DSU founding partner with ASU on cyber education platform

January 22, 2025

Online learning is a reality in today's learning environments, so universities and other institutions are embracing this format, and partnering in its development. Dakota State University and Arizona State University have created one such partnership that will help train individuals for cybersecurity jobs.

Arizona State University developed an educational platform called pwn.college that serves as a way for individuals to learn and practice core cybersecurity concepts through a hands-on, incremental learning style, along with popular Capture the Flag (CTF) challenge competitions. Pwn, pronounced "pone," is technology jargon that refers to the concept of owning a system. The pandemic demonstrated the advantages of this format which now powers much of ASU's cybersecurity curricula through the American Cybersecurity Education (ACE) Institute.

The ACE Institute has received a $4.5 million, two-year grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to address two major issues: preparing current students for the toughest cybersecurity challenges, and recruiting enough students to fill the jobs pipeline for the future.

Through a connection with DARPA, DSU was invited to be a founding partner in developing content for the institute. Dakota State research engineers are working with faculty at both institutions to create course content that will be offered on pwn.college.

DSU faculty, staff, and leadership are also in discussions to explore the advantages of using the platform for other programs of study and courses, said Joel Wohnoutka, Executive Director of Applied Research Lab.

"We're looking to partner with the ACE Institute to ensure that our classes are hands-on and provide options for many different learning styles, because we feel this could be successful in many ways," said Wohnoutka. DSU is also exploring opportunities to use institute resources to develop college credit course options for high school students. It could also be practical for use with DSU's outreach program CybHER® for their weeklong summer camps.

Early uses in boot camps and roadshow sessions for DSU's dual credit program, Governors Cyber Academy, indicate success in trial sessions. With additional sessions planned for remote sites in 2025, Wohnoutka said this is an example of how "pwn.college could really shine."