In this lesson students are introduced to the concept of “avatars” and share their experiences creating and playing avatars in video games and virtual worlds. They then create avatars using a program that is intentionally limited in terms of available body types and gender markers, first creating an avatar of their own gender and then of the opposite gender, and then discuss the program and relate it to representations of gender and body image in games and virtual worlds and in other media. Students then create avatars using a much more flexible version of the program and compare that experience to the more limited version. Finally, students use the more versatile program to create avatars that represent how they see themselves and how they would like others to see them online and reflect on the choices that went into creating them.

The following file contains the assets (or resources) to accompany the Sask DLC ELA 9 course. Please note that this is not the content of the course, but the assets used to support and deliver it. The files are organized in a zipped folder, and you can download it and extract the files. Links are also provided to other materials like videos and other suggested resources.