Summer Cybercamps Moving Online: What You Need to Know

After several years of gaining popularity in person, cybercamps throughout California will continue that momentum online this summer. Participating colleges have exemplified the agility of the CA Community College system as they quickly modified their camps in a matter of weeks.

Bay Area

In the Bay Region, ICT-DM Regional Director Richard Grotegut and his team adjusted all 40 planned in-person camps to a virtual environment using Zoom, Canvas learning management, and Discord, and more than 600 students have already registered to attend.

The free camps will be held from June 1-July 3 and will be split into introductory and advanced levels. “Today, more than ever, we need to be educated about how to live, learn, work and play safely in the cyber world. Developing skills to address this need is one of our top objectives for our CyberCamps,” said Grotegut.

In addition to learning cybersecurity fundamentals needed in the workplace, students will learn how to protect their families and friends from today’s cyber criminals who are taking advantage of COVID-19.

BACCC Cyber Competitions Regional Coordinator Irvin Lemus will offer training for coaches and camp leaders across the state during the WASTC faculty development week scheduled for June 8-12. Educators will learn how to enroll, practice and host local competitions.

For more information about the Bay Region’s activities, visit baycyber.net.

North/Far North

Over the past year, the North/Far North region has worked to expand and coordinate its cybercamps, and those efforts will pay off this summer with 11 free camps for middle and high school students throughout the region from June 15-July 31.

Five NorCal Cyber camps will be held for students in the Far North region, and six will be held in the greater Sacramento area; all will take place virtually, in collaboration with the Bay Area Community College Consortium (BACCC).

The region’s community colleges partnered with the Sacramento County Office of Education after last summer’s camps and now has a consolidated hub for registration and logistics across all camps. Organizers hope to add even more camps to the effort next year.

“Last summer we had a spattering of camps spread throughout the region and we recognized that if we collaborated together on a regional approach, we would be able to serve more students in a more effective and cohesive manner,” said ICT-DM Regional Director Wendy Porter.

Community college faculty and students will assist with camp facilitation, as modeled by the BACCC. Porter is grateful to the BACCC team for sharing their camp infrastructure and providing training. “This effort is a prime example of how our CA Community Colleges can partner and share successful programs throughout the State,” she said.

Camps will expose students to critical cybersecurity skills for which there is an extremely high demand in the region’s labor market.

“Moving our camps online due to COVID-19 has been a blessing for some of our more rural students, and in light of this, participation is expected to be high,” said ICT-DM Regional Director Wendy Porter. “It is exciting to be able to provide students with fun, free, and totally virtual camps in order to build their critical thinking, team, and technical skill sets.”

For more information, visit norcalcyber.org.

South Central Coast

Cuesta College will hold two online cybercamps July 27-31. The standard-level camp will take place from 8 a.m.-noon each day, and an advanced camp will be held from 1-5 p.m. Each camp costs $150.

Both camps will be modeled after the AFA CyberCamps program, part of the CyberPatriot program designed to prepare teams for competition season during the school year. Students will learn skills in cyber safety and cybersecurity throughout the week, with a mini-competition held on the final day.

For more information on Cuesta College’s camps, visit https://www.cuesta.edu/communityprograms/youth-programs/camps/index.html

Other Regions

Camps will be held in other areas of the state, with plans being finalized in May. To learn about camps in your region, contact the ICT-Regional Director for your area.