MEDIA LITERACY
ELA integration; reading and deciphering media
AI, NOW WHAT? / BONUS MATERIAL
THE LAYERS
OF LITERACY
AI literacy didn’t arrive on its own.
We are adding AI to decades of media literacy, digital literacy and critical media literacy education. The question is what happens when the information environment changes faster than the curriculum around it.
01 / We already have layers
Different places, different emphasis.
Page 11 of Julianna L. Kowlessar’s 2026 working paper shows how Canadian jurisdictions bring different combinations of media, digital and critical literacy into curriculum. This is a simplified visual summary of selected examples — not a reproduction of the research table.
MEDIA + CRITICAL
ELA emphasis; messages, benefit and disadvantage
CRITICAL + CULTURAL
Literacy through Inuit culture, languages and knowledge
DIGITAL + MEDIA
Digital media literacy, citizenship and critical examination
MEDIA LITERACY
Atlantic ELA framework and traditional media literacy
MEDIA + DIGITAL
Key competency and responsible engagement with digital content
MEDIA + DIGITAL
Media Studies 20 elective and diverse viewpoints
MEDIA + CULTURAL
WNCP integration and Indigenous media perspectives
SOURCE
Julianna L. Kowlessar, Comparisons of Media Literacy Education Programs Across Canada, Digital Policy Hub / Centre for International Governance Innovation, 2026.
Read the original research ↗02 / The layers of literacy
AI literacy doesn’t replace the layers beneath it.
It depends on them.
MEDIA LITERACY
What am I seeing?
DIGITAL LITERACY
How does the digital environment shape what I see and do?
CRITICAL MEDIA LITERACY
Why am I seeing it? Who created it? Who benefits? What systems and structures shape it?
AI LITERACY
Where is AI involved? What can it do? What are its limitations?
AI AGENCY
What am I willing to let it do? What should I question, verify and keep as mine?
03 / What the research tells us
The gap is not just access.
Media literacy exists across Canadian provincial and territorial curricula, but implementation varies.
The research identifies recurring variations in media literacy, digital literacy and critical media literacy, alongside differences in definitions, curricular prominence, cultural context, and how technology and social media are addressed.
The paper recommends greater consistency in definitions and consideration of a unified guiding national critical media literacy framework.
04 / AI, Now What?
ADDING ANOTHER LAYER
ISN’T ENOUGH.
Students still need to understand media, digital environments, sources, systems, influence and intent. Now they also need to understand what happens when machines can generate information, simulate media, personalize interactions and increasingly take actions.
THEN
Can I understand the media?
THEN
Can I navigate the digital world?
NOW
Can I remain capable, critical and in control when AI is part of both?
05 / From literacy to agency
LITERACY GETS US TO UNDERSTANDING.
AI NOW REQUIRES AGENCY.
KNOW
Do I understand what I’m interacting with?
CONTROL
What authority am I giving it?
CHANGE
What do I need to do differently?
PROTECT
What should remain safe, trusted and human?
GAIN
Am I actually better off because I used it?
KNOWING HOW ISN’T THE ENDPOINT.
We also need to know why, when, whether — and what next.
06 / Questions for the room
Ask better questions before adding another tool.
01
What am I looking at?
02
Where did it come from?
03
Who or what created it?
04
Why am I seeing it?
05
What system shaped or recommended it?
06
Was AI involved?
07
What information did the AI have?
08
What can this AI actually do?
09
What am I allowing it to do?
10
What should I verify?
11
What shouldn’t I delegate?
12
Who is accountable if something goes wrong?
13
What did I actually gain by using it?
07 / The AI, Now What? POV
AI LITERACY SHOULD NOT BECOME ANOTHER SILO.
Media literacy helps us understand messages. Digital literacy helps us navigate technologies and platforms. Critical media literacy asks us to examine the systems, structures and influences behind them. AI literacy adds an understanding of increasingly capable artificial systems.
WHAT ARE WE WILLING
TO LET THEM DO?
NEW OFFERINGS FOR SCHOOLS & LEARNING COMMUNITIES
AI LITERACY BRIEFINGSTUDENT AI AGENCY SESSIONPARENT / FAMILY AI CONVERSATIONEDUCATOR AI PRACTICE LABWHOLE-SCHOOL AI READINESS
Practical sessions that connect literacy to judgment, safe use, classroom realities and accountable next steps.
Talk about a school or family session ↗MEDIA → DIGITAL → CRITICAL → AI → AGENCY
AI, NOW WHAT?From capability to consequence.
AI, NOW WHAT?From capability to consequence.
Recommended reading
Comparisons of Media Literacy Education Programs Across Canada
Julianna L. Kowlessar · Digital Policy Hub / Centre for International Governance Innovation · 2026
This independent research helped inform this AI, Now What? exploration of how AI literacy fits within Canada’s existing media and digital literacy landscape.
Read the paper ↗