Articles Archive - 2008

New Teacher Resources for Internet Literacy

In a world where we are surrounded by cell phones, wireless devices, computers and MP3 players, young people have more opportunities than ever to access information and entertainment, anywhere, anytime.

Media education is the key to ensuring youth have the critical thinking skills necessary to safely and wisely navigate this new technological terrain,
and it falls on parents and educators to ensure youth get the most of their online experiences.

Because the concept of Internet literacy is relatively new, and because young people are usually ahead of adults when it comes to knowing how to use the multitude of technologies available today, teachers may feel overwhelmed about integrating Internet education into their classrooms.

However, there are a variety of tools available to help teachers do this. For the over 10 years, Media Awareness Network (MNet) has been pioneering programs and resources to ensure children and youth possess the necessary critical thinking skills and tools to understand and actively engage with media.

In response to the increasing need for educational and training resources that address new media, the Ontario Ministry of Education has licensed two MNet resources to give teachers the necessary tools they need to integrate critical thinking about the Internet into their classrooms.

These resources - Reality Check! Evaluating Online Information and the Web Awareness Workshop Series - have been licensed, under a three-year agreement, for all publicly funded schools, native band schools and post-secondary faculties of education in Ontario.

Reality Check is a classroom resource that takes students in grades 9 to 12 through a series of lesson modules that build critical thinking skills for getting the most out of the Internet while avoiding its information pitfalls. Applying a journalist's who-what-where-when-why-and-how framework, Reality Check focuses on teaching students to go beyond the obvious: to exercise scepticism, compare information sources and apply basic investigative tools when researching on the Net.

Accessed by a Website download, Reality Check includes a slide presentation for in-class discussion on bias, copyright, plagiarism, authenticating information and optimizing searches; an independent study unit with interactive assignments; and a teacher's guide with handouts and assignment sheets.

The Web Awareness Workshop series is a professional development resource for educators that includes five workshops to help elementary and secondary teachers understand and address various Internet issues relating to children and youth:

• Growing with the Net, takes a developmental approach to addressing the challenges youth face online at different ages;
• Kids for Sale, examines issues around privacy and online marketing;
• Fact or Folly, offers different strategies for authenticating online information;
• Safe Passage, shows how to teach youth to be safe and responsible online; and
• Cyber Bullying, makes clear the importance of ethical behaviour on the Net.

These workshops can be presented to colleagues or used independently. Each includes PowerPoint slides with speaking notes, a workshop guide, a webography of Websites that are referred to in the presentation, and participant handouts.

With these two tools, teachers can stay informed and up-to-date on relevant Internet issues and ensure their students are ethical and responsible online citizens.

For information on accessing these resources contact John Taylor at john.k.taylor@ontario.ca

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Media Awareness Network is a Canadian not-for-profit centre of expertise in media education. Its vision is to ensure children and youth possess the necessary critical thinking skills and tools to understand and actively engage with media. (www.media-awareness.ca)

© 2008 Media Awareness Network

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