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* <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> 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 * <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> 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* < [EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> 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* < [EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> 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 > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel > > > > > -- > Regards, > > Steve > ____________________________ > Steven C. Fullerton > email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > cell/voice mail: 619.339.9116 > ____________________________ > _______________________________________________ > Devel mailing list > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel > > > > > -- > Todd Kelsey > 630.808.6444 > > > > > -- > Regards, > > Steve > ____________________________ > Steven C. Fullerton > email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > cell/voice mail: 619.339.9116 > ____________________________ > > > > > -- > Todd Kelsey > 630.808.6444 > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Devel mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel > _______________________________________________ Devel mailing list [email protected] http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
