The pink, futuristic mini-truck that doubles as a recording studio for kids and teens
These youthful musings were recorded as a part of Studio Stream , a technology education project organized by LocalXChange , a digital literacy nonprofit created by Indiana University of Pennsylvania instructors Sean Derry and Sharon Massey. During the summer of 2024, Derry and Massey taught basic electronic skills to teens around rural western Pa. from their mobile workshop and recording studio, unconventionally housed in a renovated, retro-futuristic 1995 Japanese mini-truck.
"Our project is a little weird, you know," Derry tells . "This shiny mini truck that rolls in and there's no catch. It's free to participate. We're just interested in amplifying people's voices back into their community."
Derry and Massey envisioned the project as a way to break out of the mold of traditional tech education.
"So many ways technology is taught, it's sort of, everybody does the same thing, or there's a kit," Massey tells C. "And we feel really strongly that we want to start from a place where everybody has some original input into their ideas, and then they learn the technology, and it just feels like a more authentic way to learn how to use this equipment."
At events such as the Northern Appalachian Folk Festival and Brownsville River Festival, Derry and Massey taught young participants the basics of operating headphones, microphones, and control boards for audio recording. Once someone sat down in front of the mic, Derry and Massey took a hands-off approach, letting teens monologue, converse, sing, ramble — whatever they felt comfortable doing.
Massey believes that giving teens the space to speak in an unstructured format is essential to producing honest conversations."There are quite a few moments where different kids — the high school age kids especially — are talking about homecoming or dating," Massey explains. "It was just fun to hear that's something that's on teenagers' minds and that they're concerned about, and to get some different perspectives on that."
Participants also had the opportunity to go behind the scenes on a common piece of tech: Bluetooth speakers. Aided by Derry and Massey, teens learned about the invisible wiring behind the technology, and how to solder components to create a working speaker they were allowed to keep.
"It was pretty remarkable to watch them," Derry says. "They spent all this time building something, they turn it on, and they hear the Bluetooth pairing noise, and they get pretty excited about it."
With backgrounds in jewelry, metals, ceramics, and sculpture, in addition to digital design, Derry and Massey's work emphasizes the necessity of freeform creativity in a STEAM (the common acronym for science, technology, engineering, art, and math) education. Since founding LocalXChange in 2017, they've created programs such as , a mock reality competition show in which IUP students are judged on their original light fixture designs.
"I think as artists, you know, we see the work of LocalXChange simultaneously being art and education," Derry says. "And I think we've seen a lot of power in how those layers can invite people in different ways, and learners that don't self-identify as tech savvy, find a way in through a different door."
Supported by a $70,000 Moonshot Grant from the Pittsburgh-based organization Remake Learning , Derry and Massey describe Studio Stream as their largest and most community-focused project.
Derry says the conversations between participants often start superficially and evolve into something deeper. Derry remembers watching two Johnstown girls, initially hesitant to record themselves, reflect on the passing of one of the girl's pets after seeing an intimidating dog nearby."She said, 'I feel like some dogs are misunderstood,'" Derry says. "And it just felt like she was self-aware of the symbolism that there are also people that are misunderstood, and I think that felt exciting to see somebody open up like that, after not feeling super confident in their own voice, and then to access something pretty powerful and emotional."
The recordings now exist as five-hour-long edited radio episodes on LocalXChange's website. Derry and Massey also teased a nine-minute best-of version filled with funny conversations and touching moments that they plan to release on a seven-inch vinyl.
Listening back to the recordings to pick out clips, Massey says she was reminded of how quick and eager to learn the teens in the project were.
"You can do pretty complex projects, and they're incredibly creative and totally capable," Massey says. "I think sometimes people underestimate what kids are capable of."
