slightly long and detailed proposal for documentation-translation workflow
Mitch Bradley
wmb at laptop.org
Tue Oct 16 15:19:03 EDT 2007
At the current rate of XO software churn, any printed book will be
obsolete/inaccurate before the ink is dry.
Todd Kelsey wrote:
> I have been struggling with my literary agent and trying to knock
> someone over the head with a wet noodle into realizing that there
> *will* be a market for a book, and trying to suggest going with an
> e-book, with editorial support from a publisher, put it on amazon,
> develop the whole thing in a robust authoring cms so updates and
> multilingual versions can be easily made. one publisher responded with
> fear, blah blah blah, and I made an attempt to provide rationales
> (including insights from Wikinomics, which has helped me to be able to
> articulate some of the value propositions), but I'm 2 degrees away
> from throwing in the towel, and inviting whoever wants to join me in
> making a multimodal community book. then maybe when the publishers
> wake up they could license it and use their distribution channels to
> put it in stores.
>
> I don't know if the publishers realize how cool the little green xo is
> as a way for people to get acquainted with Linux.
>
> Ok I'm throwing in the towel. We could call it the Hitchhiker's Guide
> to the Laptop. I don't care what the title is. The community could
> name it, write it. If anyone is interested in helping learners who
> desire a book to get acquainted with the very wonderful work you are
> doing, please feel free to get in touch.
>
> Maybe the proceeds from the book could go towards a series of laptop
> libraries where the laptops could be checked out by kids.
>
> I guess in the same time it took to write this email I could have
> written a wiki page.
>
> On 10/16/07, *Steve Fullerton* <fullerton.steve at gmail.com
> <mailto:fullerton.steve at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Good points. The OLPC is designed around collaboration. The
> model really works well where every child in a class has his/her
> own laptop, uses it in and out of school, and lives in close
> enough proximity to other class members to make the Mesh work. In
> class one kid discovers how to do something and teaches the other
> kids (and teachers as well).
>
> In an address at Harvard Law, Negroponte said something like:
> "People ask me who is going to teach the teachers to teach the
> children how to use the XOs --- and I wonder what planet are they
> on? ..."
>
> A child who gets one through G1G1 in isolation will not be able to
> fully benefit from collaboration and thus, along with
> parent/tutor, would definately benefit from user documentation in
> lieu of help from others in class. Likewise, the Carlos Slims
> approach of putting them in Mexican libraries.
>
> If G1G1 goes big-time in November, you can sure bet that there
> will be "OLPC for Dummies" books, etc. by Christmas.
>
> On 10/15/07, *Todd Kelsey * <tekelsey at gmail.com
> <mailto:tekelsey at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> I am amazed and inspired by all the wonderful projects and
> activities that have arisen from the laptop project -- and
> though I was skeptical at first, I have also come to
> appreciate the constructivist approach to education; I didn't
> "get it" until I came to appreciate the notion of allowing
> children to come to "aha" moments on their own. The fact that
> children do fine without manuals at the present level of
> interaction is a testament to the design of the computer and
> the philosophy behind it. As generation xo grows older, I
> think they will want to get deeper into the systems, and as
> they do, I think they will want more information, and I'd like
> to help make that freely available.
>
> I think a user manual or documentation will be more helpful
> for adult learners who will end up participating in the laptop
> community, and who would find it helpful to have something to
> refer to. Perhaps users could learn many things simply by
> exploring, and yet they might appreciate having something to
> turn to. Other people may not have personal possession of a
> laptop, but would be interested in learning how they could
> support the project. Some people who order the laptops through
> www.xogiving.org <http://www.xogiving.org> will get frustrated
> with the laptop if they have no resources to turn to, and I'd
> like to help them have fun.
>
> I think the idea of encouraging children to help each other
> learn is wonderful; I also appreciate the principle of
> inclusiveness, and I think that one way to be inclusive is to
> address various learning styles.
>
>
> On 10/15/07, *Steve Fullerton* < fullerton.steve at gmail.com
> <mailto:fullerton.steve at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Hi Ed and all,
>
> I fully appreciate the detail. However, IMHO I think that
> there is some re-thinking required re: the traditional
> "user" documentation. The core of the OLPC (literally
> one laptop per child; the model does not work as well if
> there is not possession of a laptop for each child) is
> that of collaboration.
>
> One child learning something and then teaching his/her
> classmates. OLPC machines are not meant to be used in
> isolation. You could actually make a credible argument
> that user manuals are bad for the project.
>
> The highly intuitive design of Sugar and the experience of
> the pilots bears this out. The children seem to do just
> great without manuals, discovery is enhanced, and many of
> the constructionist ideals are realized.
>
> What do you think?
>
>
> On 10/15/07, *Ed Trager* < ed.trager at gmail.com
> <mailto:ed.trager at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Hi, Michael,
>
> Just a few comments for consideration by everyone:
>
> > ...
> > Doc writing conventions:
> >
> > Some linguistic research has been done on "simplified
> English" as a
> > subset of English to use for low-level learners, and
> I think that it
> > might be a good place to look for ways to simplify
> the source_docs.
> > But just thinking intuitively, I have cooked up the
> following
> > suggestions in order to generate discussion:
> >
> > * Pronouns.
> > o Use the first-person singular pronoun "I"
> to represent the
> > author of the docs,
> > o the second-person singular pronoun "you"
> to represent the
> > reader of the docs, and
> > o the first-person plural pronoun "we" to
> represent the OLPC project.
> >
> > o Examples. "We have designed a screen that
> switches to
> > black-and-white to conserve energy. I will explain
> how to switch your
> > screen to black-and-white. First, you press the X
> button on your
> > keyboard...." Because we want the docs to be easily
> translated and
> > easily understood, the tone should be personal, using
> "I" for the
> > voice of the writer. This will be easier for amateur
> translators to
> > translate and easier for younger readers to
> understand. This will also
> > help the writer avoid the passive construction, which
> is very
> > difficult for some non-native English speakers to
> understand.
>
> I agree completely that the English passive
> construction should be
> avoided at all times.
>
> I mostly agree with your suggestion on use of
> pronouns. Use of "I"
> and "we" are fine.
>
> REGARDING THE PRONOUN "YOU" IN ENGLISH:
> ----------------------------------------------------------
>
> However, as a native English speaker, I find the use
> of the pronoun
> "you" in the imperative mood often quite jarring.
>
> Imperative sentences in which the "you" is absent are
> understood by
> native speakers of English to convey a softer, less
> imperative tone.
> Such sentences are considered more polite. Compare:
>
> (A) "First you press the X button on the keyboard."
>
> ... versus:
>
> (B) "First, press the X button on the keyboard."
>
> One or two instances of "you" in imperatives or
> directions in spoken
> or written English may not seem too bad, but after a
> series of them,
> it becomes irritating.
>
> So while I have no objection to simple English which
> will be easily
> understood by younger learners of the language, we
> must also be sure
> that we do not proscribe an incorrect idea regarding
> the usage of the
> pronoun "you" in imperative sentences in English.
>
> In short, it is *not* OK to use "you" repeatedly in a
> series of
> imperatives or directions (such as instructions for
> using a laptop).
> The absence of the pronoun "you" is preferred when
> giving directions
> in English.
>
> REGARDING POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS:
> -----------------------------------------------
>
> Look again at the sentances Michael used for his example:
>
> > I will explain how to switch your screen to
> black-and-white.
> > First, you press the X button on your keyboard...."
>
> English speakers make frequent use of possessive
> pronouns, as is the
> case here with : "your screen" , "your keyboard" .
>
> But in many other languages (perhaps most other
> languages?) we would
> not use possessive pronouns here at all. All of these
> English
> "your"s, if translated quite directly into foreign
> languages, results
> in very annoying and unnatural sounding texts in my
> experience.
>
> So I would advise we try to fix the English from the
> start by avoiding
> unecessary invocations of possessive pronouns,
> especially "your":
>
> I will explain how to switch the screen to
> black-and-white.
> First, press the X button on the keyboard...."
>
> I basically agree with the rest of Michael's
> suggestions, so that's
> all the comments I have.
>
> -- Ed Trager
> _______________________________________________
> Devel mailing list
> Devel at lists.laptop.org <mailto:Devel at lists.laptop.org>
> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
>
>
>
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Steve
> ____________________________
> Steven C. Fullerton
> email: fullerton.steve at gmail.com
> <mailto:fullerton.steve at gmail.com>
> cell/voice mail: 619.339.9116
> ____________________________
> _______________________________________________
> Devel mailing list
> Devel at lists.laptop.org <mailto:Devel at lists.laptop.org>
> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
>
>
>
>
> --
> Todd Kelsey
> 630.808.6444
>
>
>
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Steve
> ____________________________
> Steven C. Fullerton
> email: fullerton.steve at gmail.com <mailto:fullerton.steve at gmail.com>
> cell/voice mail: 619.339.9116
> ____________________________
>
>
>
>
> --
> Todd Kelsey
> 630.808.6444
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Devel mailing list
> Devel at lists.laptop.org
> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
>
More information about the Devel
mailing list