Media Literacy Course Guide
Free Online Resource for Teachers
By David Wu (M.A. Cinema and Media Studies, University of British Columbia)
Supervised by Dr. Chelsea Birks (Learning & Outreach Director, The Cinematheque) & Dr. Christine Evans (Assistant Professor of Teaching, Cinema Studies, University of British Columbia)
As digital media has become increasingly ubiquitous in our everyday lives, it is more important now than ever to be media literate. While media literacy education has been a part of BC public schools’ official curriculum for more than two decades, it can be difficult for educators to keep up with accelerating changes in our digital media environment. This free course guide is a supportive resource for teachers looking to incorporate media education into their classrooms.
This resource was developed by UBC researcher David Wu, who conducted interviews with teachers from across the province about their needs and challenges in teaching media literacy in our digital age. David developed an 11-unit Course Guide designed to meet the curricular competencies of New Media 10; however, each unit is flexible and alternate texts are provided for more advanced learners. Many activities and materials are also suitable for intermediate and middle-years students.
Each unit covers a different type of media, beginning with more traditional screen media (film, television), through newer media forms (video games, online videos), and finishing with online communities, social media platforms, and artificial intelligence. Skills learned in the traditional media units will help students to understand newer media forms, and the course overall strengthens literacy skills across a range of screen-based media.
Format The Media Literacy Course Guide contains 11 units, which can be taught sequentially over an entire course or separated into individual units. The modular design allows for flexibility and adaptability according to classroom needs and changes in media technologies. Upon registration through the Google Form linked below, teachers will receive a link by email containing the Google Doc link for the entire Course Guide. If you cannot access Google Docs, contact us directly at learn@thecinematheque.ca and we will send you a PDF version.
Each unit contains:
- A set of media texts (films, TV shows, games, TikToks, YouTube videos, articles, etc.)
- A summary of key ideas and goals for the unit
- Discussion questions, in-class activities, and/or assignments
- List of curricular competencies
- Alternate texts
Download the Free Course Guide
Units 1. Networks and Conglomerations
This unit examines the intricacies of media industries — particularly their complex chains of ownership. Major conglomerates often control multiple branches of the content delivery pipeline: the same entity handles production, distribution, and exhibition. Students will explore different strategies that media companies use to target and grow their audiences.
2. Commercials and Advertisements
As the attention economy grows increasingly competitive with the rising influence of digital media, advertisements are becoming ever more complex and ubiquitous. Products and services must compete with each other for the limited time and attention of individual users. This unit asks students to reflect on their own consumption of advertising by analyzing the objectives and strategies that advertisers use to sell products.
3. Documentary and Agenda
Many of us expect documentaries to be reflections of reality that are objective, sincere, and truthful; however, it is important to keep in mind that documentaries are also works of art created by filmmakers with specific goals and agendas. Learning to recognize the messages, perspectives, and priorities of documentary films is a good place to start in learning to assess the veracity of nonfiction media: YouTube, TikTok, and other forms of social media often use similar strategies to documentaries in order to seem objective and authoritative.
4. The Language of Propaganda
This unit explores how cinema can convey ideas that lead to real world consequences. Propaganda films are useful in understanding how media can influence audiences, as their explicit purpose is to spread ideas and change behaviours. Students may quickly draw a connection between propaganda and oppressive governments; however, they may be surprised to find that democratic countries such as Canada also have a long history of propaganda that continues to the present day. This unit asks students to weigh both the potential benefits and harms of propaganda through real-life examples produced by the Canadian government.
5. Introduction to Adaptation
This unit introduces the practice of media adaptation. By analyzing the same text in different forms, students have the opportunity to examine the distinct creative and expressive potential of different forms of media.
6. Advanced Adaptation
This unit explores adaptation at a deeper level by examining more advanced concepts and unconventional texts. While print to screen is the most common type of adaptation, there are many more possibilities: film to video game, short story to music video, novel to radio drama, etc. This unit studies adaptations that are less faithful to the original than those explored in previous module: by looking at texts that are loosely inspired by another artwork but take many creative liberties, students are encouraged to discuss the creative, innovative, and tributary potential of adaptational media.
7. Intricacies of Social Media
Digital citizenship, as defined by the Ministry of Education’s digital literacy framework, covers topics ranging from online safety to digital communities. This unit will cover a variety of ideas that are crucial to safely and productively participating in online communities. This unit starts by examining a particular online platform, Reddit, to highlight the “community-making” aspect of online spaces. It then goes on to consider privacy as a critical yet nebulous aspect of online safety.
8. Enigmatic Algorithms
Data collection and mobilization are the primary drivers of the modern internet. Search engines such as Google, social media platforms such as Facebook, and content platforms such as YouTube all rely on the data users provide to fund their expensive operations. The biggest issues for users of the internet today, such as addiction, polarization, loss of privacy, and fake news can all be explained (at least partially) by big data and algorithms. This unit’s main activity asks students to find out for themselves exactly how these algorithms work by testing different forms of engagement.
9. User-Generated Content
It’s not all doom and gloom: social media can be a powerful tool for self-expression, education, and activism. Since the advent of the internet, free and user-generated content has only become more popular by the year. This unit examines how platforms designed to publish user-generated content allow for outreach, self expression, and communication.
10. Misinformation, Disinformation, and Malinformation
One of the most important components of media literacy is the ability to recognize the validity and truthfulness of the information we come across. Unfortunately, there is no simple solution to this complex problem: a one-stop-shop resource that only contains accurate information simply does not exist. However, we can still combat this issue by understanding the mechanisms that motivate how false information is created and spread. It is especially important to understand the distinctions between misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation. Malinformation is perhaps the most dangerous and effective form of false information, and is therefore the main focus of this unit.
11. Generative AI and the Future
Ever since the unveiling of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2023, artificial intelligence has evolved from a concept relegated to sci-fi enthusiasts and computer scientists to one that the average person hears about on a daily basis. This unit is different from the others in this guide in that it is highly speculative. Any claims to accurately predict the future of AI should be taken with a grain of salt. As such, this unit only concretely deals with generative AI in the here and now, while offering a more philosophical and imaginative approach to potentially more powerful AI models in the future.
Materials Unit materials encompass a range of media and formats, from films to television shows to TikToks to YouTube videos (and more). Where possible, unit materials are provided via direct link in the Course Guide document. Many videos are linked via Google Drive: we recommend downloading videos rather than playing them from your browser. Copyright materials such as feature films and television shows are not linked directly; instead, information is provided about where these materials may be accessed. If you have difficulty accessing these materials, however, please contact us! We will help you acquire the materials you need free of charge; links are provided throughout the document to a request form, or you may contact us directly at learn@thecinematheque.ca.
FAQ
Who can use the Media Literacy Course Guide?
Anyone! The Course Guide was designed for educators and students looking to build media literacy skills across a range of new media. It is designed to meet the curricular competencies of New Media 10, which is the introductory new media course for secondary school students; however, many of the examples and exercises can be adapted for intermediate levels or more advanced grades and students. Parents, youth, and community members are also welcome to use and share the resource.
Is it free?
Yes, this is a free resource! All we ask is that you fill out the basic questionnaire in our registration form (no credit card required). We encourage you to pass the resource along to other teachers; however, we would appreciate it if you send the link to the registration form instead of the entire document so that we can keep track of who is using it. This will help us improve the resource over time!
Does the Course Guide integrate Indigenous knowledge and perspectives?
Yes! Educators looking specifically for Indigenous perspectives should look at Unit 3, “Documentary and Agenda,” and Unit 9, “User-Generated Content,” which both center around Indigenous media.
The Course Guide builds New Media 10 Curricular Competencies related to Indigenous knowledge and perspectives:
- Explore the role of story, narrative, and oral tradition in expressing First Peoples perspectives, values, beliefs, and points of view.
- Explore diversity within and across First Peoples societies as represented in new media and other texts.
I’m having trouble accessing the unit materials/media
We will help you find the materials you need. Fill out this form or contact us at learn@thecinematheque.ca. If you are unable to access Google Drive documents, email us and we will provide you with a PDF version.