Abstract:

The Internet and ongoing innovations in media technology are having an impact on journalism and educators in mass communication. Many universities and journalism training schools are trying to adapt their curricula to the new landscape. Innovation and creativity are considered key concepts to deal with the new changing media environment, but, what does the official Spanish White Paper on Communication Degrees have to say about creativity and innovation? Do these concepts have any presence in the curricula for Spanish Communication Degrees? And, if so, how can this presence be fostered? After mentioning an interesting initiative involving Innovation Journalism at the Stanford Center for Innovation and Communication, this paper provides an outline of two interesting methodologies that can be used to promote both innovation and creativity in Communication Studies, namely Design Thinking and Creation Nets. Design Thinking refers to methods and processes for investigating defined problems, acquiring information, analyzing knowledge, and positing solutions/products in the design and planning fields (this particular style of creative thinking-in-action is having an increasing influence on twenty-first century education across disciplines). Creation Nets, on the other hand, have as their most distinctive value the ability to flexibly and scalably mobilize dispersed and diverse talent for innovation. This has been tested in the Innovation Incubator Project, a project developed via experimentation in seven journalism schools from the United States. The paper will go on to focus on an innovation project based on the Design Thinking process that is being developed on the Audiovisual Communication Degree at Mondragon University.

Keywords:

Innovation, creativity, curriculum, communication, Design_Thinking.