The goal of this work is to create and evaluate experiential learning interventions to address privacy and cybersecurity risks at scale, particularly around populations with special privacy and security needs. These experiential learning interventions will provide both instructional content and customizable, realistic simulations of various social media environments in which to practice it; an initial platform for developing these interventions, along with a small set of pilot interventions aimed at general middle school audiences, have already been developed as part of the Social Media TestDrive initiative. Building on those resources, the first main aim of the project is to identify youth subgroups for whom the pilot interventions are less effective, then develop versions of those interventions targeted to the unique needs and characteristics of those subgroups. This will be done by integrating methods from inclusive privacy research and contextual inquiry, both of which aim to develop deep understanding of subgroups in a larger population. The second main aim is to explore the potential for experiential learning-based interventions across the lifespan, through doing formative work with older adults to identify their particular privacy needs and concerns and developing an intervention suited to those needs. The third main aim is to enhance the platform’s content creation and data collection capabilities, in order to make it more widely available for social media simulation-based interventions. Together, these activities expand the quality, scope, and impact of research around simulation-based educational interventions for privacy and security.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
