TAKARA 1: Being able to simply get online isn’t enough in our digitally-connected world.

Many Canadians who aren’t digital natives don’t have basic skills like knowing how to book a health appointment or flight.

If you’ve got a laptop and high-speed broadband in front of you but you don’t know how to use it, that’s the same level of disconnection as none at all.

Research from Statistics Canada shows that about 63% of seniors are either ‘Non-users’ or ‘Basic users’ of the Internet, as are 40% of Canadians with a high school diploma.

That’s a lot of people.

Hello and welcome back to another episode of What’s Up With the Internet?, brought to you by CIRA - the Canadian Internet Registration Authority.

I’m your host, Takara Small, and today we’re going to be focussing on a subject that’s close to my own heart - internet literacy.

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TAKARA 2: So, a few years back I started VentureKids Canada, it’s a company that teaches young people tech skills needed for the workforce. I did it because having worked in the tech space for years, I saw a real lack of diversity.

Some people just weren’t represented.

So to help teenagers from underserved neighborhoods get into the tech industry, I started offering free classes teaching them some skills that might help them with a career in the industry.

Part of that was internet literacy. As a country we miss out on so many different perspectives when people are left behind because they haven’t got the skills.

Even younger generations can miss out.

Other organizations are helping to teach similar skills across Canada, and our guest today is from one of those places.

Paula Capnas works for Tech Manitoba, and she’s been managing classes all over the province for 4 years:

TAKARA 3: Last week we spoke to the tech commentator Paris Marx, and he was so good we figured we’d get his thoughts on this subject too.

An important aspect of internet literacy nowadays is being able to decipher what’s real and what’s not.

Misinformation is something that is increasingly shaping political discourse all over the world, and identifying it has become a really important skill:

TAKARA 4: Okay, so as we touched on, a big part of internet literacy is knowing how to keep yourself and your family safe online, and that’s something we’re going to discuss in more depth in our next episode.

TAKARA 5: That’s the Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen who we’re very excited to have with us next week - and remember, if you have any questions or want to learn more about some of the organizations mentioned in this series, you can visit CIRA.ca/podcast

Thanks for listening!