One of my favorite books the past few years from my field is Rainie and Wellmans “Networked: The new social operating system.” In it they describe how our social behavior is changing such that social networks are becoming an emerging way we navigate our world as virtual connection continually cuts in on face-to-face communication. The thrust of their argument implies that we should be teaching network-building and literacy in order to help our students become engaged citizens of the world. This is a core discussion proposal to talk about how we can use network building in education to help our students learn in the moment but also learn how to construct diverse, supportive, and useful social networks.

The session I want to propose is partly discussion-based with some play involved if there is an opportunity. I taught Google Glass in my Multimedia Storytelling course this past fall, and 10 students got to test the device as well as push the boundaries of journalistic/documentary story forms. The paradigm shift from mobile to wearable technology is dramatic, embodied in the shift from third-person inquiry to first-person experiences. What I’d like to do is show some of the work we did and talk about the impact that perspective-shifting can have on our stories and the liberal arts experience.