Overview: Mobile Device Security While Traveling
Problem Identification: Employees in the Executive Development and Compensation (ED&C) department frequently travel worldwide for business purposes. The company provides mandatory annual training in various areas of Information Security, but has yet to address the crucial aspect of Mobile Device Security during business travel. The primary objective of this project is to equip traveling employees with the basic knowledge and skills necessary to secure their mobile devices while on company business trips.
Target Audience: Initially, this training program will target members of the ED&C team whose roles involve frequent business travel. However, the long-term vision is to expand this course to encompass all employees whose positions require business travel as a fundamental job requirement. The learners in this training program exhibit diverse general characteristics, with a majority being first language English-speaking individuals aged 35 to 60, with 68% falling in the 50+ age group. The group is fairly evenly split between genders, with 58% female and 42% male. They represent a range of citizenships and ethnic backgrounds, hailing from the UK, USA, France, Germany, Ireland, and Canada, and they all hold Bachelor’s through Doctoral Degrees in HR-related fields. With a minimum of 10 years of work history and a classification as “non-technical,” they face daily technology challenges. One employee has a hearing impairment, and all are well-versed in identifying Phishing emails, understanding the significance of confidential information, and connecting their smartphones to Wi-Fi. Their learning styles will be assessed through a survey, and they are characterized as busy adult learners who value efficiency and practicality, with a preference for “just in time” training. Additionally, the majority have advanced degrees, stay current on Information Security Training, and possess high interpersonal and verbal/linguistic intelligence. With extensive work experience, this mature group is nearing the end of their careers, with less than five years left at the company.
Delivery Options: Given the geographical dispersion of individuals within the ED&C department and the overarching goal of making this training mandatory for business travel, the course will be delivered online, asynchronously to ensure accessibility and broad participation.
Alignment
Alignment: Effective training alignment is crucial to ensure that learners acquire the intended knowledge and skills efficiently. We begin by establishing clear and concise objectives to guide both instruction and learning outcomes. This initial step ensures that subsequent assessments and activities align with the objectives, creating a successful pathway toward achieving the desired learning outcomes. Sample absorb, do, connect and assessment activities are linked within the alignment chart found below in the next section.
Sample Activities
Sample Activities: The learning activities will be delivered online asynchronously based on the geographic location of the employees in the division, with the hope of scaling company-wide for all employees who travel for business. A variety of different modes will be used for absorb, do and connect activities. In order to eliminate major barriers, any presentation I create will also include a transcript, voiceovers and text that allows the learner to more efficiently and effectively gain, practice and demonstrate learning. The Universal Design for Learning framework will be used guide additional instructional materials, objectives and assessments.
| Objective | Assessment | Absorb | Do | Connect |
| Describe 4 ways to physically protect your mobile phone from data breaches. | Scenario: As part of an e-Learning scenario-based video/quiz, learners will be able to identify the 4 ways to physically protect their phone from data loss. | Presentation | Scenario based quiz | Scenario based quiz |
| Recognize threats to mobile security from a short video scenario at a rate of 80% | Quiz: e-Learning video/assessment asking learners to identify possible security threats from a video scenario | Video | Quiz | Quiz |
| Apply a passcode or biometric lock on the mobile device. | Checklist: Give step-by step instructions based on the operating system of the phone, and have the learners upload a screenshot of the final step of the process or a simple checklist that has been completed. | Presentation | How-To/Guide | Completed checklist with upload of successful screenshot |
Alignment Chart
Terminal Objective: Protect your phone’s physical security
Terminal Objective: Identify steps to protect your phone’s physical security
| Enabling Objectives | Assessment Idea | Absorb Activity | Do Activity | Connect Activity |
| Describe 4 ways to physically protect your mobile phone from data breaches. | Scenario: As part of an e-Learning scenario-based video/quiz, learners will be able to identify the 4 ways to physically protect their phone from data loss. | Presentation | Scenario based quiz | Scenario based quiz |
| Apply a passcode or biometric lock on the mobile device. | Checklist: Give step-by step instructions based on the operating system of the phone, and have the learners upload a screenshot of the final step of the process or a simple checklist that has been completed. | Presentation | How-To/Guide | Completed checklist with upload of successful screenshot |
| Install anti-virus software on their mobile device. | Activity Checklist: Give step-by step instructions based on the operating system of the phone to install (company approved) VPN on mobile phone. After completion learners will give a screenshot of their VPN connected to another country, or a simple checklist that is has been completed. | Presentation | How-To/Guide | Completed checklist with upload of successful screenshot |
Terminal Objective: Recognize and mitigate threats to mobile phone security
| Enabling Objectives | Assessment Idea | Absorb Activity | Do Activity | Connect Activity |
| Recognize threats to mobile security from a short video scenario at a rate of 80% | Quiz: e-Learning video/assessment asking learner to identify possible security threats from video scenarios. | Video | Quiz | Quiz |
| Differentiate the difference between http and https in terms of security? | Scenario Questions: Within the scenario video select correct options to connect to secure https or http sites will be given as possible threats. | Presentation | Scenario based eLearning Quiz | Scenario based eLearning Quiz |
| Describe how using a VPN secures your connection to the Internet. | Quiz: as part of the scenarios that asks the user which answer describes what a VPN does. | Video | Quiz | Quiz |
Terminal Objective: Recognize and mitigate threats to mobile phone security
| Enabling Objectives | Assessment Idea | Absorb Activity | Do Activity | Connect Activity |
| Recognize threats to mobile security from a short video scenario at a rate of 80% | Quiz: e-Learning video/assessment asking learner to identify possible security threats from video scenarios. | Video | Quiz | Quiz |
| Differentiate the difference between http and https in terms of security? | Scenario Questions: Within the scenario video select correct options to connect to secure https or http sites will be given as possible threats. | Video | Scenario based eLearning Quiz | Scenario based eLearning Quiz |
| Describe how using a VPN secures your connection to the Internet. | Quiz: as part of the scenarios that asks the user which answer describes what a VPN does. | Video | Quiz | Quiz |
Assessment
Assessment: My plan for assessment is to create an e-Learning module that gives the learner questions based on a scenario, as well as How-To Guides that use Google Forms to upload a completed screenshot as proof of completion. In order to make the How-To guides more UDL friendly, I will also create a video/audio for those users who may have language barriers. The scenario based e-Learning will contain ten (10) total questions and the learner will need to receive an 80% success rate to show mastery. After each question, feedback is immediate with an explanation further reinforcing learning. This alignment to assessment is shown in the chart above, and below is a short example of the scenario based e-Learning assessment can be found below.
Evaluation: Pre and post surveys will be given focusing on the learner’s perceived growth, as well as feedback on the eLearning design and implementation. This feedback will be used to further identify any gaps in knowledge, and guiding any future redesign, as needed.
Reflection
This project and course has allowed me to grow in the following areas: UDL development, alignment and technology skills. Universal Design was the area of most growth. While designing previous instruction, I have differentiated based on pre-tests, multiple intelligences, and learner background knowledge, but didn’t implicitly plan my activities with Universal Design for Learning in mind. Simple modifications and additional examples from different modes of instruction help remove barriers to learning for a large portion of the learners. For my project I added text with voiceovers in my “do” presentation video, and will add audio instructions to the “do” activity prior to delivery. While UDL doesn’t address every accommodation, it allows for accessibility of instruction for a larger segment of your learner population to more efficiently and effectively gain and demonstrate knowledge in an engaging way. In the future, I will continue to design with UDL as a guiding framework to reduce barriers to learning and increase accessibility to all.
This course also helped me align objectives to specific learning activities focused on not only delivering the content, but allowing for opportunities for the learner to connect, practice and demonstrate knowledge. This alignment is developed through creating clear objectives and then using the objectives as direction when creating absorb, do, connect and assessment activities. The alignment chart acts as the road map for instruction and is something I will used to plan in the future.
Lastly, I was able to use Animaker and Storyline to create “do” and “assessment” activities that align with my objectives. These are just a few tools that will be used in the ID field, and I am thankful that I was able to develop activities with this software to bolster my portfolio for my future job search.