OTTAWA, March 28, 2018 – A new game is coming to Canadian classrooms and homes, designed not just to entertain children but also to teach them how to protect their privacy. Data Defenders, produced by the not-for-profit digital literacy organization MediaSmarts, shows kids how ad brokers try to collect their personal information and offers strategies to keep that information private.
Parents and teachers need evidence-based strategies to confront culture of non-consensual sharing
OTTAWA, January 22, 2018 – Soon-to-be teachers in faculties of education across Canada will learn how to develop their students’ digital literacy skills in a special training program from MediaSmarts, Canada’s centre for digital and media literacy, as part of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s CanCode program.
Quick, easy strategies can keep false news from spreading
OTTAWA – Media Literacy Week kicks off today and runs until Friday, raising awareness about the need to create inclusive digital communities.
OTTAWA, Aug. 31, 2017 – Back to school for today’s teenagers looks a lot different than it used to. On top of new classes and friends, they might also be exploring new social media networks, online relationships or digital personas.
June 1, 2017 – As exposure to digital media in Canadian family life increases, so have concerns about how screen time affects children and families. A new statement from the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) recommends that physicians and health care providers counsel parents and caregivers of young children on how to minimize screen time and mitigate its potential negative effects. The CPS also recommends that physicians guide parents on how to mindfully use and model healthy screen use to encourage positive habits.
OTTAWA – MediaSmarts, Canada’s leading centre for digital and media literacy, and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) today announced this year’s Media Literacy Week, to be held Nov. 6 to 10, will focus on diversity and inclusion online for children and teens.
Ottawa (April 19, 2017) – A new study released today by the not-for-profit organization MediaSmarts and researchers from The eQuality Project shows how teens carefully compose, select, and edit the photos they share on social media to build and maintain a consciously crafted image. The report To Share or Not to Share: How teens make privacy decisions about photos on social media reveals how teens decide what photos to share online and the pressure they feel to always post images that show them in the best possible light – while not standing out from the crowd.
7 February 2017 Today, on Safer Internet Day, MediaSmarts and YWCA Canada’s Project Shift: Creating a Safer Digital World for Young Women launch A Guide for Trusted Adults, a woman-centred digital literacy resource to help adults support girls and young women experiencing cyberviolence in a compassionate and non-judgemental way.