Lights, Camera, Action! Making Media in the Classroom, Made Easy

Submitted by Matthew Johnson on 20 Nov 2020.

Matthew Johnson

For nearly thirty years, Canadian teachers have been at the forefront of getting students online and preparing them to use networked technologies safely, productively and responsibly. Many young Canadians have their first experiences with the internet in their classrooms and school libraries. Over the past decade, though, while digital tools have come to provide new opportunities for creating and distributing digital content, MediaSmarts’ research shows that most Canadian teachers aren’t making media in the classroom.

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Comics, Digital Citizenship, Internet & Mobile, Media Literacy 101, Media Production, Movies, Professional Development, Resources, Video Games

Media Literacy Should Start Early – And Last A Lifetime

Submitted by Matthew Johnson on 23 Oct 2020.

Matthew JohnsonParents could be forgiven for thinking that our children are born media literate. They are mediatized, certainly, even before they are born: it’s a rare baby shower that doesn’t feature Elsa or Elmo in one form or another. As for digital literacy, kids take to devices like the proverbial ducks to water, quickly becoming expert at finding the videos and games they want.

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Authenticating Information, Digital Citizenship, Internet & Mobile, Marketing & Consumerism, Online Ethics, Parents

Is your screen use creative?

If you’re wondering how to get started making media on your phone, tablet or computer, animation is a great place to start. You can start doing it as a family activity even when kids are very young and they’ll soon be able to do almost everything themselves.

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What an Internet Outage Means for Teens

Submitted by Lynn Jatania on 24 Sep 2020.

Lynn JataniaWe had an internet outage in our neighbourhood last week. We had no internet access for three whole days.

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Cell Phones and Texting, Internet & Mobile, Parents

The Trickle: What to do when your teen is constantly checking their phone

Submitted by Lynn Jatania on 10 Jul 2020.

Lynn JataniaOur older teens, aged 17 and 15, have smartphones. They aren’t big users of social media, but they do get messages from friends fairly often on Instagram, Hangouts and Discord.

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Cell Phones and Texting, Digital Health, Excessive Internet Use, Internet & Mobile, Parents

Post-quarantine rules reset

Submitted by Lynn Jatania on 25 Jun 2020.

Lynn JataniaThere are still a lot of unknowns about COVID-19, but for now at least, our province has started to open up a bit. Parks and beaches are open, most stores and malls are opening, and we’re even able to get haircuts again.

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Cell Phones and Texting, Digital Health, Excessive Internet Use, Internet & Mobile, Parents

Your child’s first phone: how old should they be?

Submitted by Lynn Jatania on 20 Apr 2020.

Lynn JataniaI remember when the iPad was first released back in 2010. Shortly after it came out, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were spotted at a restaurant letting their daughter Suri, who was four years old at the time, play on their iPad while they waited for their food.

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Cell Phones and Texting, Digital Health, Internet & Mobile, Parents, Resources

Internet memories and storytelling: what do you keep?

Submitted by Lynn Jatania on 13 Apr 2020.

Lynn JataniaMy middle daughter hates looking over my shoulder when I’m on my Instagram account and seeing that I have many, many unwatched “stories.”

Stories in Instagram are usually short video clips that are temporary – they exist for 24 hours and then they are gone. You can save favourite stories as ‘highlights’ that live on your profile, but for the most part they’re intended to disappear.

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Blogging, Internet & Mobile, Parents, Social Networking

Young Canadians Speak Out: A Qualitative Research Report on Privacy and Consent

Submitted by MediaSmarts on 31 Mar 2020.

Informed Youth Promote Clarity for All

It’s something we’ve all done before: scrolled past a wall of text to click “I Agree” with no idea what we’ve agreed to. Then, when we’re using the platform, messages like “We’ve made some changes to our Terms and Conditions” simply remind us that we probably didn’t read them in the first place. Our world is becoming more and more influenced by the data that’s being collected about us. For young people in particular, this can lead to serious and unexpected consequences that could affect their entire lives.

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Internet & Mobile, Privacy

Speak Up! Your guide to changing the world, online and off

Thanks to the internet and social media like Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok, it’s easier than ever to share your views and encourage others to join you in making change. And, due to research conducted as part of the Digital Ecosystem Research Challenge (DERC), we know a lot about how some Canadians are using digital media to get involved in politics. This guide will help show you the ways you can use social networks to make your voice heard and make a difference.

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