Ottawa, ON (October 1, 2013) – In recognition of Cyber Security Month, MediaSmarts—a Canadian centre for digital and media literacy—has launched a series of digital citizenship resources. Stay on the Path: Teaching Kids to be Safe and Ethical Online is a new program for parents and teachers to teach young people to be ethical online citizens.
This chart contains media-related learning outcomes from Ontario, Curriculum for Geography CGO4M: Spatial Technologies in Action, with links to supporting resources on the MediaSmarts site.
This chart contains media-related learning outcomes from Manitoba, Curriculum for Career Development 12: Full Credit, with links to supporting resources on the MediaSmarts site.
Probably the most essential factor in accurately and objectively judging health and science information is to understand how science is done.
It’s been almost fifteen years since Mark Prensky coined the term “digital native” to describe young people who have grown up with the Internet and digital media. In fact, the children who were born the year Prensky’s book was published are now in high school. While for many, the public perception of young people taking to digital platforms like ducks to water persists – accompanied by the image of adults, particularly parents, who are seen (often by themselves) as hopelessly out of their depth – the question remains how close that image is to reality. Are Canadian youth truly digitally literate? And if they are not "digital natives" who effortlessly acquire their skills on their own or from peers, are students learning what they need from their parents or teachers?
Many online threats are covered by existing civil and criminal law in Canada and other countries. In addition, many countries have specific legislation to deal with online crime. This section looks at Canadian and American laws that apply to cyber security.
Halloween is perhaps the most contradictory of the major holidays. Though born in Ireland and other Celtic regions, today it is almost exclusively observed in the form that developed in North America; though closely associated with the imagination, it has been thoroughly commercialized, becoming an opportunity for children to buy costumes and then acquire candy (today it is the second largest commercial holiday in the US, after Christmas); and finally, though it is the holiday most closely associated with children, it is also one that has, traditionally, been all about fear.
Parents of young children need to actively manage and control TV viewing in the home. Children need a variety of activities for healthy development and television can be a fun and educational part of a child's daily routine, if managed properly.
Ads like the one above have been appearing in public transit systems in Ottawa, Toronto and other Ontario cities over the last month, supposedly promoting a drug called “Obay” which prevents teenagers from having their own thoughts, hopes and dreams. It's a classic example of viral marketing: an ad campaign that doesn't actually name the product or service being promoted, but rather tries to get people talking about it in the hopes that when the product is finally unveiled the effect will be greater than a traditional ad campaign could have managed.
In Japan, cell phones and texting are much more widespread among young people than they are here. Much of what we do on computers is done through phones there, with the result that those students that own cell phones spend an average of two hours a day on them. Japanese TV dramas even feature scenes where the dialogue is entirely done through texting, with characters thumb-typing furiously while the messages appear as subtitles. Now another part of life has been squeezed onto the one-inch screen, resulting in the creation of the cell phone novel.