Maybe I missed it, but it seems that there is a major gap in the jump from encryption basics to the public key/private key. There is no mention of the Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange or RSA. This seems like a real gap, especially since it is similar to the bean activity. Also, there are statements that symmetric encryption requires meeting beforehand and would not work on the internet. The Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange is a symmetric key generation using public/private keys and was developed prior to RSA. It is still in use today so the internet is using both asymmetric encryption and symmetric encryption.
Thank you for your feedback, as code.org is constantly looking for ways to improve the tools and curriculum.
I wasn’t part of creating the current curriculum so I can’t speak to the exact decisions behind what is and isn’t covered. However, from a requirement perspective, you can refer to the Course and Exam Description to see what needs to be covered. The relevant standards appear to be here…
I suppose it’s one’s own judgment call what deserves to get attention that’s beyond what’s required.
If you feel the course itself (and not just code.org’s curriculum) should cover something in particular, you might consider contacting the College Board. They’re doing a major overhaul for the upcoming year, so they seem to be open to changes too.
As to the accuracy of the code.org curriculum content, I’ll be sure to forward your input on that too.
Thanks!
Frank