Trying something new for my CS students

Howard Steinfeld — Sat, 26 Sep 2026 04:01:24 +0000

This year I’ve got 33 students in my cybersecurity classes, and I decided to try something a little different with how I structure the year.

I’m planning the entire year around DaemonCore Academy — CORE 01.

What I like about CORE 01 is that I don’t have to constantly piece together a bunch of unrelated labs, videos, websites, and activities. There’s enough material there to give us a real structure for the year while still having students actually do cybersecurity instead of just talking about it.

The students can work through the material, get their hands dirty in the labs, troubleshoot when things inevitably break, and learn how to document what they’re doing. That last part is particularly important to me. Being able to explain what you did, why you did it, and what evidence you found is a very different skill from simply getting the right answer on a test.

And I did something else this year that I’m pretty excited about.

I purchased CORE 02 specifically as an extra-credit opportunity.

So CORE 01 is our main journey for the class, but students who want to push themselves further have another path they can work through. I like that model because the students who are really hungry for more cybersecurity aren't limited by the pace of the rest of the class.

With 33 students, keeping everyone engaged is always a challenge. Having a structured core curriculum and something meaningful for the students who want to go beyond it feels like a pretty good setup.

I’m looking forward to seeing where this takes the class this year.

And honestly, one of the things I’m enjoying most is that I’m not having to spend every Sunday night inventing another cybersecurity lab for Monday morning. 😂

One feature I want to point out that I am in love with is the ability to add COHORTS and invite students>grade students. I know this feature is in beta but its working flawlessly. DaemonCore says it will be a premium/paid feature in January 2027...depending on how much it is I'm definitely going to be keeping it. Oh man, I didn't even mention the best part about it all....CORE 01 is COMPLETELY FREE!! So my whole year is planned FOR FREE!!!! WHAT?!!! lol Thank you DAEMONCORE!!!!

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Trying something new for my CS students