On May 21, an educational marathon on safe internet surfing and smart use of digital technologies wrapped up in the Troitsk District of Moscow. Cyber Scam: How to Avoid Being a Mammoth was launched in April by the Youth Chamber of the District of Troitsk.
Experts from the event’s partner, Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ, visited all schools in the district over two months. The program reached around 1,000 students from grades six to ten.
The final sessions took place at the Troitsk Orthodox School and Nikolai Pushkov Gymnasium. The school was named after Soviet geophysicist and one of the founders of the Troitsk academic town, who also founded the Institute of Earth Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radiowave Propagation, the town’s biggest research center.
The keynote lecture was given by Coordination Center data analyst Yevgeny Pankov. He spoke about common online scams and scams involving digital technology. Yevgeny taught students how to spot fake websites, fake news and deep fakes. He also showed some real examples of phishing and recruitment scams and spoke about liability for unlawful activity online and the importance of critical thinking. At the end of the lecture, Yevgeny invited students to visit the Domain Patrol website and learn more about digital scams and Russian cybersecurity hotlines.
Following the lecture, participants had an opportunity to test their digital literacy in a quiz from the Coordination Center’s Study the Internet and Govern It project. The quiz questions test the knowledge of cybersecurity, the history of the internet, digital culture, web services, network architecture, and other related topics. Viktoria Bunchuk, Director of Social Projects at the Coordination Center, administered the quiz. She also told the kids about other interactive simulators in the Study the Internet ecosystem and invited them to participate in the 10th National Family IT Marathon. The theme of this year’s marathon is digital vacation.
“The lessons at the Orthodox School were taught in a chamber-like environment in comfy mini groups but at the Gymansium, nearly 400 sixth-grade and seventh-grade students gathered in the assembly hall. Despite the difference in formats, all the classes sparked great interest. Inquisitive students showed high engagement during the quiz,” commented Viktoria Bunchuk. “We hope that the meetings with Troitsk students will become an annual event. We have already talked with the Youth Chamber of the Troitsk District about engaging younger students and parents, for whom we can also develop unique age-appropriate lessons.”
The Cyber Scam: How to Avoid Being a Mammoth educational marathon proved that even complicated topics can be taught in an engaging and easily understood manner. Not only did participants learn useful skills but they also became motivated to improve their digital literacy.
