Quebec Competencies Chart - Mirror Image
Quebec Competencies Chart - Mirror Image

Quebec Competencies Chart - Mirror Image

Quebec Competencies Chart - Junk Food Jungle

Author: Matthew Johnson
Level: Secondary Cycle Two
Lesson Length: 1 hour and a half
Subject Area: English Language Arts, Visual Arts, Ethics and Religious Culture
Lesson Link: https://mediasmarts.ca/teacher-resources/reality-check-authentication-101

In the early months of 2011, the eyes of the world were on the Middle East, watching as the governments of Egypt, Tunisia and other autocratic regimes buckled under the pressure of democratic protest. Among those watching were a group of elementary students in northern Canada, who were able to watch a live Twitter feed of the protestors and other citizens of the region reporting what was happening. Despite their geographical isolation, these students were connected to events happening halfway around the world, thanks to the efforts of their teacher to bring digital media into the classroom.

In this lesson, students are introduced to the challenges of identifying what is real and what is fake online. After learning some simple steps to verify online information they create a poster that communicates the importance of questioning and double-checking online content.

Parents could be forgiven for thinking that our children are born media literate. They are mediatized, certainly, even before they are born: it’s a rare baby shower that doesn’t feature Elsa or Elmo in one form or another. As for digital literacy, kids take to devices like the proverbial ducks to water, quickly becoming expert at finding the videos and games they want.

Parents could be forgiven for thinking that our children are born media literate. Kids take to digital devices like the proverbial ducks to water, quickly becoming expert at finding the videos and games they want, and it’s a rare baby shower that doesn’t feature Elsa or Elmo in one form or another.

In this lesson, students use mind maps to explore concepts of “respect” and “consent” in an online context. They consider a wide range of scenarios that shed light on different aspects of consent relating to digital media and draw on those to create a detailed definition. They then learn about the moral disengagement techniques or “sneaky excuses” that we sometimes use to let us do things we know are wrong, and identify them in short videos. Finally, students create a digital story in which they illustrate one of the aspects of consent or one of the “sneaky excuses.”