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MSU professors to design computer safety curriculum with research grant from Microsoft

Contact: Nora Rifon, Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Retailing, (517) 355-3295, rifon@msu.edu; Bob LaRose, Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, (517) 353-6336, larose@msu.edu; or Russ White, University Relations, (517) 432-0923, whiterus@msu.edu

Think MP3 downloads, online shopping and online communities – today’s college students know all about these Internet possibilities. But do they know how to protect themselves from everyday online threats such as identity theft, spyware, scams and fraud?

Through a new research grant, Michigan State University researchers from several departments in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering are on a mission to make teens – and the Internet – safer.

Microsoft Research has provided a $50,000 grant to study students’ computer safety and to create and evaluate curricula to improve online safety for teens and first-year college students.

Professors Nora Rifon, an expert in the area of human behavior and decision-making in the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Retailing, and Robert LaRose, an expert on the social effects of the Internet, from the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, are the lead investigators of the project. 

“Computer safety is a serious issue today and tomorrow. Today’s young people are tomorrow’s adults; we need to understand how they use and perceive online environments to help protect themselves now and as adults. A well-developed high school curriculum is the first step to help our youth protect themselves,” Rifon says.

Working directly with the Holt School District and freshmen classes at MSU, the project will involve discovering what young people think about their risks and abilities to protect themselves online. MSU researchers will examine factors that help determine their knowledge, confidence and behaviors related to computer safety.

LaRose stresses that the project fits into a long-term goal for the college.

“Our goal in funding projects such as the computer safety course at Michigan State University is to continue to drive innovation and to create a safer computing environment for everyone,” he says.

For more information, see newsroom.msu.edu/site/indexer/2647/content.htm