2026 Virginia Cybersecurity Education Conference

This is a live, tech-talk-style demo on using AI to speed up rubric design in Canvas, starting from an assignment you already have, not a blank page. I'll show how AI can extract the observable grading criteria straight from existing assignment instructions, then build those criteria into a fully weighted analytic rubric: which competencies matter most, what each performance level looks like, and how points should be distributed accordingly. From there, I'll convert that rubric into Canvas's import format and load it live, skipping the manual Canvas Rubric tool entirely. Faculty review stays the checkpoint at every step: AI drafts, you decide. Attendees leave with a repeatable workflow they can apply to any assignment they already teach, in any discipline.

A demo of the Virginia Cyber Range's new "error state" exercise diagnostic tool being made available to all users! Before now, users and educators had limited visibility into the events that led to the instability of the environment. With this new tool, we can expose the shell history, system logs, and configuration files to users for analysis.

We understand not everyone (especially students) is an expert in these systems so, to help out, we additionally run the information through an AI to try and point you in the right direction. We hope this extra information will help you and your students!

Today’s brilliant minds are being recruited and conditioned to hack without remorse. The growth of CTFs and cybercrime is creating a new threat—Hacker Gangs. It starts with curiosity and then progressively increases to full-on hacking, as small wins receive appreciation from peers that once ignored these amazing minds. Join Jessica Gulick to discuss how we can create a Defender’s Code that helps our youth stay on the right path and make better decisions without hindering innovation and curiosity.