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“Check First. Share After” campaign aims to help stop the spread of COVID-19 misinformation
Most Canadians probably can’t make a million masks. But this campaign can help save lives.
May 20, 2020 - MediaSmarts, Canada’s not-for-profit centre for digital literacy, is launching the Check First. Share After campaign today to encourage Canadians to check the source of info about COVID-19 before sharing it.
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Talking to kids about vaping
Even though you're competing against peer pressure and million-dollar marketing campaigns, research has shown that kids are less likely to get involved in smoking or vaping if they've discussed them with their parents. Talking to our kids about tobacco and cannabis advertising will help them to recognize when they're being advertised to and identify the tricks companies use to normalize teen smoking and vaping, and make their products seem safer and less addictive than they really are.
Here are some tips on talking to kids about vaping, tobacco and cannabis advertising.
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Post-quarantine rules reset
There are still a lot of unknowns about COVID-19, but for now at least, our province has started to open up a bit. Parks and beaches are open, most stores and malls are opening, and we’re even able to get haircuts again.
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The Trickle: What to do when your teen is constantly checking their phone
Our older teens, aged 17 and 15, have smartphones. They aren’t big users of social media, but they do get messages from friends fairly often on Instagram, Hangouts and Discord.
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What an Internet Outage Means for Teens
We had an internet outage in our neighbourhood last week. We had no internet access for three whole days.
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15th Annual Media Literacy Week
This year, Canada’s 15th annual Media Literacy Week runs from October 26th to 30th. Co-hosted by MediaSmarts, Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy, and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE), the annual event invites all Canadians - teachers, students of all ages kindergarten to seniors and community groups, libraries, museums, to celebrate by engaging in media and digital literacy activities.
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Is your screen use creative?
If you’re wondering how to get started making media on your phone, tablet or computer, animation is a great place to start. You can start doing it as a family activity even when kids are very young and they’ll soon be able to do almost everything themselves.
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Making Media Across the Curriculum - Online Course for Teachers
MediaSmarts is pleased to offer an online course for teachers on media making in K-12 classrooms. Educators can take this interactive, engaging and informative course from their home, on their own schedule. The course will be offered July 5-30, 2021. The registration fee is $50.00 for teachers and $25.00 for student teachers.
Making Media Across the Curriculum will provide teachers with training and resources on how to use digital media production of various kinds (games, film and animation, etc.) in their classroom practice.