Learn About the World of Spies: Keeping Secrets - A Free Course

What does it take to be a spy? Get a taste of spy training, and learn how you can keep your secrets safe with a course designed for 13-18-year-olds.

The course “World of Spies: Keeping Secrets” will help you develop those abilities while exploring the exciting world of espionage. You’ll learn about code-making and breaking, encryption, logical thinking and more as you find out whether you would make a good spy. You’ll investigate reasons for encrypting information, compare various methods for encrypting information, apply logical thinking, linguistic patterns, and historical enciphering methods to encipher and decipher messages. You will also evaluate weaknesses of various encoding and enciphering methods, debate the necessity and effectiveness of protecting information, and use logic and problem-solving skills to solve difficult puzzles.

World of Spies: Keeping Secrets – Course Content

The course includes the following topics:

Introduction to spying and the common United States agencies that collect intelligence
Reasons for encrypting information
Various ways information is encrypted
Using logical thinking and linguistic patterns to break encrypted messages without a key
How traditional decryption methods led to the modern day computer
Why protecting information is important
How information we provide in social media can compromise the safety of our personal information
The effectiveness of modern day encryption

Who is the course for?

This course has been specially designed for school students aged 13 and over who enjoy puzzles and are looking to improve their logic skills or find out more about espionage.

Summary of Course Main Features

Educators: Sheree Buikema and Benjamin Wiles
Developed by: Purdue University – One of the four best public universities in the US
Starts: Date to be announced – get yourself on the notification list
Duration 4 weeks x 4 hours per week