Ben, how about a "tech mentor"? Chris Calise www.ufda.net
----- Original Message ----- From: "Ben Armstrong" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2002 10:06 AM Subject: [school-discuss] What's in a name? > I have a naming problem. > > I'm revising Debian Jr. documentation and the web site, and in doing so > I realize that we don't really have a good name for the people who help > children with their computers. It struck me that this isn't a problem > specific to our project, which is why I'm turning to the members of this > list. > > So I brainstormed with Justin Zeigler of OSEF over this problem on irc > and together we came up with a list of words, some of which I prefer > better than others, and for some very specific reasons. But without > biasing your opinion, I'll just give you the background for the problem, > and the goals I have in mind for a replacement term, and then the list > of words. I'd like you to review them and tell me which seems like a > "best fit" and why, or suggest some alternatives. > > I had been using the phrase "children and their sys admins" fairly > liberally up to this point, and that might be suitable today, with > Debian Jr. being focussed on the sys admins who install Debian Jr. on > behalf of children. But I'm afraid the term sys admin is too narrow > a designation and won't survive as a generic label as we branch out. > Please refer to http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-jr where I use "sys > admin" throughout. I think in most instances on this page, it is an > accurate description of the role, but as my documentation grows beyond > the systems level to touch the users themselves, the label does not > fit so well for everyone in the helping role. Beyond the initial > system install and the occasional upgrade, the "sys admin" may not be > around often, fading into the background. > > Parents, teachers, teenaged siblings, relatives or friends my all take > "helper" roles when children use computers. What is a term that best > describes the primary person or people in the "helping" role? The term > should not have primarily dominant or authoritarian undertones. It > should not be specific to one particular kind of relationship (like > "teacher") and it should be a "comfortable" term both as a > self-designation for any of these people and as a term used by the > children themselves. I want some term that embodies support, > co-discovery, and mutual enjoyment in the relationship. > > Here is our list of "keepers". I will not list the ones we rejected, as > they are too numerous. I'll deal with my specific objections to those > if any of you chances to come up with one of them. > > advocate > agent > aide > guardian > helper > pathfinder > patron > sponsor > > Thanks, > Ben Armstrong > p.s. I unavoidably designated the role as a "helper" or "helping" role, > in this post, which is not necessarily an endorsement of that very > general term as a favourite. I merely chose it since it seemed > like the broadest term which encompassed all others, perhaps for > that very reason a bit too broad. (Oops, there I go biasing you :) > -- > nSLUG http://www.nslug.ns.ca [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Debian http://www.debian.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [ pgp key fingerprint = 7F DA 09 4B BA 2C 0D E0 1B B1 31 ED C6 A9 39 4F ] > [ gpg key fingerprint = 395C F3A4 35D3 D247 1387 2D9E 5A94 F3CA 0B27 13C8 ]
