Educational Challenges in Times of Mass Self-communication: A Dialogue among Audience

Abstract

This text is an approach on two leading topics: the changes emerging in the way audiences deal with new and old media, and, the multiple processes of reception and interaction occurring as a result of the information and communication systems. Audiences are seemingly devising new roles as creators and emitters of media products which they exchange through a variety of languages, formats and technologies. Significant differences are emerging between widespread consumption and connectivity, and the authentic, horizontal and creative participation of audiences. This paper also develops a proposal that is educational, communicative and pedagogical for this changing and polymorphous audience repositioning. This proposal is based on the tradition of the Latin American Critical Pedagogy of Communication course offered by the Communication Studies department of the University of Valladolid (UVa) in Segovia. The study of Communication, Education and Society in a Digital Context is part of the degree course in Communication at the UVa, which was established with the aim of developing and reinforcing the skills required to achieve a global dialogue in the field of communication and education. The main goal of communicative competence, media education, media literacy and digital literacy is to instruct on the techniques and skills needed to produce and explore the application of media contents. The increasing technical, communicative and cultural complexity of these and other pedagogical initiatives are fully discussed in this article..