The Media Awareness Network launches a tool to help teens become savvy and safe cyber-citizens

Ottawa - The Media Awareness Network (The Network) is launching the resource today MyUniverse: a digital literacy tutorial for high school students. This interactive tool will captivate teens while helping them develop their critical thinking skills to put it to good use during their online activities.

My world was created with financial support from the Inukshuk Wireless Learning Plan and TELUS. This resource simulates the digital environments and the situations that our young Internet users encounter on a daily basis on the Internet. Students will navigate popular environments such as search engines, instant messengers, social networking sites, and file sharing. Through practice, they will develop their skills and be guided to make the right choices online; they will then be able to put this new knowledge into practice in their daily activities on the Net.

“In Canada, young people are more and more inclined to live their daily lives online; but they don't necessarily know how to deal with - or avoid - the dark side of the virtual world that can plague their online activities, says Jane Tallim, co-executive director of the Network. My world is a sham of their online experiences so that they learn to deal with these situations, assess their risks and meet the challenges that threaten them on the Internet from the comfort and safety of the classroom. "

In order to account for the complexity of the online activities of our teens, the students who indulge in the game My world are called upon to take on a variety of roles - student, friend, peer and mentor. They use digital tools to do homework, manage relationships, conduct research on topics of personal interest, and engage in social activism.

My world is the counterpart of Internet passport, the highly acclaimed interactive tutorial that teaches digital literacy to students in Grades 4 through 8. Internet passportis now present across the country since each province and territory holds the license.

For more information on My world, visit:http://www.education-medias.ca/francais/catalogue/descriptions/monunivers.cfm