Continuing Education: a cybersecurity certificate for non-technical professionals

The problem

Concordia Continuing Education wanted an accelerated certificate program in cybersecurity for non-technical audiences: professionals responsible for sensitive data, employees who work alongside cybersecurity teams, managers who need to plan responses and draft policies — people who need to understand security without becoming practitioners. The program had to be designed on an accelerated timeline.

The approach

I designed the instructional sequencing and pedagogical architecture for the program: three 30-hour online courses covering the major security-control areas — the web, data, operating systems and software, mobile devices, email, remote access, physical and environmental security — ordered so that concepts build without assuming a technical background.

Designing for non-technical learners in a technical field means holding a careful line: keep the substance, translate the jargon, and give people enough practice to be able to communicate the value of cybersecurity inside their own organizations. I stayed on through implementation, supporting the subject-matter experts and other instructional designers as they built out the courses.

What came of it

The pilot program shipped on its accelerated timeline, and the Director of Programs reported it as a “major success.” The certificate is still offered today.