Resources for Teachers - Social Media

New tools for Aboriginal youth for making good decisions about sharing online

Today, Facebook, MediaSmarts and Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) released a series of newly translated guides for Aboriginal teens, which provide tips for sharing and making decisions online. The Think Before You Share guides were released in Winnipeg during the opening of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba.

Building your brand: Establishing a positive presence online

Like it or not, if you use the Internet you have an online identity. Some people call this your "brand." What's a brand? Think about a brand of soft drink, or computer, or jeans, or a band or a sports team. You probably have a certain idea about each one – what it's like, who buys it, and so on.

Talking to your kids about sexting

Sexting is most likely to have negative consequences when the person sending the sext has been pressured into doing it.

Connected to Learn: Teachers' Experiences with Networked Technologies in the Classroom

For more than twenty-five years, Canadian teachers have been at the forefront of getting students online and preparing them to use the Internet in safe, wise and responsible ways. Thanks to the SchoolNet program in the 1990s, many young Canadians had their first experiences with networked technologies in their classrooms and school libraries. However, MediaSmarts' recent Young Canadians in a Wired World, Phase III study shows that even now, our so-called "digital natives" still need guidance from their teachers.

Rules of notice in social media

Historically, broadcast media followed a hierarchical model where a small elite group of wealthy producers shaped the public sphere and sent one-way communication to a much larger mass of receivers, often promoting views favorable to the status quo.