VOX — Centre de l’image contemporaine

The Dog Ate My Homework
Learning toolkit: Children and screens

For elementary-school classes

Starting in Fall 2023, VOX invites children aged 6 to 12 to explore the playful world of animator Alexandra Lemay with a stop motion short film created especially for them!

We’ve all had to make excuses for having spent way too much time looking at stuff online, right? Young Charlie, though eager to get her homework done, has no choice but to resort to that strategy after being led on a journey through the labyrinth of the Web by a strange wiener dog.

Whether at home or at school, whether the goal is entertainment or learning, there are more and more screens in our day-to-day. In The Dog Ate My Homework, Alexandra Lemay takes a humorous look at screen addiction and its effects on young people’s concentration. Through the character of Charlie, children are encouraged to think about the length of their screen time and the ways they use online content. A complementary learning activity will introduce students to the workings of the algorithms behind so-called recommender systems, which feed on our “clicks” to suggest even more content for us to consume.

Education program

Levels
Elementary school: Cycles 1, 2 and 3

Broad areas of learning addressed
Media literacy
Health and wellness

Targeted areas of learning
Social studies: Developing critical thinking and constructing one’s representation of space, time and society in today’s world.
Visual arts: Appreciating works of art and traditional artistic objects (animation films), media images, personal productions and those of classmates.
Ethics: Asking questions about oneself and one’s relationships with others in a digital environment.

What is included in the learning toolkit?

Short film The Dog Ate My Homework by Alexandra Lemay

Activity (at home and in class)
My screen time logbook: active/passive use of digital platforms

Workshops
Cycle 1: Tell me who you are, I will tell you what you like!
Cycles 2 and 3: What is a recommender algorithm?

Video interview with the artist


This project was made possible with the financial support of the Gouvernement du Québec.

Sollicitation document for the learning toolkit on children and screens