Prepared by Heidi Siwak for the Association for Media Literacy Toronto, October 18, 2014 Teaching Thinking Skills

1. It’s a Complex World.
Now what?
Heidi Siwak
Understanding Media: Navigating Surveillance, Social Media and Marketing
Association for Media Literacy
Toronto: Ted Roger’s School of Management, Toronto
Saturday, October 18, 2014

2. My classroom is media and technology rich.
• Inquiry
3D Printer
We do interesting things!
Mapping
Digital Tools to create
demonstrations of learning.
Create a
tourism
app.

3. Surveillance?
Student rights in a digital world?
Media Literacy has become complex.

4. • Massive amounts of data collected through
online learning tools
• Confidential student information sitting in
email accounts on devices
• Student agency in the posting of
pictures/video by teachers
• Intellectual property rights of students
• A student’s right to be forgotten
• Who owns student data?

5. Prodigy
https://www.prodigygame.com/Canada/

6. Student Ownership of Data

8. The Added Layer
http://mediasmarts.ca
/

9. Consequences played out in media?

10. What happens to the student who
blogs a critical stance on a
controversial issue?

11. And yet…
Powerful learning opportunities.
Meaningful learning.
Students as knowledge creators.
Student lives are digital.

12. Sometimes it’s just about funny.

14. How do we help students become better thinkers ,
problem solvers and decision makers as they engage with
this incredibly complex world?

15. Association for Media Literacy
http://www.aml.ca/

16. How do we teach students to question
their own conclusions?
Search Engine Silos
Confirmation Bias
http://bialien.wordpress.com/category/nanotechnology/

17. I teach thinking

18. Integrative Thinking
http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/facultyandresearch/researchcentres/desautelscentre/programs/i-think.aspx

19. Mental Models

22. We don’t see past our first
impressions.

23. Things are often framed for us.

24. What does a doctor look like?

26. Neurosurgeon

27. Freedom!
Our models are
always incomplete
and therefore
wrong.

28. Ladder of
Inference

29. Provocation
Where are you
on the ladder?

30. Willingness to Change a Conclusion

31. Gun shooting of Jordan Davis

33. Ladder of Inference

34. George Orwell’s House
System 1 Thinking – quick
System 2 Thinking - slow

36. Causal Models
Types of Problems
Simple: A + B = C
Complicated:
How do I get to the airport from the Ted Rogers School of
Management?

37. Wicked

40. All Summer in a Day
Ray Bradbury
http://staff.esuhsd.org/danielle/English%20Department%20LVillage/RT/Short%20Stor
ies/All%20Summer%20in%20a%20Day.pdf

41. The Knowledge Building Circle

43. Knowledge Building

45. Finding Value in Bad Ideas

47. Entrenched positions are not useful.
Either … or choices are limiting

48. Pro Pro Model
A World of Total Surveillance
• Describe the model
• Identify 3 stakeholders
• (Government, Citizen,
Business
• Find value
• Safety
A World of 0 Surveillance
• Describe the model
• Identify 3 stakeholders
• (Government, Citizen,
Business)
• Find value
• Freedom

49. Students as Design Thinkers
How might we design a web that is
safe, allows privacy to be protected
and businesses to prosper; that
fosters positive social relationships and
enables the advancement of
knowledge ?

50. Constructive Surveillance?
http://www.animaljam.com/parents

51. Transparency and Control
http://www.aboutads.info/

52. Knowledge
https://www.ghostery.com/en/

53. Design

54. Sum it Up!
Yes, the world is complicated.
Provide learners with a toolkit for thinking and
problem solving.
Teach learners how to manage their information.
Advocate for transparency and user control.
There are benefits to participation.

55. Links
The Amaryllis http://www.heidisiwak.com/
Integrative Thinking
HWDSB Integrative Thinking Initiative http://ithink.commons.hwdsb.on.ca/
University of Toronto, Rotman Ithink
http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/facultyandresearch/researchcentres/desautelscentre/programs/i-think.aspx
Knowledge Building http://knowledge-building.org/
Privacy
Privacy by Design http://www.privacybydesign.ca/
TOR https://www.torproject.org/
Ghostery https://www.ghostery.com/en/
Respect Network https://www.respectnetwork.com/
Alternative Digital Citizenship http://www.privacybydesign.ca/index.php/alternative-digital-citizenship/
Electronic Frontier Foundation https://www.eff.org/
MISA The Ontario Student Data Management System http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/misa/
Digital Citizenship
Student digital rights and responsibilities. https://aclu-wa.org/student-rights-and-responsibilities-digital-age-guide-
public-school-students-washington-state
Media Smarts : Teaching Students about surveillance and privacy http://mediasmarts.ca/

56. Photo Credits
https://www.flickr.com/photos/two-wrongs/17609875/in/photostream/ http://meetsobsession.com/2011/fashion-design/american-medical-association-
questions-the-effects-photoshopped-ads-may-have-on-teens/
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/us/politics/federal-judge-rules-against-nsa-phone-data-program.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
https://images.angelpub.com/2012/06/12921/orwell.jpg
https://images.angelpub.com/2012/06/12921/orwell.jpg