Fair Dealing for Media Education

In Canada, consumers have certain rights to use copyrighted material without permission or license from the owner of the copyright. These rights are defined in the Copyright Act as Fair Dealing exemptions and were redefined in the 2012 changes to the Act. A good knowledge of Fair Dealing can be extremely helpful in understanding what you and your students can do with media in class. It's important to note that the Copyright Act provides very little definition for many of these terms; instead, most of the specifics of Fair Dealing have come from court rulings, and the new exemptions and other changes done in 2012 will likely also be further defined in the same way.

Companion reading

Once you’ve found information online – or someone has shared it with you – how do you know if it’s true, or at least credible? In other words, how do you verify the information? The internet is a unique medium in that it allows anyone – not just experts – to write on any topic and to broadcast it to a wide audience.

Media and Girls

They have ads of how you should dress and what you should look like and this and that, and then they say, 'but respect people for what they choose to be like.' Okay, so which do we do first?" 

Kelsey, 16, quoted in Girl Talk

Kids Deconstruct Alcohol Advertising Through New Media Education Program

Ottawa, September 26, 2005 – Media Awareness Network (MNet) today launched The Target Is You! – a new national education program for youth on alcohol advertising. This series of 10 lessons is designed to help young people understand the significant social and psychological effects of messages in alcohol advertising in influencing their attitudes about drinking.

Outcome Chart – New Brunswick – Graphic Art and Design 110 (Grade 11)

Strand: Create

Big Idea: Design Process

Skill Descriptor:

Use / develop design processes.

Achievement Indicators:

Outcome Chart – New Brunswick – Graphic Art and Design 120 (Grade 12)

Strand: Create

Big Idea: Design Process

Skill Descriptor:

Use / develop design processes.

Achievement Indicators:

Spotting Deepfakes

Have you ever seen a photo or video online that seemed too good to be true? With today's technology, it's getting harder and harder to tell what's real and what's fake, especially with things called deepfakes.

Ads That Don’t Look Like Ads

In this lesson, students learn what makes something an ad and how to distinguish advertisements from reviews, focusing on the key concepts of genre, tropes, bias, disclosure, and framing. Students begin by viewing and analyzing a video to prompt critical questions about the creator’s intent and visual style, then delve into the advertising genre by learning about its essential elements, like the presence of a product and brand. Students examine the differences between the “ad” and “review” genre and also use companion reading skills to evaluate the reliability and potential bias of a source by searching for undisclosed "brand deal" or "sponsored" content. Finally, students create two media pieces about the same product—one crafted as a persuasive ad and the other as an honest review—to demonstrate their ability to apply the genre elements and tropes learned throughout the lesson.

Outcome Chart - Nunavut - Grade 4

This outcome chart contains media-related learning outcomes from the Nunavut curriculum, with links to supporting resources on the MediaSmarts site.

Outcome Chart - Manitoba - Interactive Media 35S

Common Outcomes

Students will…

3. Assess textual, numerical, aural, and visual information, as well as the source of the media, to determine context, perspective, bias, and/or motive. (G-3.2)

4. Self-assess ICT representations and go beyond established criteria by enhancing meaning and/or artistry, according to topic, audience, purpose, and occasion. (Pr-3.2)