MediaSmarts and Facebook Canada release new video to help Canadians tell fact from fiction
Quick, easy strategies can keep false news from spreading
Quick, easy strategies can keep false news from spreading
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.
Parents and teachers need evidence-based strategies to confront culture of non-consensual sharing
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.
OTTAWA, April 18, 2018 – MediaSmarts, Canada’s centre for digital and media literacy, and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) are pleased to announce that this year’s Media Literacy Week will focus on helping students decipher truth from fiction online.
New platinum sponsorship of MediaSmarts will support research and education to tackle cyberbullying and other pressing issues
OTTAWA, June 6, 2018 – MediaSmarts, Canada’s centre for digital and media literacy, is pleased to welcome TELUS as a platinum sponsor with a $75,000 contribution. TELUS had previously sponsored the charitable organization at the silver ($30,000) level for many years.
In this lesson, students are introduced to the idea that privacy is a fundamental human right and that their personal information is valuable. The lesson focuses on the “economics” of personal information and that most "free" apps and online services make some or all of their revenue by collecting (and in some cases reselling) users' personal information. Students will watch a video that illustrates the idea that they may be paying with their privacy and then discuss some of the ramifications of this. They will learn about tools and techniques for minimizing the personal information they share and create a public service announcement that helps them and their peers "know the deal" about the value of privacy.
In this lesson, students watch a short video that compares getting rid of personal information online to getting toothpaste back into a tube. After a short discussion of how visual analogies like this work, students discuss the meaning of the video (that information online is permanent.) They then read a series of short scenarios that help them identify four further principles of information online: that it can be copied, that it can be seen by unintended audiences, that it can be seen by larger audiences than intended, and that it becomes searchable. Finally, students create a simple animation that illustrates one of these principles.
Ms. Hill will champion digital and media literacy for the next generation of Canadian parents, teachers and youth
OTTAWA, July 5, 2018 – MediaSmarts, Canada’s centre for digital and media literacy, is excited to announce Kathryn Ann Hill as its next Executive Director. She replaces Cathy Wing and Jane Tallim, who are retiring from their roles as co-executive directors after more than 25 years of service to the organization.
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, October 22, 2018– Technology is keeping families and households more connected than ever before but parents feel they need more resources to be better digital role models, according to the latest research on digital parenting and the digital well-being of Canadian families released today by MediaSmarts.