Unpacking Privilege
Students are introduced to the idea of “privilege” in relation to diversity and how it applies to media. They then look at a checklist of media related privileges to help them understand the concept.
Students are introduced to the idea of “privilege” in relation to diversity and how it applies to media. They then look at a checklist of media related privileges to help them understand the concept.
To introduce the issue of pornography for classroom discussion. To help students understand the difficulty in determining the sometimes very fine lines between erotica, freedom of expression, and sexual exploitation and to familiarize them with guidelines for making these distinctions.
In this lesson, students learn to question media representations of gender, relationships and sexuality. After a brief “myth busting” quiz about relationships in the media and a reminder of the constructed nature of media products, the teacher leads the class in an analysis of the messages about gender, sex and relationships communicated by beer and alcohol ads. Students analyze the messages communicated by their favourite media types and then contrast it with their own experience.
In this lesson, students discuss “viral” photos, videos and news stories that spread via social media. They are shown how challenging it is to authenticate these using only their content and are introduced to tools and techniques for gauging their accuracy based on context, with an eye towards making wise and responsible decisions about whether or not to forward them to their friends and family.
This lesson asks students, in groups, to take their issue and solution to the streets. In order to enact real change through action for the benefit of the larger community, each chosen topic will need to be exposed to and understood by other members of the community. In this lesson, students will design a community outreach promotional campaign in order to effect real change that matters to them. If the students have completed the Digital Storytelling for Community Engagement lesson and have created their own Digital Story, this digital project can be used as the starting point/product with which to share with others. If not, groups of students can create a hypothetical solution to an existing problem, which then could be disseminated to the larger community using their designed outreach strategy.
Ottawa, ON (May 25, 2016) – MediaSmarts, Canada’s centre for digital and media literacy, has today launched the final component to its extensive program to support teachers in integrating digital literacy into their classrooms.
Ottawa (July 5, 2016) – MediaSmarts, a leading Canadian centre for digital and media literacy, is pleased to announce that francophone libraries in New Brunswick and Manitoba now have free access to its licensed digital literacy program, Web Awareness Workshop Series. This follows a similar partnership with Quebec libraries that launched in May 2015.
A group of media and information literacy educators and organizations representing a broad range of sectors met in London, Ontario at Western University on Sept. 20 and 21, 2016 to form the North American Sub-Chapter of the UNESCO-initiated Global Alliance for Partnerships on Media and Information Literacy (GAPMIL) network.
OTTAWA…. The 11th annual Media Literacy Week kicked off today in Ottawa with students from across Canada coming together to learn new digital media production skills. The event, held at the Canadian Museum of Nature, was hosted by MediaSmarts and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF), with opening comments by the Honourable Patty Hajdu. Minister of Status of Women.
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.