MEDIASMARTS
Centre launches comprehensive digital literacy framework for secondary schools

MediaSmarts, Canada's centre for digital and media literacy, has launched, on May 25, the final component to its extensive program to support teachers in integrating digital literacy into their classrooms. Use, Understand & Create: A Digital Literacy Framework for Canadian Schools (9-12), which builds on the elementary framework launched in 2015, is a cross-curricular, bilingual program that provides teachers with an array of tools to give students the skills they need for the digital age.

"Through our research we were able to see how digital literacy and digital citizenship is situated in Canadian curriculums, which helped us create a practical program for teachers so they can provide even the youngest students with skills for today's digital world," says Jane Tallim, Co-Executive Director of MediaSmarts.

The Use, Understand & Create framework provides teachers with access to free digital literacy classroom resources based on curriculum outcomes set out by their province or territory. The framework was funded through the Canadian Internet Registration Authority's (CIRA) Community Investment Program.

"As digital technologies continue to create new opportunities in our school, work, social and civic lives, it is critical that students are equipped with the resources they need to participate fully and safely," says David Fowler, Director of Marketing and Communications at CIRA. "MediaSmarts' new framework helps to foster the skills that the next generation of Internet leaders will need to build a better online Canada."

Use, Understand & Create includes over 50 lessons and interactive games, organized by grade level from Kindergarten to Grade 12, which are focused around seven principals of digital literacy: Finding and Verifying; Ethics and Empathy; Privacy and Security; Digital Health; Consumer Awareness; and Community Engagement. A new topic was added with the release of the secondary framework, Making and Remixing, which encourages students to move from media consumers to media producers by creating and remixing their own work.

To explore the Use, Understand & Create framework, visit http://mediasmarts.ca/teacher-resources/digital-literacy-framework. Follow the conversation using hashtag #DigLit.