Online Propaganda and the Proliferation of Hate
In this lesson students learn about the ways that propaganda techniques are used to promote hatred and intolerance online.
Free Speech and the Internet - Lesson
In this lesson students learn about the inherent tension within democratic societies between freedom of expression and freedom from hatred. They also learn how Canada has addressed these issues within the Criminal Code of Canada, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and human rights legislation in Canada, then discuss different methods that platforms could use to moderate hate speech.
Challenging Hate Online
In this lesson students learn how digital media is used to promote or combat hatred and intolerance.
Thinking about Hate - Lesson
In this lesson, students develop their critical thinking skills by learning to recognize various types of bad faith arguments, including those that are used by hate mongers to spread misinformation and fuel hatred and intolerance.
Tobacco Labels
In this lesson, students debate the effectiveness of health warning labels on tobacco products.
Alcohol on the Web - Lesson
In this lesson, students explore issues surrounding the marketing of alcoholic beverages on the Internet.
Gender Messages in Alcohol Advertising
In this lesson, students think critically about culturally inherited gender stereotypes, and explore how stereotypes about men and women are promoted and reinforced through the images and messages in alcohol ads. In the first half of the lesson, students discuss the nature of gender stereotypes, common male and female stereotypes, and where these stereotypes come from. Students also explore why adolescents are a particularly vulnerable group when it comes to stereotypes about gender and gender relationships. In the second half, students view and discuss alcohol ads that integrate gender stereotypes into messaging about drinking.
Online Marketing to Kids: Protecting Your Privacy
This lesson introduces students to the ways in which commercial apps and websites collect personal information from kids and to the issues surrounding children and privacy on the Internet. Students begin by considering how comfortable they would be with people knowing various things about them, and then watch and discuss a video which explains how targeted advertising works. They then explore the idea of targeted advertising through a class exercise in which Prince Charming tries to target Cinderella with an ad for glass slippers, and then analyze how their own personal information might be used to target them with ads. In the second part of the lesson, students are introduced to privacy policies and how they are rated by the website Terms of Service, Didn’t Read. They read and analyze the site’s rating for a popular app and then learn ways to limit data collection. In an extension activity, students are introduced to the idea of “dark patterns” and imagine how the Wicked Queen might use them to convince Snow White to accept “poison” cookies.
Media literacy key concepts Lesson 5: Media have social and political implications
In this lesson, students watch a video introducing the media literacy key concept that media have social and political implications.
Thinking Like a Tobacco Company: Grades 7-9 - Lesson
In this lesson, students learn how the tobacco industry targets the needs, wishes and desires of young people in order to sell cigarettes.