News & Events

The CryptoClub team is excited to announce the release in the Apple Store of their new mobile app, CryptoClub Daily Ciphers: Mathematical Cryptograms. Thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation, the app is available free of charge.

Each day a new encrypted message is released on the app. Messages include anecdotes about the history of cryptography, fun facts about science, and inspirational quotes. Every day of the week except Sunday has its own cipher: Caesar, Additive, Keyword, Multiplicative, Vigenère, or Affine. Sunday’s message is a wildcard that could use any of those ciphers. The app has tools such as frequency tables that can help you guess letters, along with cipher tables to help you keep track of your guesses and look for patterns.

We expect the app to appeal to people of all ages who enjoy looking for patterns to solve puzzles. It has descriptions of the ciphers and examples of some of the patterns involved, so even those unfamiliar with cryptography can get started.

CryptoClub Daily Ciphers App coordinates with the Daily Messages portion of the cryptoclub.org website so users who crack messages can track their progress on either platform.

Check it out in the Apple Store and please tell your colleagues and friends about it.

The CryptoClub team is offering an online training, to be held in March 2024, for teachers and afterschool educators interested in using the CryptoClub curriculum to teach cryptography. The training is funded by the National Science Foundation. Participants who complete the requirements will earn a stipend of $500.

The training involves the CryptoClub Online PD Modules that participants complete independently, along with three Zoom sessions with CryptoClub team members on March 6, 13, and 20, 2024, from 6:00-6:45 PM Central Time.

Click here for more details. To apply, please complete this form by Friday, February 23, 2024. If you have any questions, please email Cheryl Moran at cgmoran@uchicago.edu.

The CryptoClub team at UChicago STEM Education is excited to announce the launch of their Online Leader Training. The training consists of 9 modules that prepare educators to use the CryptoClub curriculum to teach cryptography and its embedded mathematics. A certificate is awarded upon completion of each module. Many teachers are able to submit the certificates to their district for professional development credit. The modules include over 80 short video tutorials, along with classroom videos of students and teachers engaged in CryptoClub activities and samples of student work. The videos are followed by Reflection and Discussion question(s). After viewing the video and responding to a question, the trainee can view and comment on responses of others. Thus, the training is designed to promote conversation among those taking it to mimic what would occur in a face-to-face workshop. You can preview the modules here. The online training requires the use of the CryptoClub Student Handbook and the CryptoClub Leader Manuel which can be purchased through Kendall Hunt. The online pd is available for free to people who purchase the books.

Students can now earn digital badges for their accomplishments on cryptoclub.org. There are six badges to earn by completing activities that involve encrypting, decrypting, and cracking messages for each of the six ciphers on the site.

Earning badges gives a comprehensive introduction to the website’s cipher tools, message and joke boards, and games, and gives students a motivating reason to practice their cryptography skills! You can find more information about the badge requirements by logging into cryptoclub.org and selecting Badges from the menu.

The website will keep track of progress and display digital images of the badges that are earned. If, in addition, teachers would like to reward their students with corresponding sticker badges, they can find options for ordering or making sticker badges under the Tools and Templates heading in the Resources section of the For Teachers menu.