Media Literacy in the Ontario Curriculum: Internet Safety and Social Media in the Classroom

As a teacher I would love to introduce technology in many ways into the classroom. However, before this can happen a unit must be done strictly on internet safety. This will in turn give students the basic knowledge on how to conduct themselves safely online, which will help them be successful in their own media literacy and self-taught experiences that the internet can provide.

Internet Safety: Friend or Fake

I have selected an example of a resource that would be appropriate to show students to learn about online safety. It is entitled “Friend or Fake.” It can be directly accessed here. The resource I have chosen is in video format and in cartoon so it is easy for students to understand and watch. It is about a boy who is chatting online with a “girl” that he does not know. There are many problems that arise in the video. The boy starts becoming very attached to his phone and misses out on real-life time with his real friends. He begins getting distracted at school and his friends are becoming increasingly frustrated with him. Finally, they asked him why he is always on his phone and he replies that the “girl” he is talking to gets upset if he doesn’t reply right away. The girl eventually asks the boy to meet her in person and his good friends convince him to tell her no because it could be dangerous. When he tells her no and his reasoning for why, she instantly gets upset and logs off. The video ends with his real friends telling the boy that a real friend, online or offline, would not get mad at him for making the right decision.

This video is appropriate to show students because it not only represents online safety, but also represents what is and isn’t a healthy relationship. Nobody should ever pressure anyone else into doing something or act as controlling as the “girl” did. It is also very appropriate to show a class because although it is short and to the point, there are many issues in the video that students can be asked to critically think about. An open-ended prompt such as asking the class, “What’s wrong with the boy’s situation?” would prompt a discussion that would lead to understanding online safety and true friendship. 
This internet safety unit would achieve 2 out of the 4 media literacy expectations by allowing students to demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts, and by allowing them to identify some media forms and explain how the conventions and techniques associated with them are used to create meaning.

Similar videos discussing different internet safety topics such as cyber-bullying, sending pictures online, being careful about information you share, and the ability to think critically about what is posted online can be found here.  

            
Social Media in the Classroom
Once students are aware of how to navigate the internet safely you can start introducing social media into the classroom. Great ideas of how to introduce social media into the classroom effectively can be found at “Ten Cool Ways Teachers Use Social Media in the Classroom” by clicking here.

I believe it would be a good idea to introduce social media into a classroom because it allows students to have fun and work with their interests and it also allows students to learn in regard to media literacy. It would allow children to demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts and create a variety of media texts for different purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions, and techniques, which are 2 of the 4 overall expectations for Media Literacy in the Ontario Curriculum.

This could be used in a classroom to document students’ development and growth in the classroom and to share this development and growth with the students’ parents, creating an open communication with parents throughout the year. It could also be used to explore the impact of mass media and popular culture with your students. However, I would absolutely exercise caution with using social media in classrooms because children do need to be taught internet safety and internet critical thinking first. I would also suggest that the teacher be responsible for posting to the social media website or closely monitor the students as they are posting.