Friday, February 20, 2026

Tech Tips and News for February 2026

 
Image created by Karen Szczytko
 using Gemini 3.0 Flash 2/12/26
A common topic of conversation in my Ed Tech feeds is the dramatic increase in phishing emails at schools. We are definitely seeing this at ASA. It feels like schools are under attack. AI has made it easy for anyone with a desire to make a quick buck to become a hacker. Coding skills are no longer needed. This is coupled with the desire for those with ill intent to get their hands on the personal information of children. It could be years before anyone realizes a child's identity has been stolen and used for monetary gain. Then, of course, there's always the tried and true Ransomware, when a hacker locks a network and demands a ransom to unlock it. Add to this recipe the fact that schools have a wide variety of employees with varying technology skills. Many of those employees may only have access to a school email account, but sometimes that's all a hacker needs to access a school's network. This why it's so important for every school employee to realize they may be a target, and not to fall for social engineering or phishing attempts. You may only work a few hours a week, but you are a prime opportunity for a cyber criminal. I encourage you to take a minute to review the Safety & Security articles I post each month, as well as take the few minutes to complete those monthly Wizer cybersecurity trainings that Michigan Catholic Conference (MCC) sends. No one expects you to be a tech genius, but we all have to be aware of these threats, know how to spot them, and more importanly know how to react and report them. Knowledge is power, my friends. Let's be powerful!

Safety & Security


News



Updates


Tutorials





PSA: This Browser Setting Could Be Giving Hackers Your Credit Card Info

Convenience almost always sacrifices our security online. Find out why you shouldn't save your credit card info with an online shopping site or browser. More importantly, where should you store that information so shopping is still convenient? The most important info includes ways to remove your credit card info from all your online browsers and shopping sites.

Valentine's Day Scam Warning: Flirty Text Messages Might Be Money Traps

While this is a little late for Valentine's day, these scams happen all year long - they're just more likely during the Valentine's Day season. This article gives a clear path of action so you know what to do when you receive texts like these. 

Cybersecurity Tips for Tax Season

Cybersecurity Tips for Tax Season, from National Cybersecurity Alliance
Tax season is prime time for cybercriminals. Find out how you can protect your identity and refund. 

The Shady Emails Keep Coming. It's Time to Fight Back Against Spear Phishing

While Google does a pretty good job of catching most phishing messages, some do make it through to our inboxes. We've seen a noticeable increase in these in just the past couple months. Spear phishing emails are no longer just directed at higher level employees, they are now sent to all level employees. This article does a great job of explaining how those spear phishing messages work and what to look out for. The article also recommends the use of a password manager - not your browser's built in password manager. I use BitWarden, which has free personal accounts and works across all platforms. 

Is Spyware Hiding on Your Phone? How to Find Out and Remove It - Fast

This article does a good job of explaining how you get malware on your device, what signs to look for, as well as how to get rid of it.

These Are the 4 Biggest Scams to Watch for in 2026

What scams should you be on the look out for? 

Data Brokers: What They Are, How They Work, and How You Can Protect Your Privacy

There are hundreds of companies you've never heard of quitely collecting, buying, and selling information about you. Think twice before participating in a loyalty program or giving your email address to a retailer.


After 23 Years in the Classroom, This High School Teacher Insists on Less Tech in His Classroom

Many studies are indicating students learn better when they are actively participating, such as taking handwritten notes or hands-on activies, rather than the passive learning that happens on devices. See how this teacher makes it work. 

Offline Digital Citizenship: Soft Skills to Support Strong Online Habits

Offline Digital Citizenship: Soft Skills to Support Strong Online Habits, from Common Sense Media by Christine Elgersma 
Common Sense Media has updated their digital citizenship lessons to include ways for students to learn a healthy balance between their online and offline life. It includes sensitive topics like online peer pressure, and what it looks like in all its forms, such as a friend blowing up your phone because you're not responding, hanging with friends who decide their going to participate in the latest viral challenge, a gamer friend who needs you to help them with a challenge right now, a crush who wants you to send a nude photo and more. There are lessons for every grade level, starting in Kindergarten. These lessons are ready-made for teachers to use. This is a good addition to the PYE curriculum we already use. 



Google Updates Coming Spring 2026


Google Updates Coming Spring 2026, from Chromebook Classroom by John Sowash
Google often announces their upcoming education updates at the BETT conference. This year was no different. See what exciting updates are in store for us. Just a reminder, ASA uses the Teaching & Learning license for teachers and admins. 

15 Updates to Make Google BETTer

15 Updates to Make Google BETTer, from Control Alt Achieve by Eric Curts
Eric shares 15 updates Google announced at BETT in London for Gemini, Classroom, Chromebooks, Drive and more. We will see the updates that are for the Teaching & Learning edition.

Gemini:  Select Gemini in Workspace Features Available for Teaching & Learning Customers

ASA uses the Teaching & Learning Google Workspace subscription for teachers and administrative staff, so this is great news! Here are the features that will be available:
  • Google Docs:  Side Panel, Help Me Write, Help Me Create, and Summarize a Document
  • Google Slides:  Side Panel, Generate an Image
  • Google Vids:  AI Avatars, AI Video Clips with Veo 3, Help Me Create, Slides to Vids, AI Voiceover, Generate an Image
  • Google Forms:  Help Me Create a Form, Summarize Responses, Question Generation
In the coming months, Gemini features will also be added to Google Sheets. Learn how to use these features here. You should see these features by the end of February, if not before. 


Google Vids:  Expanding Access to Select Features for All Users

Google Vids is designed to help users share information and tell stories through video. To help more users create professional-quality content, Google is making three features in Vids available to all users, regardless of what Workspace edition they use. These features include: 
  • Read-along teleprompter: Allows you to read from a script that automatically scrolls as you speak, helping you maintain eye contact with the camera and deliver a more natural performance. 
  • Transcript trim: Provides a simple way to edit your video by deleting words or silences directly from the video’s transcript. 
  • Styled captions: Lets you choose from a variety of visual styles to render captions directly on your video, making your content more accessible and engaging. 
This gives you another video ceation tool that's built right in to Google Workspace, so you no longer have to use (or pay for) a third-party service. In addition, because it's part of Google Workspace, it automatically integrates with all your Google files, saves the video to Google Drive and uses the same sharing features all your other Google files do. These features will be available by default whenever you use the recording studio or editor in Google Vids. Visit the Help Center to learn more about recording a video or audio clip,  using the teleprompter or trimming transcripts in Vids. I've also included a Google Vids for Beginners video link in the Tutorials section below. If you aren't already seeing this feature, you should be seeing it by late February. 



The Gmail Survival Guide for Busy Teachers

The Gmail Survival Guide for Busy Teachers, from Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller
Let's take some of the pain out of keeping up with those emails!

Beginner's Guide to Google Vids

Now that Google Vids is available to everyone, it's time to learn how to use it. If you've ever created a video in Canva - Google Vids works similarly. Because it's part of Google Workspace, it automatically integrates with all your Google files, saves the video to Google Drive and uses the same sharing features all your other Google files do.



Google NotebookLM for Teachers:  10 Things to Know for Educators

This is an updated version to include NBLM's recently added features. 

New EduGems:  Project Breakdowns, Differentiate Assessments, IEP/504 SMART Goal, Vocabulary Tiers

 Eric Curts shares the latest Gems that have been added to his EduGems site. Think of EduGems as very thorough Gemini prompts that you can customize to perform a specific task for you. 
  • 📋 Project Breakdown - Help students manage their workload by breaking complex projects into manageable micro-steps with a clear timeline
  • 🎚️ Alternate Assessment - Create high-quality alternate versions of your existing quizzes or tests for retakes, make-ups, or differentiation (lower level, higher level, accommodations)
  • 🎯 IEP/504 SMART Goal - Generate high-quality IEP/504 SMART goals based on a student's data, needs, strengths, grade level, and special education category
  • 🪜 Vocabulary Tiers - Categorize words from a text into Tier 1 (Basic), Tier 2 (High-Utility Academic), and Tier 3 (Domain-Specific) to support student comprehension
  • 📖 Story Writer - Create high-quality, engaging stories tailored to your specific classroom needs and content

The Power of Gemini AI in Chrome (Video)


20 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do with Google Arts and Culture

If you haven’t checked in on Google Arts & Culture lately, it’s time for a revisit.

Your Social Media Feeds? I'll Show You How to Clean It Up

I don't know about you, but my social media feeds deliver very little content that I'm interested in, and even fewer posts from my actual friends. Wasn't that supposed to be the whole purpose of social media?Here's a helpful article showing you how to reset your feeds in most platforms. 

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