OTTAWA – MediaSmarts, Canada’s not-for-profit centre for digital literacy, has launched a new free, self-directed online course for in-service and pre-service teachers and other educators. Making Media Across the Curriculum will provide training and resources to incorporate digital media production such as games, film, and animation in their classrooms from kindergarten to Grade 12 and across the curriculum.
Curricular Competencies
Students are expected to be able to do the following:
Applied Design
Defining
Ideating
Overall Expectations:
GCO 1: Students will be expected to develop inquiry skills through a process of initiating and planning, investigating and exploring, analysing and interpreting, and communicating the results of an inquiry.
Specific Expectations:
IS 1.1 initiate and plan an inquiry.
IS 1.2 investigate and explore in an inquiry.
IS 1.3 analyze and interpret the results of their inquiry.
IS 1.4 effectively communicate the results of their inquiry.
#ForYou is a card-based pattern-matching game that helps youth aged 13 to 18 understand the role that algorithms play in their online and offline lives, and the value of their personal information to companies that use those algorithms. The game is designed to be delivered either in school or in community spaces such as homework or coding clubs.
Outcome Chart - Nova Scotia - Health Education Grade 7
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.
This outcome chart contains media-related learning outcomes from the Northwest Territories, Kindergarten English Language Arts curriculum, with links to supporting resources on the MediaSmarts site.
Self-directed learning involves becoming aware of and managing one’s own process of learning. It includes developing dispositions that support motivation, self-regulation, perseverance, adaptability, and resilience. It also calls for a growth mindset – a belief in one’s ability to learn – combined with the use of strategies for planning, reflecting on, and monitoring progress towards one’s goals, and reviewing potential next steps, strategies, and results.