The British Columbia Science curriculum has a number of expectations relating to digital and media literacy, primarily in connection with recognizing and correcting for bias, testing hypotheses, and using digital media for scientific investigation.
“Science and technology both exist in a broader social, cultural, and economic context. They are affected by the values and choices of people and governments and in turn have a significant impact on local as well societal issues.” K-6 Science and Technology Curriculum (2004)
Media and digital literacy enable students understand the ways in which science and technology affect and are affected by their social contexts by helping them to develop critical thinking habits and skills and to interpret the ways in which they gain information about the world around them.
This outcome chart contains media-related learning outcomes from the Newfoundland and Labrador Grade 6 Health Education curriculum, with links to supporting resources on the MediaSmarts site.
This lesson familiarises students with stereotypes and helps them understand the role that stereotypes play in television’s portrayal of life. The lesson begins with a discussion about the types of stereotypes that are common in media, why stereotypes are used in media, and the possible negative influences of stereotyping. Students will analyze a media character in terms of stereotypes and then create their own character as a way of demonstrating their awareness of stereotyping. To further increase their awareness of stereotypes, students will participate in a number of writing, drawing and viewing activities that include deconstructing segments from television programs, drawing stereotypical and non-stereotypical figures, and writing a poem about stereotypes.
In this lesson, students will write a news article by developing ‘lede paragraphs’ and by using the ‘inverted pyramid’ model. Once this is done, they will be given time during class to select topics, conduct research, write their articles and proof read and peer edit their own and other’s works.
Outcome Chart - British Columbia - Common Areas of Learning in Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Arts
This outcome chart contains media-related learning outcomes from the British Columbia, Grade 9 English Language Arts curriculum, with links to supporting resources on the MediaSmarts site.
Ads like the one above have been appearing in public transit systems in Ottawa, Toronto and other Ontario cities over the last month, supposedly promoting a drug called “Obay” which prevents teenagers from having their own thoughts, hopes and dreams. It's a classic example of viral marketing: an ad campaign that doesn't actually name the product or service being promoted, but rather tries to get people talking about it in the hopes that when the product is finally unveiled the effect will be greater than a traditional ad campaign could have managed.
Minimize screen use, especially for the youngest children: