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= Origins of Media Literacy Education in Ontario =

In Canada, Ontario was one of the pioneering provinces to become seriously engaged in discourse on media education.

Early Origins: 1960s and 1970s
This role was done through media education organizations, Ontario’s media advocates. Very early on, the discussion began through organizations such as The Canadian Association for Screen Education, who organized the first documented gathering of media educators in 1969 at Toronto’s York University. In 1978, the organization who has played the most significant role in media education is the the Association for Media Literacy (AML) was established.

The Association for Media Literacy (AML)
The AML is described as serving as an influential player in establishing Media Literacy as a legitimate discipline in education by publishing the internationally respected Ontario Ministry of Education Media Literacy Resource Guide in 1989 and successfully lobbying to make Media Literacy apart of the curriculum at all levels by 2006. In addition to facilitating progress in the sphere of the curriculum, The AML hosted the first World Conference in media education in Guelph, Ontario, followed by two another others in 1992 and 2000. In just over twenty years, the AML’s influence and respect grew as its membership significantly rose from 25 Toronto teachers in 1978 to approximately 1100 members in 1999.

AML Recent Accomplishments and Key Players
In 2000, the AML organized Summit 2000: Children, Youth and the Media: Beyond the Millennium – the world’s largest media education conference, attended by over 1500 participants from 54 countries. In 1998, The World Council on Media Education named AML the “most influential media education organization in North America.” Much of the initial academic work done on media education was effort spearheaded by AML affiliates such as Dr. Barry Duncan, the co-founder and former president of the (AML) who is known as the ‘father’ of media literacy in Canada, current AML president Neil Anderson, as well as University of Toronto Ontario Institute of Education (OISE) media professors, Dr. Robert Morgan, and Dr. John J. Pungente.