high school than the curriculum we had. As a student, I w

Computer security... I don't know how feasible this is, but it sure would've inspired me a lot more at high school than the curriculum we had. As a student, I want inspiration, I want magic. I want to feel excitement and to feel alive. I want something that draws me in and lights me up. Set up two sets of computers in your computer lab as separate networks. Divide your class into two teams. One team are the security administrators for one network. The other for the other network. Teach your class about hacking techniques to bypass the security of each other's networks. Teach them also the techniques used to lock down their networks and analyze intrusions/attempts to prevent further hacks. Give them access to resources to learn about defense and offense in a safe closed environment. End of year assignment - capture the flag. Teach them about information security warfare. Make it a game, a competition and pit them against each other. In today's technology environment, information warfare is prevalent and it will only become more so as time goes on. These skills will become more and more important across all aspects of ICT, from systems and network administration to DevOps to back end systems and public web development. There is no aspect of today's I.T. environment where security is not of critical importance. The biggest thing you can do to inspire the developers of tomorrow is find a way to inspire fascination with computers. Kids, teenagers, hell, most adults want some magic in their lives. Find a way to make it magic. Teach them about some of the greatest hacks of all time, what inspired them, how they were achieved, what happened to the perpetrator, whether history showed them to be on the right or wrong side of both the law and morality. Teach them about hacker mentality, black hat and white hat. From Mitnick to McKinnon, Schwartz and Snowden, their motivations, the results and the repercussions of their actions. My feeling is that the greatest role (and admittedly this is only my opinion and it doesn't mean a lot given my one semester of teaching 25 years ago) you can provide as a high school teacher isn't necessarily the technical detail you provide, but the magic that will inspire the student to take their learning at their own initiative and thrive on their own.