Teens Losing Sleep to Tech

As a kid, did you ever hide a flashlight under your pillow? Then pull it out after you were supposed to be asleep, so you could sneak in another half-hour of reading?

I did that. A lot.

Data Defenders (Grades 4-6)

Data Defenders is an interactive game that teaches children and pre-teens the concept of personal information and its economic value, and introduces them to ways to manage and protect their personal information on the websites and apps they enjoy

Data Defenders: Understanding data collection online

In this lesson, students explore the concepts relating to data collection that are introduced in the educational game Data Defenders. The lesson will underscore for students the idea that their data is valuable and worthy of careful management by analyzing the platforms, applications and websites they use through the lens of the five privacy tools (which address the five principal ways data is collected online) introduced in Data Defenders. Finally, students consider how to apply these tools to their own online activities.

Raising a Generation of Data Defenders

How can you help pre-teens understand the value of their personal information and empower them to take steps to manage and protect it? Data Defenders, an educational game for children ages 10 to12, lifts the curtain on data collection by showing how apps and games can find out all kinds of things about them and by providing steps they can take to control the collection of personal information online.

Kids learn to defend their data with new privacy game

OTTAWA, March 28, 2018 – A new game is coming to Canadian classrooms and homes, designed not just to entertain children but also to teach them how to protect their privacy. Data Defenders, produced by the not-for-profit digital literacy organization MediaSmarts, shows kids how ad brokers try to collect their personal information and offers strategies to keep that information private.

Data Defenders Teacher's Guide

This Teacher’s Guide includes background information, learning expectations and points of discussion on the types of personal information and privacy-management strategies that are presented in the game. The guide also includes an overview of the Data Defenders game, and exercises and handouts to help students to develop skills and confidence to manage their privacy online.

Data Defenders Guide for Parents

The Data Defenders game teaches children and pre-teens about personal information and its value, and introduces them to the different ways they can manage and protect their personal information on the websites and apps they enjoy.

Verifying Political Information - Introduction

There are four reasons why it’s especially important to engage critically with election news – and political news in general.

Young Canadians learn to tell fact from fake for Media Literacy Week 2018

OTTAWA, April 18, 2018 – MediaSmarts, Canada’s centre for digital and media literacy, and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) are pleased to announce that this year’s Media Literacy Week will focus on helping students decipher truth from fiction online.

The Spotify Problem

We have a few smartphone rules in our house: no phones after 9:30 p.m., no phones at the dinner table or other family events, and no phones in bedrooms.