A. Literacy Connections and Applications · Literacy for Life: Transferable Skills, Digital Media Literacy and Diverse VoicesCommunity and Cultural Awareness: Collaborating Respectfully and Inclusively Online
A2 A2.7About 65 minutes
Learning goals- I can communicate and collaborate with various communities online in safe, respectful, responsible and inclusive ways.
- I can use inclusive language and accessible formats (such as alt text and captions) so more people can take part.
- I can model cultural awareness online: crediting, asking, and not stereotyping or taking what isn't mine to share.
- I can disagree respectfully and act as an upstander when someone is treated unfairly online.
Words to know
inclusive
Designed and done so that people of different identities, abilities, cultures and languages can take part and feel respected.
cultural awareness
Understanding that people's cultures shape their values, communication and traditions, and acting respectfully because of it.
stereotype
An oversimplified, often unfair belief that all members of a group are the same.
cultural appropriation
Taking elements of another culture (especially one that has been marginalized), such as sacred items, designs or stories, without understanding, permission or credit, often for fashion, fun or profit.
alt text
A short written description of an image, read aloud by screen readers for people who are blind or have low vision.
upstander
Someone who takes safe, positive action when they see someone being harmed or treated unfairly, instead of standing by.
Remember from Grade 8
In Grade 8 your multimodal campaign had to communicate respectfully to a wide audience, and you analyzed perspectives and inclusion in texts. Grade 9 asks you to communicate and collaborate with various communities online, safely, respectfully, responsibly and inclusively, and to model cultural awareness: show it by your own example.
Let's start with a shared document
Your class is partnered with a class in Winnipeg for a project on how communities celebrate winter. In the shared document, a partner student writes about a family celebration with foods you've never tried. Someone from your class adds a comment: "lol that sounds weird." The partner student stops contributing.
One comment, five words, and a collaboration breaks. Online collaboration needs the same respect as face-to-face, plus extra care, because tone, context and culture are easier to misread online.
Collaborating with various communities
Online, you might collaborate with classmates, partner classes in other provinces or countries, online clubs and fan communities, local organizations, or community members who share their knowledge. Respectful, inclusive collaboration looks like this:
- Learn before you assume. Ask genuine questions ("Can you tell me more about how your family celebrates?") instead of judging.
- Names matter. Spell and pronounce people's names correctly; ask if you're unsure. Use the pronouns people tell you they use.
- Use inclusive language. Avoid words that exclude or stereotype. Describe people the way they describe themselves (for example, some people prefer person who is Deaf, while many Deaf people prefer Deaf person; follow each person's or community's preference).
- Mind time zones and schedules. Canada has six time zones; Winnipeg is one hour behind Ontario's Eastern time. Holidays and days of rest differ across cultures and faiths.
- Use collaboration tools well: suggest edits instead of deleting others' work, comment kindly and specifically, check version history before blaming.
- Stay safe: share only first names in public spaces; keep personal information private; tell a teacher or trusted adult about anything that feels wrong.
Accessible communication is inclusive communication
When you post or share in an online community, make it usable by more people:
- Alt text on images describes what matters in the picture for people using screen readers.
- Captions on videos help people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, people learning English, and anyone watching with the sound off.
- Readable design: clear fonts, enough contrast, and don't use colour alone to show meaning.
- Plain language: short sentences and common words when your audience is broad; explain slang and acronyms.
- Camel case in hashtags (#WinterFestival2027 rather than #winterfestival2027) helps screen readers read the words correctly.
Modelling cultural awareness
Cultural appreciation means learning about, enjoying and honouring other cultures, with credit, understanding and respect. Cultural appropriation happens when someone takes elements of another culture, especially a culture that has been marginalized, without understanding, permission or credit, often as fashion, costume, a joke or a product.
Some cultural knowledge is not public. For example, some First Nations, Métis and Inuit stories, songs, ceremonies and designs belong to particular families, Nations or communities, and protocols guide who may share them and when. Respecting that is part of cultural awareness.
Modelling cultural awareness online also means:
- not sharing memes, jokes or filters that stereotype a group,
- crediting creators from any culture by name and community when you share their work,
- amplifying people's voices about their own cultures rather than speaking over them,
- correcting yourself graciously when you make a mistake ("Thanks for telling me. I'll fix that").
Disagreeing respectfully and being an upstander
Communities disagree, and that's healthy. Respectful disagreement focuses on ideas, not people; uses evidence; and acknowledges what the other person got right: "I see your point about cost, but I think safety matters more because..."
When someone is targeted with mean comments, stereotypes or exclusion, an upstander acts safely:
- Support the person privately ("That comment wasn't okay. Are you alright?").
- Don't amplify the harm: don't like, share or reply in a way that spreads it.
- Report it to the platform, teacher or moderator.
- Speak up if it's safe, briefly and calmly ("Let's keep it respectful").
- Tell a trusted adult if it continues or feels serious.
Worked exampleLet's repair the Winnipeg collaboration
Go back to the shared document. A comment said "lol that sounds weird" about a partner student's family food. The partner stopped contributing. You're in the same group as the commenter. What do you do, and how should the comment have been written?
- Analyze the harm: "weird" judges a family tradition as abnormal; "lol" can read as mocking. Online, the writer's tone (maybe just surprise) is lost.
- Act as an upstander: privately message the commenter: "I think that comment might have hurt; could you delete it and apologize?" If nothing changes, tell the teacher.
- Support the partner: add a genuine comment: "Thanks for sharing this! I'd never heard of it. Is it made for a particular day?"
- Model a better comment: curiosity instead of judgment: "That's new to me! What does it taste like, and who usually makes it?"
- Suggest a group norm: add to the document's top: Comment on ideas with curiosity; ask before assuming.
Respectful, inclusive online collaboration means replacing judgment with curiosity, supporting the person affected, asking the commenter to repair the harm, and setting norms so it doesn't happen again.
T.H.I.N.K. before you post
Before posting a comment in a shared space, try T.H.I.N.K.: Is it True? Helpful? Inspiring? Necessary? Kind? It doesn't need all five, but if it's none of them, don't post it.
Just for funFunny-but-true: the first known proposal to use the sideways smiley :-) came from computer scientist Scott Fahlman in 1982, on an online message board. He suggested it because readers kept mistaking jokes for serious posts. Tone online has been confusing people for over forty years!
Hands-on activityMake one of your posts more inclusive
You need: a device, a grown-up, and a photo or short video you took yourself (of a pet, food, snow, your neighbourhood), and paper and a pencil.
- Write alt text for your photo (one or two sentences: what matters in the picture).
- If it's a video, write captions for the first 15 seconds.
- Write a caption for posting it. Check: is any word slang that some people wouldn't know? Use camel case for any hashtag.
- Read your caption aloud to someone at home who didn't see the image. Can they picture it from your alt text?
- Write three community norms you'd want for an online group you belong to (a team, a club, a class), and one sentence about how you'd model each.
You don't have to post anything. What to look for: alt text with who, what and where; captions that match the speech; clear, inclusive language; norms you can actually model.
Your turn
1Give three ways to collaborate respectfully in a shared online document.
Any three: use suggesting mode instead of deleting others' work; comment kindly and specifically; ask questions before assuming; spell names correctly; check version history before blaming; respect deadlines and time zones.
2What is alt text, and who does it help?
A written description of an image that screen readers read aloud. It helps people who are blind or have low vision (and anyone when images don't load).
3What is the difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation?
Appreciation: learning about and honouring a culture with understanding, credit and respect. Appropriation: taking elements (especially from a marginalized culture), such as sacred items, designs or stories, without understanding, permission or credit, often for fashion, fun or profit.
4Rewrite to be respectful: "Your idea is dumb."
Model: "I see it differently. I'm worried about the cost. Could we look at a cheaper option?"
5List three actions an upstander can take online.
Any three: support the targeted person privately; don't amplify (like/share) the harm; report it; speak up calmly if safe; tell a trusted adult.
6Why does camel case (#SnowDayFun) help accessibility?
Screen readers can tell where words start, so they read the hashtag correctly instead of as one jumbled word.
7Why should you follow a person's own preference for how they're described?
Respect: people and communities have the right to name their own identities, and preferences differ.
More practice: warm-up
1What does T.H.I.N.K. stand for?
True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind.
2How many time zones does Canada have?
An oversimplified, often unfair belief that all members of a group are the same.
4True or false: captions help only people who are Deaf.
False. They also help people learning English, people in noisy or quiet places, and people watching with sound off.
5What should you do if you realize you mispronounced a classmate's name in a video call?
Apologize briefly, ask how to say it, and use it correctly from then on.
More practice: on your own
1A student shares a filter that gives users an exaggerated "accent" and costume of a cultural group. Explain why this is harmful and what an upstander might do.
It turns a real group's identity into a joke and spreads stereotypes; members of that group can feel mocked and excluded. An upstander doesn't share it, privately tells the student why it's hurtful, and reports it if it continues.
2Your partner class is in a time zone one hour behind yours. You want a live video meeting during their 10:00 a.m. class. What time is that for you?
11:00 a.m. your time (they're one hour behind).
3Write strong alt text for a photo of a grandmother teaching a child to knit mittens beside a window with snow outside.
Model: "A grandmother guides a child's hands as they knit a mitten together beside a window, with snow outside." It gives who, what and where without starting with "image of".
4Why might some cultural stories or designs not be appropriate to share online, even with credit?
Some belong to particular families, Nations or communities and are governed by protocols about who can share them and when; some are sacred. Credit doesn't replace permission or respect for those protocols.
5Evaluate this reply in a class debate forum: "Obviously you didn't read the article, LOL."
Disrespectful: it attacks the person, assumes, and mocks with "LOL". A respectful reply would address the idea with evidence: "The article says the program cost $2 000 less than expected; does that change your view?"
Challenge
1Write a set of five community guidelines for an online book club with members from across Canada, and explain how two of them build inclusion.
Model: 1. Critique ideas, not people. 2. Use spoiler tags. 3. Post discussion times in Eastern and Pacific time. 4. Add alt text or descriptions to images. 5. Share your own perspective; don't speak for whole groups. Inclusion: #3 lets members in different time zones take part; #4 includes members who use screen readers.
2A classmate says: "Cultural awareness online is just about not being offensive." Argue that it's more than that, with two examples.
It's also active: (1) crediting creators by name and community when sharing their work, which builds respect and visibility; (2) amplifying people's own voices about their cultures instead of speaking for them; (3) learning protocols about which content is shared. Avoiding offence is the minimum; modelling cultural awareness means taking positive action.
3Analyze how the form of online communication (text-only, fast, public) makes misunderstandings across cultures more likely, and suggest three strategies to reduce them.
Text loses tone, facial expression and voice; speed encourages quick reactions; public posts reach people with different backgrounds and assumptions; humour and slang don't translate. Strategies: re-read before sending; ask clarifying questions instead of assuming; avoid sarcasm and slang in mixed groups; use emoji or explicit tone markers carefully; move tense conversations to a video call or private message.
Quiz
1. Which comment in a shared project shows cultural awareness?
2. What is the main purpose of alt text?
3. Which is an example of cultural appropriation?
4. An upstander who sees a mean comment should first avoid:
5. Which hashtag is most accessible?
6. What does it mean to model cultural awareness?
What this lesson teaches: A2.7 asks students to communicate and collaborate with various communities in a safe, respectful, responsible and inclusive manner, and to model cultural awareness online.
How to help: Talk about online communities your teen belongs to (gaming, sports, fandoms): what norms do they have? Share your family's or community's traditions, including which ones are private. Practise alt text together on family photos.
Common difficulties: confusing appreciation with appropriation; thinking an upstander must confront people publicly (private support and reporting count); forgetting that humour and slang often don't travel across cultures.