Hacking, cracking, malware–all these are the reality of life on the internet. Here are a couple of ideas from the Ask a Tech Teacher team ripped from the headlines:

From Social Apps to Classrooms: How the Telegram Hacked Case Can Inspire Cyber Awareness

Telegram is one of the top social media apps globally, with over 1 billion monthly users. Features like encryption, message self-destruction, and Secret Chats have made it popular. Hackers have proactively learned how to hack this platform and succeeded in many cases. Some users lose accounts, others are frauded and others are exploited. 

Educational institutions have a lesson to learn and proactively teach cyber awareness. Educators should teach students how to practice cyber safety and secure everyone. They can present real Telegram hack cases to inspire learners in social media cybersecurity.

Image credit: Unsplash

Lessons students can learn from Telegram hacked cases

Telegram security compromises happen through malware, phishing, hijacking, etc. These social media cybersecurity issues happen due to device security gaps. Such gaps may allow physical access or online malware infection. Weak default settings, like a lack of multifactor authentication, also make devices vulnerable. 

Young users stay active online, and real hacking cases help them understand the seriousness. The first thing users should learn is the signs of the hacked Telegram account. Next, understand how to remove devices from Telegram. Another lesson is how to delete Telegram account if its security is compromised. No platform is entirely cybersecure as long as it is connected to the internet. (more…)

Over many years, we at Ask a Tech Teacher have suggested puzzles as good tools to develop cognitive thinking and mouse skills, but there are other benefits we haven’t discussed, important learning skill like engaging student attention, redirecting their energy, and encouraging collaboration. Teachers say it calms, reducing disruptive behavior. Interested? Read what our Ask a Tech Teacher team has to say:

The Quiet Power Of Puzzles In A Noisy Classroom

There’s a moment I love right after the bell rings. Laptops open, pencils roll, someone asks for a charger, and the room hums with the usual first-period buzz. Then I drop a simple puzzle on the projector and the noise dissolves into that soft, focused silence teachers chase all year. It isn’t magic. It’s the way puzzles recruit attention, invite persistence, and let every learner start from what they know.

I still teach with games and projects, but puzzles are my favorite way to begin. They ask small questions that lead to bigger ones. They reward noticing. They let students fail without feeling like failures. When we’re exploring sound and pattern, I like to weave in music-themed challenges. A gentle warm-up with Music Puzzles gets students listening with their eyes and thinking with their ears. They start by spotting shapes and rhythms; ten minutes later they’re debating tempo, structure, and why patterns feel good to our brains. (more…)

ADHD is often misunderstood. The Ask a Tech Teacher team has developed a quick guide for you with the following basics:

• ADHD affects how children focus, remember information, and learn.
• Memory and executive function challenges are core issues in ADHD.
• Practical interventions can improve learning outcomes for affected children.

Understanding ADHD’s Effect on Learning, Focus, and Memory in Children

Children with ADHD often experience challenges in learning environments that go beyond simple distraction or restlessness. ADHD can significantly impact a child’s ability to focus, retain information, and organize tasks, ultimately interfering with academic progress and everyday memory. These difficulties are linked to differences in brain function that affect executive skills such as attention, self-control, and working memory.

Understanding exactly how these issues surface can help parents, teachers, and caregivers support children more effectively.

To get a clearer picture and find out what can help, read how ADHD impacts learning in kids and discover effective ways to support their success.

Key Takeaways

• ADHD affects how children focus, remember information, and learn.
• Memory and executive function challenges are core issues in ADHD.
• Practical interventions can improve learning outcomes for affected children.

How ADHD Impacts Learning, Focus, and Memory in Children

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can make it difficult for children to maintain sustained attention, organize tasks, and regulate behavior, affecting their day-to-day school experience. These challenges often result in academic difficulties, problems with memory, and lower self-esteem. (more…)

Hello! Ask a Tech Teacher is a group of tech ed professionals who work together to offer you tech tips, advice, pedagogic discussion, lesson plans, and anything else we can think of to help you integrate tech into your classroom. Our primary focus is to provide technology-in-education-related information for educators–teachers, administrators, homeschoolers, and parents.

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“The content presented in this blog are the result of creative imagination and not intended for use, reproduction, or incorporation into any artificial intelligence training or machine learning systems without prior written consent from the author.”

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

America, we love you on Patriot’s Day (formerly 9/11).

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvsN0Id4LEg?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwcWVs4Eejg?si=nfBd6Unur6CmgiUH&start=35]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wucTW_Y5hgU?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent]

If you aren’t familiar with this terrorist attack on American soil, here’s a 2-minute overview:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uOn7xLYPbc?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9oPmD6XJD0?si=LBKrjDQzQnYmLey2] (more…)

I get thousands of visitors a day–over six million since I started. The most common reason why you-all drop by is for resources. I have lots of them–lesson plans, real stories, tips and tricks–but one area I always welcome new ideas is from the experiences of fellow teachers:

• your personal teaching experiences
• your informed take on tech ed topics
• pedagogy

If you’re an educator interested in guest posting on this blog or start your own column, leave a comment below and I’ll be in touch.

(more…)

It sounds easy, but to a five or six year old, holding the mouse, clicking that left button, dragging and dropping while holding a finger down is darn difficult. Here’s a list (click for updates):

(more…)

We write about back to school often on Ask a Tech Teacher. Here are some of the past articles I think you’ll like: (more…)

Here are the basic skills fifth graders can learn in Photoshop if you’ve prepared them with basic computer skills:

• Photoshop artwork–live
• Photoshop actions–live
• Photoshop basics #5 live
• Photoshop filter and rendering tools #9 live (this one)
• Photoshop starters–auto-correct with the auto-correction — live quick fixes that make a photo look cleaner #6
• Photoshop crop tool–Live
• Photoshop clone tool– live
• Photoshop–change the background–live
• Photoshop tools–add custom shapes–live
• Photoshop–start with Word –live (a little dated but still useful)

Ready? Let’s start with what Adobe Photoshop is–a grown-up KidPix, and the default photo-editing program for anyone serious about graphics. This series of projects (available in 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom Volume I) introduces students to a traditionally-challenging program in an easy to understand way, each scaffolding to the next, thus avoiding the frustration and confusion inherent in most Photoshop training.

Adobe Photoshop has an impressive collection of tools to add pizazz to pics. You might have students open their school picture for this project. They love working with their own image.

• #1: Artistic Renderings—artistic overlays that add flair to pictures. Go to Filter—artistic and it brings up dozens of choices. Try some (it gives a preview of the result) and select a favorite.

• #2: blur and smudge tools on left tool bar to soften the background, and sharpen a focal point.

• #3: Use Filter-render-clouds to create a cloudy background (the colors of your foreground and background tool)

Troubleshooting Tips

• I can’t get the right colors for the clouds (check your foreground and background tools. That’s where Photoshop takes the colors)

• I’m trying to drag the picture but I get an error message (Check your layers. Do the have the correct layer highlighted?)

• I don’t have Photoshop. (Try GIMP–it’s free)

Do you have questions? Please add a comment and I’ll answer. Thanks.

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Copyright ©2025 worddreams.wordpress.com – All rights reserved.

“The content presented in this blog is the result of my creative imagination and not intended for use, reproduction, or incorporation into any artificial intelligence training or machine learning systems without prior written consent from the author.”

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.