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Building towards autonomy on the internet

One of the hardest things to do as a parent is let go.

#ForYou: The Algorithm Game

In this lesson, students play the educational card game #ForYou: A Game About Algorithms and use it as a prompt to learn about and discuss the role that algorithms, data collection, and machine learning play in their lives. After playing, they analyze the game as an example of a serious game and then design their own serious game to communicate some of what they have learned in the lesson.

Raising Digitally Resilient Kids

The Raising Digitally Resilient Kids parent workshop outlines how parents and guardians can support children’s well-being and help them balance the risks and benefits of digital media. Based on insights from MediaSmarts’ research with youth, the workshop provides an overview of online risk categories and provides resources and essential strategies that participants can take to manage these risks.

Crime news norms and practices

The creation of ‘crime news’ is “invariably the result of a long process of selection where the raw material is sifted, shaped, edited and recreated.” The choices made during this process often prioritize ease of production, drama and law enforcement narratives.

Audio Media: Introduction 

Audio media, such as music and podcasts, share the power to communicate deeply and personally with listeners, often using sound and words to tell stories and set moods.

Games - Introduction

Unlike movies or books, games are unique because they focus on agency and interactivity, meaning player do things rather than just watching or listening.

Introducing AI

In this lesson, students learn that AI tools are computer programs that follow patterns instead of thinking like humans. They explore how this can lead AIs to make mistakes and importance of having humans supervise and correct them. Students practice creating “robot rules” and then design a "Trashbot" that will recognize and pick up trash in the classroom.

Working for a Living (part two)

This is the second part of a two-part blog. The first part looked at some of the more straightforward ways of making money online such as sales, fee-for-service, subscription and brokerage.

Protecting Your Privacy on Commercial Apps and Websites

Almost all of kids’ favourite apps and websites make money from targeted advertising, which uses their personal information to choose which ads to show them. Many of them also sell the data they collect to data brokers, which use information from many sources to make detailed profiles of users. Some also share it with other apps that are owned by the same company, such as Google and YouTube or Instagram and Facebook.