Digital Skills for Democracy: Assessing online information to make civic choices

In this activity, students :

• think about the importance of making sure they have trustworthy information before they make a decision on a political or electoral issue
• explore a series of scenarios designed to teach five strategies for verifying information: find the original, verify the source, check other information, read factchecking articles, and turn to places you trust 
• reflect on the impact of false and misleading information in politics

How to tell fact from fake online: A Reality Check Guide

The internet is like a giant library that catalogues millions of new publications every second. But how do you know if what you’re reading is fiction or non-fiction?

Break the Fake: Printable posters and bookmarks

They are designed to accompany a full suite of Break the Fake resources including a workshop, tip sheets,

Social media and screen time during a pandemic

We’re living in a strange and uncertain time. Already, as parents, we’re feeling our way to the right set of rules and guidelines for screens and social media. But now that we’re facing an extended time of quarantine and social distancing, the rules are bending and changing every day.

Resources for families and educators staying home during COVID-19

We’ve put together some of our best resources to help you and your family manage during these uncertain times.

Reporting Platforms and Changing the Vibe

Written by Dr. Samantha McAleese

Here at MediaSmarts, we’ve just wrapped up another research project called Reporting Platforms: Young Canadians Evaluate Efforts to Counter Disinformation. This project created space for youth from across Canada to examine and assess reporting processes on popular social media apps (like Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube). We wanted to learn more about how young people feel about current efforts to counter misinformation and disinformation and what solutions they might have to address this particular online harm. To do this, we facilitated three focus groups with 36 participants ages 16 to 29, talked to them about how often they see misinformation and disinformation online and what they do about it, and asked them to comment on whether they trust platforms to keep them safe and informed while scrolling and sharing.  

Do Sharks Love Ice Cream?

Level: Grades 7-9

About the the Author: Mathew Johnson, Director of Education, MediaSmarts

Duration: 1 1/2 to 2 hours, plus time for the assessment task

This lesson was produced with the financial support of Digital Public Square.

Spot the house hippos – Printable activity sheet 

This printable activity sheet introduces basic media literacy skills and concepts and is suitable for use in homes, schools and libraries. It can be completed independently, but children will learn more if you discuss the activity with them. Younger children may need help reading the instructions and completing the activity.

Break the Fake Quizzes

Test your fact-checking skills. These quick quizzes will help you start to learn how to spot suspicious posts.