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Day 3: Cyber Safety Peer Feedback + Integrity in the Workplace

Lesson Overview
Time 50 minutes
Objectives Complete H&L "Cybersecurity in Action" Step 4 (peer feedback rubric); refine the Cyber Safety tool; discuss why integrity matters in cybersecurity careers
TEKS d(4)(F)
Deliverable Refined Cyber Safety tool + completed peer feedback rubric (Ch 12, p. 195) + integrity reflection (1 paragraph)
Materials H&L Workbook Ch 12 (pp. 194-195), Day 2 design drafts, Chromebooks, projector

Warm-Up (5 min)

WARM-UP: Imagine you are a cybersecurity professional with access to the personal data of 1 million people. You discover something embarrassing about your favorite celebrity. What do you do?

Quick share. Some students will say "look at it" or "tell my friends." Bridge: "That answer is exactly why integrity is the #1 trait cybersecurity employers look for. Today we talk about why."

Activity 1: Step 4 — Peer Feedback (20 min)

Source: H&L Workbook Ch 12, pp. 194-195, "Step 4: Get Peer Feedback"

Pair up students. Each pair swaps Cyber Safety tool drafts. They review their partner's draft using the workbook's Peer Feedback rubric (Ch 12, p. 195):

Criteria Yes No Somewhat Notes
My partner understood the problem
The tool they created includes the right information
The tool they created is appropriate for younger kids

Students fill in the rubric and add specific notes, what worked, what could be clearer, what's missing. Then pairs swap back and discuss the feedback for 5 minutes.

After feedback, students refine their tool based on what they heard. Walk the room and observe whether students are taking the feedback seriously or dismissing it.

Facilitation Tip

Watch for students who write "Yes / Yes / Yes" on every rubric line without thinking. Stop them: "Be a real reviewer. If your friend's tool is missing something, say so. Helping your partner improve is more valuable than being polite."

Activity 2: Class Discussion — Cyber Safety Audience (10 min)

Source: H&L Workbook Ch 12, p. 195, Class Discussion prompts

Lead a brief whole-class discussion using the workbook prompts (Ch 12, p. 195):

  1. Come up with at least two OTHER ways to spread cyber safety information beyond the 3 tool options the workbook offered. Examples: TikTok video, school morning announcements, a board game, a comic book, a song, a podcast.
  2. Other than parents and the kids themselves, who else might need to learn about online safety? Examples: teachers, librarians, grandparents, school counselors, after-school program staff.

Capture student responses on the board.

Activity 3: Integrity in the Cybersecurity Workplace (12 min)

Connect the Cyber Safety Creator activity to the broader concept of integrity in cybersecurity careers. Tell students:

"While designing your Cyber Safety tool, you had to think about how to protect kids who don't know the difference between safe and unsafe websites. That responsibility, protecting people who trust you with their safety, is what integrity means in cybersecurity. In this field, integrity is not optional. If you don't have it, you literally cannot be trusted with access to sensitive systems."

Give 3 real-world examples of why integrity matters in cybersecurity:

  1. A hospital cybersecurity analyst has access to patient medical records. They could see anyone's diagnoses, prescriptions, test results. Integrity = NEVER look unless your job requires it.
  2. A bank security engineer has access to all customer account data. Integrity = NEVER use that access for personal gain or to satisfy curiosity.
  3. An ethical hacker is hired to find vulnerabilities in a company's website. Integrity = report what you find to the company immediately and NEVER use the vulnerability yourself or share it with others.

Students write a brief reflection in their workbook margin (4-5 sentences) answering:

  • Why is integrity especially important in cybersecurity compared to other careers?
  • What could happen if a cybersecurity professional lacked integrity?

DOK 3: What conclusions can you draw about why integrity and work ethic are MORE important in cybersecurity than in some other careers?

Exit Ticket (3 min)

EXIT TICKET (Trade-off / Dilemma Analysis) · Printable PDF:

You are a NEW cybersecurity analyst at a DFW hospital. You have access to every patient's medical records. On your second day, a coworker says: "Hey, can you quickly look up my ex's diagnosis? Nobody will know."

  • (A) Look it up. Pros: helps a coworker, feels like a small favor, easy.
  • (B) Say no and report it. Pros: follows rules, protects patient privacy, keeps your job.

Pros of picking A: _____________

Pros of picking B: _____________

My choice (A or B): __

Quality list: honest / trustworthy / careful / brave / private / professional. (Or write your own.)

Which quality fits THIS choice best? ______

In one sentence, why is THIS quality the right one in cybersecurity — where NO ONE would find out if you looked? (d(4)(F))

Differentiation

  • Support: Provide a printed integrity reflection template with sentence stems: "Integrity means _. In cybersecurity, integrity matters because . Without integrity, a cybersecurity professional could __."
  • Extension: Students research the 2017 Equifax data breach (school-appropriate version) and identify what failures of integrity or cybersecurity practice contributed to it.
  • ELL: Bilingual integrity vocabulary: Integridad = Integrity, Honestidad = Honesty, Confianza = Trust, Ética = Ethics. Allow ELL students to write the integrity reflection in Spanish.