Calendar of Awareness Days: Digital media literacy resources for the classroom

Looking for creative ways to integrate digital media literacy activities into your teaching practice? We've developed this calendar of special awareness days for educators to easily pinpoint opportunities to explore a variety of digital media issues while recognizing commemorative events throughout the school year. We've linked each awareness day to a list of free K-12 lesson plans, tip sheets and more teaching resources.

Rogers invests in digital and media literacy as a Gold Sponsor of MediaSmarts

Ottawa, January 14, 2013 – MediaSmarts (formerly known as Media Awareness Network) is pleased to announce that Rogers has joined the organization’s team of supporters as a Gold Sponsor.

Ontario Health Curriculum: Media and Digital Literacy Connections for K-12

The new Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum released this year by the Ontario Ministry of Education is the first major revision to the subject area in almost 30 years.

Mapping Digital Literacy Policy and Practice in the Canadian Education Landscape

Our discussion paper Mapping Digital Literacy Policy and Practice in the Canadian Landscape draws on policy and curriculum documents from across the country to synthesize key concepts and best practices in current digital literacy education. The discussion paper was made possible by financial contributions from Google Canada.

Quebec Competencies Chart - Digital Storytelling for Community Engagement

Canada’s Digital Media Literacy Awards for Youth and Educators

MediaSmarts Mom to offer advice for families in today’s digital world

Ottawa (April 3, 2013) - Canadian parents who are worried about managing their children’s media world now have help as MediaSmarts unveils a new blog dedicated to parents.

‘MediaSmarts Mom’ blogger Andrea Tomkins will bring her thoughts, recommendations, and tips from the perspective of a mother who’s raising her kids in a constantly evolving media age.

Networked News: Understanding and Curating Your Digital News Feed

In this lesson, students will focus on how to understand and actively curate their digital news feeds to counteract the tendency for algorithms or single viewpoints to create a distorted perception of reality. Students begin by defining "news" as a genre and distinguishing its essential elements and tropes from related sub-genres like opinion and documentary. They then do a news audit to analyze their current habits, then learn to verify the reliability of both mainstream and independent journalists. The lesson ends with an independent assignment where they create a persuasive presentation to advocate for a reliable news source to their peers.

From Consumer to Citizen: Digital Media and Youth Civic Engagement

A discussion paper focusing on the impact of media – especially interactive technology – on civic and political engagement for children and youth. It also looks at the ways in which educators can effectively integrate digital literacy into their classrooms to foster and support youth civic engagement.