Young Canadians in a Wireless World (YCWW) is Canada’s longest running and most comprehensive research study on young people’s attitudes, behaviours and opinions regarding the internet, technology and digital media. The study is currently in its fourth phase, and this sixth report – Digital Media Literacy and Digital Citizenship – presents findings related to digital media literacy and digital citizenship. We share findings related to verifying information online, learning digital media literacy skills, and ethical digital citizenship. Data collected in Phase IV of YCWW helps us better understand how young Canadians determine the reliability of the sources they come across online and whether they understand the benefit of some verification practices over others. This report also includes a brief case study on whether youth understand the business model and general operation of search engines like Google. We speak to the digital media literacy skills young Canadians are learning, from whom, and what skills they are interested in learning more about. Knowing more about how youth navigate and participate in online spaces gives us some insight into their ability to actively and positively participate in online communities as digital citizens. This report also solidifies the need for a national strategy to prioritize digital media literacy education in classrooms and communities across Canada.
Young Canadians in a Wireless World, Phase IV: Digital Media Literacy and Digital Citizenship
Date:
24 May 2023
Young Canadians in a Wireless World (YCWW) is Canada’s longest running and most comprehensive research study on young people’s attitudes, behaviours and opinions regarding the internet, technology and digital media. The study is currently in its fourth phase, and this sixth report – Digital Media Literacy and Digital Citizenship – presents findings related to digital media literacy and digital citizenship. We share findings related to verifying information online, learning digital media literacy skills, and ethical digital citizenship. Data collected in Phase IV of YCWW helps us better understand how young Canadians determine the reliability of the sources they come across online and whether they understand the benefit of some verification practices over others. This report also includes a brief case study on whether youth understand the business model and general operation of search engines like Google. We speak to the digital media literacy skills young Canadians are learning, from whom, and what skills they are interested in learning more about. Knowing more about how youth navigate and participate in online spaces gives us some insight into their ability to actively and positively participate in online communities as digital citizens. This report also solidifies the need for a national strategy to prioritize digital media literacy education in classrooms and communities across Canada.
Here at MediaSmarts, we’ve just wrapped up another research project called Reporting Platforms: Young Canadians Evaluate Efforts to Counter Disinformation. This project created space for youth from across Canada to examine and assess reporting processes on popular social media apps (like Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube). We wanted to learn more about how young people feel about current efforts to counter misinformation and disinformation and what solutions they might have to address this particular online harm. To do this, we facilitated three focus groups with 36 participants ages 16 to 29, talked to them about how often they see misinformation and disinformation online and what they do about it, and asked them to comment on whether they trust platforms to keep them safe and informed while scrolling and sharing.
Reporting Platforms: Young Canadians Evaluate Efforts to Counter Disinformation
Date:
02 May 2023
MediaSmarts facilitated online focus groups with youth ages 16 to 29 to examine and assess reporting processes on popular apps (Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube). More specifically, we wanted to understand how young Canadians feel about current efforts to counter misinformation and disinformation online and what solutions they have regarding the problems and concerns they experience while navigating online information ecosystems and communities.
Overall, youth expressed a lack of trust and confidence in the ability of platforms to counter misinformation and disinformation and to keep them informed and safe online. Participants emphasized that users are not provided with meaningful opportunities to engage with platforms to prevent and address misinformation and disinformation, and they felt platforms must make design changes that prioritize values of accuracy, transparency, trust,responsibility, and safety.
MediaSmarts facilitated online focus groups with youth ages 16 to 29 to examine and assess reporting processes on popular apps (Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube).
In this lesson, students start by considering the permanence of online content. They review privacy strategies and privacy risks and analyze how likely and severe different privacy risks are. They then consider how their actions and decisions can affect others’ privacy and develop a list of “Dos and Don’ts” for managing both their own and others’ privacy.
In this lesson, students review what the word “privacy” means in an online context and learn key privacy-related vocabulary. They explore different privacy risks and then learn practical techniques and strategies to manage and protect their privacy. Students then demonstrate their understanding of these strategies by illustrating them. Finally, students revisit material from earlier in the lesson and consider how their actions might put other people’s privacy at risk.