The monitor, Tom Maccalla, brought it straight from the dome. Or so Will said.

Will Patterson
I POWERED-Hip Hop as Information Science

Where does the value of culture come in? When it starts connecting people and moving communities forward. To do that in hip hop, we need honesty, we need people who are actually willing to bring their truth to the stage.

Will just went over about a bazillion ways he's brought this into the Champaign-Urbana area. It's an understatement to say the list and effect these have are impressive. A few of them:

• All Girls Radio
• I-Power
• Our Journey
• Youth Media Network

Chip Bruce
YOUTH, DIGITAL MEDIA AND INFORMATICS

Why are kids dropping out of school? Maybe, Chip says, because school's not bringing anything of relevance to students. It's not real. We need to find ways to make learning connect to real life, of value to real life. Education needs to be fixed.

What's one guiding principle? Education needs to start with the learner.

What seems to work? Getting kids involved in GPS-enabled photography, creating materials for community "libraries," get them out in the world. We can't rely on community technology centers anyway; we need to bring these things to the communities where kids can use them out where the learning is.

What should the goal of education be?

1. learn how to connect with the world
2. learn how to act responsibly
3. learn how to transform the world and give back

Comments: On having a real education where tangible effects are seen: "They want to make mud pies and stack up blocks." This statement really resonated with me. I think it's why I'm enjoying phonetics research so much now and why I liked biology and physics and chemistry in high school (and college).

Angel David Nieves
Virtual Heritage in the New South Africa

I was really looking forward to this. Unfortunately, things were behind schedule and I had to leave for work. Boo hiss. I believe materials will be online, though, so if I can find them, I'll link to them.