Alberta

This section comprises a curricular overview (below), as well as information about professional development for media education.

Also included in are curriculum charts for grades K-12 that feature media education outcomes across the Alberta curriculum, with links to supporting MediaSmarts resources and lessons.

Last reviewed in January 2024 

Curricular Overview

In 2022, Alberta began rolling out an entirely new curriculum framework for its K-12 programs. As of January 2024, the Kindergarten to  Grade 6 curriculum for English Language Arts and Literature, Mathematics, Physical Education and Wellness, Science, and Social Studies have been updated and implemented in Alberta schools. In 2019, the province’s curriculum advisory panel concluded that “today’s students need to develop the ability to solve problems that have not yet been conceived, and be prepared for careers and technologies that may have not been created yet,” arguing that “reasoning skills are critical to the development of competencies such as critical thinking, problem solving, managing information and creativity. They are essential to the critical media literacy skills students need when evaluating online or digital sources of information.” 

This, among other recommendations, resulted in a Ministerial order on student learning with a vision for an updated curriculum founded on numeracy and literacy skills that “establish core knowledge, shared civic and cultural literacy, and skills that enable students to solve problems, think critically as they become active and informed citizens leading healthy lives of meaning.

For more information about digital media literacy connections in the Alberta curriculum, including links to supporting MediaSmarts resources, consult links for specific subjects and grade levels. As many of our lessons can be adapted to suit different grade levels, specific lessons may be listed for more than one grade. Teachers should also note that individual lessons often satisfy a number of learning outcomes.