MediaSmarts Canada's Centre for Digital & Media Literacy

MediaSmarts has been developing digital and media literacy programs and resources for Canadian homes, schools and communities since 1996. Through our work we support adults with information and tools so they can help children and teens develop the critical thinking skills they need for interacting with the media they love. Resources are available for the following areas: Crime Portrayal Sexting Blogging Media Literacy 101 Internet & Mobile Alcohol Marketing Environment Visible Minorities Cyberbullying Aboriginal People Resources Educational Games Lesson Plans Licensed Resources Media Literacy Week Outcome Charts by Province & Territory Tip Sheets Tutorials & Workshops YouTube Videos Recently on MediaSmarts Knowing My Password Doing Good with Social Media Reality Check: The Game

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Teaching/Learning Strategy, Homework/Assignment

Author: MediaSmarts

Code-moji Canada Learning Code

Create emojis with code! In this activity, students remix a Processing sketch to build their very own interactive emoji artwork.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Canada Learning Code, Kassandra Lenters

Code can change the world.

Each month, we’ve selected a different theme encouraging people (like you!) to inspire your projects during our learning experiences. Here are some ideas on how you might combine your super powers and perspectives with technology throughout 2019: A video game inspired by your findings on declining bee population A piece of artwork to illustrate how we might learn in the future A website to share your thoughts on food security in your community A website to share your favourite ways to stay active in the winter season An interactive story on how we might reduce food waste A website to share your fun invention idea!

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Canada Learning Code, Corrado's Coders, National Girls Learning Code Day, Quebec School

Code Studio : Learn Computer Science & How to Code

FULL COURSES are available here for students. Learn to make your own game, app, or computer drawing. (K-5) Build real working apps, games and websites using blocks, JavaScript, CSS, HTML and more. (6-9) Go beyond Code.org and take university courses online or learn a new programming language. (10-12) Plus access to all the Hour of Code games/coding activities!

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Unit of Study

Author: CODE

Code to Learn - Download MicroworldsEX for FREE

Microworlds is a coding platform that is free for Canadian residents and schools. Versions are also availalbe in Cree and Ojibwe. If you download this the book "Getting Started with Coding: Get Creative with Code" by Camille McCue Join the communities to get free activities, resources and projects!

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Code to Learn

Emerald Code - Get With The Programming!

Watch a series of videos that will teach kids how to code and go on a variety of fun STEM adventures!

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Let's Talk Science

Learn to Code with Minecraft

Learn to code with Minecraft for free. The lessons provide a step by step tutorial, and once you are comfortable you can make your own coding projects. You will need the Minecraft App to test your code.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Microsoft

Coding with The Hour of Code

The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code", to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science, starting with 1-hour coding activities but expanding to all sorts of community efforts. Check out the tutorials and activities. This grassroots campaign is supported by over 400 partners and 200,000 educators worldwide. Students can code for just an hour, or complete full courses. The courses are in 45 different languages. There are even coding activities that can be down without computers called "unplugged".

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Teaching/Learning Strategy, Homework/Assignment, Game, Simulation

Author: Melissa Lander

Weekly Coding Project from Tynker

Tynker is the #1 Kids Coding Platform where millions have learned to code. Tynker offers self-paced online courses for children to learn coding at home, as well as an engaging programming curriculum for schools and camps. Visit this site for a weekly free activity for coding - which also includes a teacher guide! View the info on the right to determine if this applies to your students - the levels change with the activity.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Tynker

The Game Creators Education App Game Kit for Coding & Programming

AppGameKit's Education Pack includes everything a teacher or lecturer needs to teach coding skills and is an easy to use tool that can be deployed quickly and easily in the classroom. AppGameKit works across a range of abilities so is suitable for primary and secondary schools, sixth form colleges, universities and summer camps. Teachers will need to register to get a free kit and get started.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Simulation

Author: The Game Creators Ltd

Teaching Coding & Video Game Design with Kodu

Kodu lets students create games on Windows PCs via a simple visual programming language. Kodu can be used to teach creativity, problem solving, storytelling, as well as programming. Anyone can use Kodu to make a game, young children as well as adults with no design or programming skills. No previous experience is required! You will find videos, lessons, and many other resources to get started. The software is free!

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Melissa Lander

Introductory Lesson to coding

The purpose of this is to teach teachers and students the basic principle of computaional literacy.

Author: Sun West School Division

Space Place: What is the Secret Code Used by the Voyager Spacecraft?

This is a series of three webpages about how humans and computers communicate. Learners will explore the binary and hexidecimal systems and how engineers use them to translate spacecraft data into images.

Material Type: Lesson

Grade 3-5 Computer Science Curriculum (Green)

TWENTY amazing lessons to teach computer science to Grades 3 to 5. The curriculum is organized into 5 units: sequence, events, Makey Makey, loops and final project. This fabulous resource has everything you need to get started coding and computer science with your students TODAY! Green is the starting level - you can progress to Blue (Level 2) once you complete this level, and then onto Purple (Level 3). These resources are also in the bank or available using the tabs along the top of the website.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson, Unit of Study

Author: San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Computer Science team: CSinSF.org.

3-5 Computer Science Curriculum (Blue - Level 2)

TWENTY amazing lessons to teach computer science to Grades 3 to 5. The curriculum is organized into 5 units: Scratch Review, Creative Commons, Makey Makey, Conditionals and Final Project. If you need something easier be sure to use the Green level (Level 1) by using the tabs at the top of the website or finding it in the resource bank. If you need something harder head to Purple (Level 3) using the same method. This fabulous resource has everything you need to get started coding and computer science with your students TODAY!

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson, Unit of Study

Author: San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Computer Science team: CSinSF.org.

3-5 Computer Science Curriculum (Purple - Level 3)

TWENTY amazing lessons to teach computer science to Grades 3 to 5. The curriculum is organized into 5 units: Scratch review, variables, Makey Makey, advanced games and final project. If you need something easier be sure to use the Green level (Level 1) or Blue level (Level 2) by using the tabs at the top of the website or finding it in the resource bank. This fabulous resource has everything you need to get started coding and computer science with your students TODAY!

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson, Unit of Study

Author: San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Computer Science team: CSinSF.org.

Python Script Analysis

Working in small groups, students complete and run functioning Python codes. They begin by determining the missing commands in a sample piece of Python code that doubles all the elements of a given input and sums the resulting values. Then students modify more advanced Python code, which numerically computes the slope of a tangent line by finding the slopes of progressively closer secant lines; to this code they add explanatory comments to describe the function of each line of code. This requires students to understand the logic employed in the Python code. Finally, students make modifications to the code in order to find the slopes of tangents to a variety of functions.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Brian Sandall, Scott Burns

What Is Bluetooth?

Students learn about electrical connections, how they work and their pervasiveness in our world. They consider the usefulness of wireless electrical connections for connecting electrical devices. Morse code is introduced as a communication method that takes advantage of on/off states to transmit messages by electrical bursts sent via wires, light or sound. They learn the Morse code rules and translate a few phrases into Morse code. Specifically, they learn about a wireless connection type known as Bluetooth that can be used to control LEGO robots remotely from Android devices, which leads into the associated activity.

Material Type: Lesson

Authors: Pranit Samarth, Riaz Helfer, Sachin Nair, Satish S. Nair

PAA 7-9: LEGO EV3 Robotics Challenges

All the students in our school have iPads and I recently had received 2 LEGO robotics kits; I wanted to find a way to mesh the two together. LEGO has a free app (for iPads only) that allows students to program their robot and connect to it via Bluetooth. The goal of this assignment is to learn about basic function of the LEGO EV3 robot. This includes the motor, color sensor and ultrasonic sensor. The main objective is to learn how to program, or "code", the robot to perform various functions using the "LEGO Mindstorms Programming App".

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Simulation

Author: Sun West School Division

Here Comes the Hurricane! Saving Lives through Logical Reasoning and Computer Science

Students use a hurricane tracking map to measure the distance from a specific latitude and longitude location of the eye of a hurricane to a city. Then they use the map's scale factor to convert the distance to miles. They also apply the distance formula by creating an x-y coordinate plane on the map. Students are challenged to analyze what data might be used by computer science engineers to write code that generates hurricane tracking models. Then students analyze a MATLAB® computer code that uses the distance formula repetitively to generate a table of data that tracks a hurricane at specific time intervals. Students come to realize that using a computer program to generate the calculations (instead of by hand) is very advantageous for a dynamic situation like tracking storm movements. Their inspection of some MATLAB code helps them understand how it communicates what to do using mathematical formulas, logical instructions and repeated tasks. They also conclude that the example program is too simplistic to really be a useful tool; useful computer model tools must necessarily be much more complex.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Armando Vital, Fritz Claydon, Justin Chang, K. B. Nakshatrala, Rodrigues, Stuart Long