Abstract:

Asymmetric cryptography is a group of cryptographic methods in which different keys are used for encryption and decryption, which is a fundamental difference from symmetric cryptography, which uses a single key for both encryption and decryption. Asymmetric cryptography contains huge possibilities to enrich mathematics learning also at lower secondary schools. Although the underlying theory is complex, students can effortlessly perform the encryption and decryption process by means of paper-and-pencil for small numbers and using, for example, Wolfram Cloud environment for larger numbers, as there are only simple operations such as multiplication, exponentiation, and modulo. This points to the meaningful use of ICT and appropriate software in the teaching of mathematics, because without these possibilities, problems of this type with larger numbers can no longer be solved. The Wolfram Language includes built-in functions for asymmetric cryptography and, in addition, there are many demonstration projects concerning cryptography within Wolfram Demonstrations Project. The article will therefore present interesting problems from this issue suitable for lower secondary school, which cannot be solved without ICT. In this paper will be included detailed instructions for teachers on how they can use these problems to make students more enthusiastic about both mathematics and computer science.

Keywords:

Asymmetric cryptography, Wolfram Cloud, computer science, teaching mathematics.