Understanding

Understanding technology helps to recognize how it is affecting our behaviours, feeling, beliefs, view and perceptions about events from all over the world.  Media Literacy Week gives the exposure to information and resources about media literacy and technology in Canada. This year’s four themes include use, understand, engage, access, with a special focus on verify.

The second of the four literary themes for this year are known as understand. This theme helps us comprehend, contextualize and evaluate digital media.  This aids people in making informed decisions about what they do and how they encounter it online.

Here is a summary of some tips provided by Media Smarts in their tip sheet News you can use. The following include (News you can use, 2020):

1. Check the original source
   Never assume the report is true just because someone shared it, its trending on social media or it was  the highest search result. Find the original source and check the accuracy. Look for organizations that show accuracy, acknowledgment of mistakes and gaps, separation between opinion and news, and source identification.
2. Double check photos and videos
   Photos and videos are the most common sources of misinformation. Even old photos can be shared during a big news story. Use the website TinEye for photos so that you can find out where similar images appear. To find out about any hoaxes or scams using sites like Snopes.
3. Think before you share
   Before sharing any source of information or story through social media, think of the following questions:

• Could someone make an important decision based on this information?
• Is this topic controversial?
• Is the information “too good to be true”?
• Could someone do something they may regret after getting this information?
• Could something bad happen if they believed/didn’t believe in the information?

There are other resources you can look at such as Talking to kids about gender stereotypes and Half girl, half face workshop. To learn more about understanding media and  Media Literacy Week visit this link.

Resource

Media Literacy Week themes. MediaSmarts. (2021, July 27). Retrieved from mediasmarts.ca/mlw-themes. 

News you can use. MediaSmarts. (2020, January 21). Retrieved from mediasmarts.ca/teacher-resources/news-you-can-use. 

Talking to kids about gender stereotypes. MediaSmarts. (2020, January 21). Retrieved from mediasmarts.ca/tipsheet/talking-kids-about-gender-stereotypes-tip-sheet. 

Half girl, half face workshop. MediaSmarts. (2019, January 21). Retrieved from mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/e-tutorials/half-girl-half-face-workshop.