Dataset of "Lessons Learned from Using Cyber Range to Teach Cybersecurity at Different Levels of Education"

In today’s modern society, it is difficult, nearly impossible, to work and study effectivelywithout using the internet. With services moving into cyberspace and theever-increasing number of users, new cyber threats are emerging with the potentialto cause devastation to both organizations and individuals. For this reason,it is necessary to educate users regardless of their age, gender, and qualification.This paper addresses the challenges associated with the need for cybersecurityeducation and presents lessons learned from applying an interactive and gamifiedapproach within a cyber range (CR), a controlled environment that enables thedeployment of virtual machines and networks for research, training, and testingpurposes. In our work, we utilized the CR platform to teach cybersecurity at theprimary, secondary, and high school levels of education. Through a series of tests,different approaches, surveys, and feedback collected from students and teachers,we identified their perceptions and critical aspects of CR-based cybersecurity education.We found that gamification positively influences learning, with studentsemphasizing the fun aspect and teachers highlighting engagement and motivation.Both groups value interactivity for developing practical skills and reinforcing theoreticalconcepts. Although scoring encourages competition, some students find itstressful. Similarly, penalizing hints can motivate problem solving, but may alsodeter those needing assistance. These and other findings presented in this papermay be useful for building and further developing cyber ranges to improve theeffectiveness of teaching, learning and training cybersecurity.