[Localization] Spanish wiki page to lang-xx

[Yama Ploskonka]

As usual, Ed, you raise some intriguing points.
let me snip off some stuff.

Edward Cherlin wrote:
> On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 4:02 PM, Yama Ploskonka <yama at netoso.com> wrote:
>> There is one major barrier, and it's cultural.

> If we invite them to participate, is that sufficient for them? 

I do not think so.  Some OLPC principles might  help here, such as 
saturation.  Connecting people to lists and to the wiki right off the 
bat, as a given, not just as a maybe.  I know of a major deployment who 
AFAIK is still trying to figure out if they even want a list.

 > Or do
> they expect to be told in detail how to participate? 

Some of it does apply.  I guess something like a "survey" which gives 
the appearance of being less threatening might help.  The open ended 
questions would give us probably the best start point.  Would need some 
backroom work, though.  something not quite like a blank page, but some 
leading questions that could trigger answers we can work from.  "What 
did you find difficult?"  "What neat trick did you discover by yourself 
you'd like to mention to others?", that sort of thing.

 > Or is it even
> possible for them to think about saying something themselves without
> someone to give permission each time?

There's always the a-cultural big mouths like myself and maybe Javier 
(sorry to drag you into this), but then it's very obvious we do not 
represent the silent majority, because we are not, well, silent :-)

It sounds like a conundrum, yes? how do you get the silent people to 
speak out.  But we need to get there.  A lot of them might think 
retribution will hit them if they speak out, and it's possible that risk 
is there.

> What does Constructivism say about changing one's mental model of
> society after it has formed?

That's your field, bro, dunno.  Any educator worth his salt believes 
that (his brand of) education is the way to change mindsets, so my bet 
is for training :-)

> You may be right, but I have grave doubts that it will be so easy. I
> have had great difficulty getting Americans to use Wikis even after
> they saw the advantages.

I agree with your assessment here.  We have to prove both of us wrong by 
finding a solution...  Part of it might come by realizing if the goal 
fits the perceived need of our clients.

So far the training offered in Uruguay or Peru does not include relying 
on materials coming from the web, but on standard classroom listening 
and  following instructions coming off a carbon-based unit.  There is no 
reason teachers will care to contribute to a medium they do not depend 
on.  Again, McLuhan.

>>  > Anything to get the global community to post, I say. In fact, why
>>  > don't we create Spanish and French mailing lists, and take requests
>>  > for others?
>