Media Education Research and Creativity

Abstract

The relationship between media education (ME) and creativity is based on a happy combination of mutual interests. ME, in all its complexity, is naturally inclined to design creative paths, given that all languages are now strongly intertwined in digital worlds. On the other hand, a creative, innovative, and transformative teaching, oriented to change, easily informs the indications of media education, which come partly from the experience of the schools, partly from the educational and media education research carried out over the last three decades, and partly from research that is still in progress. However, there is a risk that ME and creativity be content of their relationship, while they may have an extraordinary opportunity for further mutual growth. This happens if they follow an approach in which objectives, processes, and evaluations are carefully managed in all the training fields. It is very important that this happens within a media education system in which research, education, the public, and production work together. This system must determine a constant and visible growth of cognitive, emotional, and social skills in all individuals who spend a good part of their day in front of screens. Media education research has the role of finding the most effective solutions to analyze this significant relationship between ME and creativity and to direct teachers and educators to create paths that allow the development of resources that can be spent in various knowledge and professional fields.