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K-State Today

January 19, 2012

Architecture professor conducts workshop on Facebook at international technology conference

Submitted by Mick Charney

Mick Charney, associate professor of architecture, conducted the workshop "The Stream of All Human Consciousness: Looking for Mr. Wright, and Finding Him on Facebook" at the eighth International Conference on Technology, Knowledge and Society, Jan. 16-18, at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Although social networking is much maligned by academics as a medium that diverts students' attention away from the serious, sustained pursuit of knowledge, Charney's workshop demonstrated that Facebook, in particular, possesses tremendous latent educational value if utilized in a carefully orchestrated manner in small-enrollment classes. Envisioned by Mark Zuckerberg himself as “the stream of all human consciousness,” Facebook can help students come to terms with complex, multifaceted problems through a versatile hyperlinking capability that is perfectly attuned to the digital dexterity of today’s so-called Net Geners. The result is a vibrant and endlessly interconnected repository of useful information that is simultaneously engaging and revelatory in nature.