Motives and Methods: Building Resilience to Online Misinformation in Canada

MediaSmarts designed the Motives and Methods research project to better understand how Canadians check and share information online. This study, which included a survey of 5,000 Canadians and interactive focus groups, builds on MediaSmarts' successful Break the Fake (BTF) program. It looks at changes in participants’ fact-checking after watching a BTF video, along with their sharing habits, frequency of fact-checking, and confidence in their skills. Based on our study findings, we provide recommendations for designing effective video interventions that build citizen resilience to misinformation in Canada. This research shows that digital media literacy education works and encourages a wide range of people to check the accuracy of online content, especially before sharing it.

English as a Second Language Overview

In Ontario, media components are included in the English as a Second Language curriculum in the Social-Cultural Competence and Media Literacy strand. The document English as a Second Language and English Literacy Development (2007) identifies four overall expectations in this strand:

Playing With Privacy

In this lesson, students are introduced to the idea that their gaming experiences may compromise their personal information.

Indigenous Education Overview

Indigenous education is the overarching incorporation of indigenous perspectives across Manitoba’s curriculum. Many curricular expectations in Manitoba Aboriginal Language and Studies courses relate to media and digital literacy. The following excerpt from Current Topics in First Nations, Metis and Inuit Studies (2011) detail how media and digital literacy have been integrated into the curriculum:

Outcome Chart - Newfoundland and Labrador - Arts 5

Outcome Chart - Newfoundland and Labrador - Arts 5

Career Education

Career Development 10 “prepares students with broad strokes to prepare for the workplace.”[1]  Alongside learning self-assessment and increasing their self-awareness, students will “examine the changing world of work and analyse ways they can be prepared for a future that is constantly evolving.”[2]  Financial literacy makes up a large part of this course because students will be introduced to “budgeting, financial decision making and money management strategies…”[3] Career Development 11 carries on from its precursor, by “building on students’ developing personal and financial aw

Outcome Chart - Nunavut - Social Studies 1

Strand: Nunavusiutit

Themes

A. Home and Family    
B. Home and School    
C. Home and Community    
D. Current Events

Overall Expectations:

Outcome Chart - Nunavut - School Health Program 4

Strand: Aulajaaqtut

Overall Expectations: Mental and Emotional Well-being

Specific Expectations:

Decision Making

1. identify the possible effects of various choices
2. identify reasons for individual decisions

1. identify decisions that peers may influence
2. identify ways peers influence them

Wacky Media Songs: Media Representation

Level: Grade K to 3

About the author: Matthew Johnson, Director of Education, MediaSmarts

Duration: 10-15 minutes per activity

This lesson is part of USE, UNDERSTAND & ENGAGE: A Digital Media Literacy Framework for Canadian Schools.

Overview

Outcome Chart - New Brunswick - Music Grade 5