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KMDI-Semaphore Speaker Series – Kara Brisson-Boivin
Thu, March 14, 2019 @ 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Use, Understand, Create: Cultivating Digital Literacy In Young Canadians
Abstract:
As increasing numbers of businesses, services and even democratic processes migrate online, citizens who lack digital literacy skills risk being disadvantaged when it comes to accessing healthcare, government services and opportunities for employment, education and civic participation. In order to be literate in today’s media-rich environments, Canadians (especially young Canadians) need to develop knowledge, values and a whole range of critical thinking, communication and information management skills for the digital age. MediaSmarts is a Canadian not-for-profit charitable organization for digital and media literacy with a vision to ensure that children and youth have the critical thinking skills to engage with digital media as active and informed digital citizens. In this presentation, I will provide an overview of the emerging issues we see in the areas of technology, information, and society as well as MediaSmarts’ recent and upcoming projects that aim to promote digital literacy in Canada. In particular, I will discuss our community-based research framework including who our stakeholders are, how we disseminate our research, and what our research is used for and by whom.
Bio:
Dr. Kara Brisson-Boivin is the Director of Research at Mediasmarts, Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy. Kara oversees all of the planning, methodology, implementation, and dissemination of key findings from original MediaSmarts’ research studies. She researches the various impacts of digital technology and digital culture on Canadians broadly and youth in particular. Kara’s current research projects examine digital citizenship and the intersections of digital publics and democracy, digital well-being among families, and what life online looks like for young Canadians. Kara also holds an appointment as an Adjunct Research Professor in the Sociology Department at Carleton University.