Life online for young Canadians is more connected, more mobile, and more social

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Ottawa, ON (January 22, 2014) – Canadian children and teens are more connected to the online world than ever through a variety of portable devices, and more connected to others through social networking, according to new research released today by MediaSmarts. Although boys and girls have different experiences online, the Internet is an important source for seeking information, entertainment and socializing for all young Canadians.

Arts Education

Media components are found in all three goals of the Saskatchewan Arts Education curriculum: Creative/Productive, Critical/Responsive strand and Cultural/Historical.

Beyond the Screen

Media educator John Pungente's series Beyond the Screen, airing on Bravo!, now has its own Web site, where teachers can find resources and tips on integrating the series into their classrooms. Father John Pungente, a longtime media educator and founding Board member of MNet, planned the series as a follow-up to his acclaimed Scanning the Movies. Like its predecessor, Beyond the Screen is intended as a way of teaching viewers to “read” movies. In Beyond the Screen Pungente uses clips from current movies and interviews with cast and crew to shed light on filmmaking techniques, genre, and theme. The Web site offers showtimes and previews of upcoming episodes and links to teachers' guides. (So far the only guide that's been posted is for Speed Racer, but the guide for The Dark Night should be up shortly; upcoming episodes on Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince should be popular as well.)

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.

Drama 20

Overall Expectations:

CP20.3 Investigate artistic voice and perspectives of the “other”(e.g., marginalized individuals and communities, silenced people in history, powerful figures, celebrities, extraterrestrials, fictional characters) through works of dramatic art.

Specific Expectations:

c. Discuss issues of appropriation of culture, ideas and voice and its connection to respect, integrity, intellectual property and the representation of own and others’ work in drama and theatre.

Frequent tropes of health and science news

Like other genres and sub-genres, health and science news has standard tropes that are used by journalists and expected by audiences. These can have an impact on the accuracy and reliability of coverage.

Outcome Chart - Manitoba - Social Studies 10

This outcome chart contains media-related learning outcomes from the Manitoba, Grade 10 Social Studies curriculum, with links to supporting resources on the MediaSmarts site.

More Oscar, less grouch

Will the recession depreciate Oscar gold? Promises of a leaner, more entertaining Academy Awards ceremony have come to be as reliable as the first robin of Spring, but viewership continues to fall. Each year something new is tried to shake things up, in this case giving the actor Hugh Jackman the hosting duties. This is a role traditionally given to comedians, with the idea that there would be no conflict of interest as they were unlikely to be nominated for any awards. (Long-time host Bob Hope made a joke of this, saying that at his house they referred to the award ceremony as “Passover”; more recently the role has often been given to talk-show hosts such as Jon Stewart or Ellen DeGeneres.) The decision to give the job to Jackman was no doubt made in hopes of luring back female viewers, who have always been the event's core audience.

Common tropes in crime news

Crime news employs specific narrative frameworks to simplify complex issues, often resulting in biased and stigmatizing portrayals.

Guidance and Career Education

According to the document Vision of the Revised Career Studies Course (2020), "with the rapid pace of technological, social, and cultural change in today’s global economy and with new understandings of what a career looks like in this context, it is more important than ever that students be supported in their transition from secondary school to their initial postsecondary d