Creativity and simplexity in the use of educational technologies: an exploratory study

Abstract

The growing complexity of contemporary educational contexts, accentuated by the spread of digital technologies (Ahmed, 2012), requires a rethinking of teacher training models that goes beyond the acquisition of technical skills (DM 66/23), promoting the development of critical, creative and reflective thinking capable of guiding conscious educational choices (de Bono, 1986; Schön, 2006; Berthoz, 2019; Sibilio et al., 2023). In this perspective, a broader research hypothesis proposes the integration between the method of the Six Hats for Thinking and the theory of simplexity (La Manna et al., 2025), to foster a multiperspective analysis of the educational context and a flexible and adaptive didactic action. This integration could also affect the way technologies are used in teaching. The paper presents the results of an exploratory survey aimed at investigating how trainee teachers spontaneously conceptualize the use of technologies, in the absence of specific training on the subject. The study involved 189 trainees, future secondary school support teachers, enrolled in specialization courses at the University of Salerno. Participants were asked to design educational actions based on the properties and rules of simplexity (Sibilio, 2023), without explicit indications on the use of technologies. The results show that less than half of the trainees hypothesized the use of digital tools, mainly for compensatory and inclusive purposes, suggesting the need for training courses oriented towards a more conscious and creative use of technologies.