

Earth Day: Maps as media - Lesson
In this lesson, students are introduced to Earth Day and the theme of “Green Cities”. After listening to a short presentation on the concept of a “green city” and elements that constitute a green city (e.g. renewable energy sources such as solar panels, more energy-efficient buildings, recycling programs, cleaner air and water) students participate in an activity where they count the number of parks on a map of their city or neighbourhood. Maps are then analyzed as a medium as students discuss how they are created, things they can and can’t show, and their effectiveness at communicating environmental information.

Creative, Connected and Collaborative: Media Literacy Week 2014 to focus on youth and social networking
Ottawa (May 7, 2014) - MediaSmarts and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) are pleased to announce that the theme for Canada’s ninth annual Media Literacy Week (November 3-7, 2014) will focus on the positive uses of social networking by young people.

Boys are just as likely as girls to send sexts of themselves, reveals a new study on young people, sexuality and the Internet.
Ottawa, ON (May 29, 2014) – There is little gender difference in those youth who have sent a sext of themselves – defined as “a sexy, nude or partially nude photo” – to someone, although sexts of boys are more likely to be forwarded,– according to a study of Canadian students released today by MediaSmarts. Boys are also more likely than girls to have forwarded a sext sent to them and are twice as likely to report having received a sext that was forwarded by someone other than the original creator.