Cybersecurity for Older Adults
An IRB-approved research project under the guidance of Dr. Ravi S. Kuber and Dr. Sidas A. Saulynas at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Information Systems, I worked as one of the primary graduate researchers.
The research aims to understand better the different experiences of instructors teaching cybersecurity-related content to older adults (e.g., how to protect yourself from scams, phishing attempts, etc.). Instructors will be interviewed about how the content to be presented is selected, which technologies are taught, and how technology, in general, can be used to support the learning process. Best practices will be identified from the interviews. The research offers the opportunity to determine how we can make technologies to support other instructors better when teaching older adults. Each interview will be conducted by telephone or videoconferencing software, lasting up to 60 minutes.
Approximately 30 participants will be asked to participate in the study. Examples of organizations we will recruit from include local Senior Centers and organizations advocating for older adults (e.g., AARP). We will send the recruitment email to contacts at the organization, their electronic mailing lists, and through snowball sampling, using the recruitment email attached. Participants will be asked to take part in interviews conducted by telephone or videoconferencing software (e.g., WebEx), which will focus on experiences of teaching cybersecurity-related content to older adults. All interviews will be semi-structured, following a protocol. Interview questions are attached to the IRB application: the PI, Co-PI, a Ph.D. student, and two graduate research assistants. Participants will receive $20 for participating, which will be paid electronically (e.g., through Venmo, PayPal, or an app of their choice). Data from the interviews will be recorded in a password-protected document on Box. Identifying information will be removed from documents. Names will be replaced with participant ID numbers. Participants will be asked to provide consent prior to participating in the study. Their decision will be marked in a consent log. Participants will also be allowed to ask for a copy of the interview questions, should they need it.