Looking for time-saving ICT lesson plans to engage your students?
Discover CyberStart’s accessible cyber security learning platform that does the work for you.
Do you struggle to plan ICT lessons that will engage and excite your students?
Many educators are facing the same problem, especially for topics such as cyber security that aren’t covered in much depth in the core curriculum
CyberStart’s gamified cyber security learning platform allows students to jump into the thrilling world of a cyber agent as they solve realistic cyber crimes using real cyber security techniques.
See how to engage your students and save time by using CyberStart for your ICT lesson plans!
Try for free to instantly access 12 CyberStart challenges.
ICT lesson plan 1: Excite your students with real ethical hacking challenges
Want a fun and accessible activity to introduce your students to cyber security?
Try CyberStart’s FREE Intern base to let your class learn real ethical hacking techniques in a safe environment.
In Intern base, students can try real ethical hacking techniques by:
- Learning how to use developer tools to access a webpage.
- Practising penetration testing on a bank’s digital lock.
- Breaking into a warehouse security system to look for criminal clues.
- Having a go at cracking online user passwords.
CyberStart’s Intern base ethical hacking challenge - L03, C02, Maths At Light Speed
Intern base contains 12 cyber security challenges that vary in difficulty, meaning all students can have a go at using different cyber security methods.
Bonus tip: Learn more about Intern base’s ethical hacking challenges and give your students bonus hints to solve the challenges in this blog post.
ICT lesson plan 2: Motivate your students with point-scoring competitions
Level up the fun in your classroom by holding a capture the flag style competition using CyberStart Groups.
Your students can use Groups to race for points as they solve the CyberStart challenges.
Host an exciting capture the flag competition with this ICT lesson plan:
- Add all your students to a Group.
- Set a timer, then challenge your class to score as many points in the CyberStart challenges as they can.
- You can play too and get your students to try and beat your score.
Plus, you can use Groups to track student progress and identify who is engaged or who may need further help.
Learn how to quickly set up a Group in this blog.
“My cyber security teacher dedicated a whole week of class to playing CyberStart, and every day that week I was excited to go to class. Every day she would encourage me to get more points, I was determined to get to the top of the leaderboard. Even when I was at home, I found myself logging onto the website to try and earn more points.” - Ariel, CyberStart player.
ICT lesson plan 3: Explore the captivating world of cryptography
From solving ciphers to cracking passwords, students can delve into the fascinating topic of cryptography. Then have a go at cracking or creating their own codes.
CyberStart’s in-game Field Manual has a whole chapter on cryptography, with many sections unlocked for free users.
Explore the world of cryptography for a fun and hands-on ICT lesson plan
Whether your students enjoy reading the theory or prefer to watch insightful video tutorials, the Field Manual provides comprehensive information in an accessible and engaging format.
Bonus tip: Set a CyberStart challenge or a section from the Field Manual as a fun mid-week homework task.
Let your students explore cryptography hands-on with this ICT lesson plan:
- Prompt your class to try a password cracking challenge in Intern base, such as L01, C02 “Mixed Up Messages” or L01, C03 “Social Engineering” - (these challenges are free to play).
- Let your students consolidate their learning by exploring the cryptography chapter in the Field Manual.
- Ask your students to create secret codes using the Field Manual for help.
- Students can then challenge each other to crack their codes.
Unlock 200+ challenges, the entire Field Manual, and create many more ICT lesson plans with a full CyberStart licence. Contact sales@cyberstart.com for significant educational discounts for your whole class!
