Are the adults doing all the teaching? Is peer-to-peer teaching happening? (Are kids teaching other kids?) Do kids have the opportunity to turn around and mentor someone else? Do they get to grow in their role from beginner to expert? Is all the learning happening unidirectionally, with kids absorbing what adults are teaching? Are skills being learned from a variety of people of different ages and backgrounds, or do all of the “experts” look alike? Are kids encouraged to create learning tools for other kids? Do adults have all the power positions?

The next step in innovation is just around the corner, as the library prepares to open an ambitious technology-and-training center at the downtown branch. The technology center, opening in February, will include music, film and photography studios, editing bays, driving and flight simulators, even a fabrication lab with 3-D printers. Those 3-D printers are already in use for demonstration purposes. They are able to scan and replicate with amazing precision objects ranging from children's toys to cooking implements.

The Community Pool
The Hackerspace - Familab
The Coworking Space - CoLab

Unlike film and television, theater is unfinished until the audience completes the equation. When you enter the theater nothing is guaranteed; you do not really know what is going to happen. How you watch and what you are doing while you watch will have an impact on what is happening on the stage. The potential for a powerful communal experience in the act of coming together is a constant incentive to going to the theater. The audience teams up with one another to have an impact upon the stage and also learns from one another how to watch the play.

DrupalCon, Symfony Live and WebVisions will co-locate their May 2013 conference in Portland, Oregon

attendees can buy a pass to just one of three conferences or purchase a Combo Pass to get access to all three events, which will include admission to an exhibit hall and the attendee lunches. Tickets for Symfony Live and WebVisions will be available this month, and DrupalCon Portland will will go on sale January 2013.