MediaSmarts Launches New Online Course for Teachers

OTTAWA – MediaSmarts, Canada’s not-for-profit centre for digital literacy, has launched a new free, self-directed online course for in-service and pre-service teachers and other educators. Making Media Across the Curriculum will provide training and resources to incorporate digital media production such as games, film, and animation in their classrooms from kindergarten to Grade 12 and across the curriculum. Upon completion of the course, participants will be certified by MediaSmarts as Media Maker Experts.

“Our research with teachers has shown that most are not comfortable with teaching their students about making media, which is an essential media/digital literacy skill. With this course, teachers can learn the many easy and inexpensive ways they can incorporate making media into their teaching practice. Bringing media-making into the classroom allows all students the opportunity to achieve learning outcomes and become not only informed consumers of media, but creators too,” said Kathryn Ann Hill, Executive Director of MediaSmarts. 

The course is offered in a four-week session, with each new module being released on consecutive weeks throughout the session. Recognizing the busy schedules of teachers, MediaSmarts has made the course available 24/7, so that participants can access the lesson and materials whenever it best fits their schedule. The course will provide participants with personalized instruction and feedback connecting them with other teachers who are exploring digital media production, leading them through discussions of key texts and sample activities, and providing guidance in implementing media production in the classroom.

The course features guest lectures like Jessie Curell (founder of Hands on Media Education); Brian Aspinall (best-selling author and winner of the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Teaching); Kathleen Mercury (teacher, game designer and expert on game design in the classroom); and Professor Jason Wiser (teacher of animation and game design at Harvard and Tufts Universities and Pixar Animation Studios).

This project has been made possible by the Government of Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund. The Strategic Innovation Plan is part of the Innovation and Skills Plan. The program’s objective is to spur innovation for a better Canada. Specifically, it serves to simplify application processes, accelerate processing, and provide assistance that is more responsive and focused on results.

For more information, or to register for the course, visit Making Media Across the Curriculum. Additional digital literacy training workshops created by MediaSmarts are also available for use year-round.

Contact:

Nina Lewis
Manager of Marketing and Communications
MediaSmarts
613-224-7721 ext. 231
nlewis@mediasmarts.ca

Join the conversation:

#CanCode

Twitter: @MediaSmarts | Facebook: @MediaSmarts
Instagram: @MediaSmarts.ca | YouTube: MediaSmarts

-30-

MediaSmarts is a Canadian not-for-profit centre for digital and media literacy. Its vision is that young people have the critical thinking skills to engage with media as active and informed digital citizens. www.mediasmarts.ca