[OSM-talk] New approach to teaching newbies - Educational method and app for mobiles

[Petter Reinholdtsen]

[Kjell Are Refsvik]
> If you find that you have the time to do so, I would appreciate a
> posting on the mailinglist or a few lines of text in an email
> commenting on the following questions:

I had a look, and did not quite understand the mentor/protege part of
your idea.  Adding a few comments anyway. :)

> 1. To what degree do you find the idea of "Legitimate Peripheral
> Participation" and "Mentorship" relevant to the OpenStreetMap
> logging case described?

I agree that it might be easier to get started as a contributor if
some mentor is around to assist.  But one important feature of
openstreetmap, which it shares with well functioning free software
projects, is that everyone can get started without needing assistance,
and without having to wait for approval, access or other limiting
factors.  This make it possible to contribute according to ones own
ability, interest and time, and having many newcomers do not drain
resources from the project because experienced contributors have to
spend time teaching newcomers.

This make me unsure if a mentor/protege model is a good one to promote
in OSM context.

> 2. What is your comment on the suggested context-awareness aspect of
> the outlined application?

It look interesting.  One thing I noticed was that it seem to assume
that only features 'on top of' the current location are tagged.  Some
times one want to tag nearby features (like a gas station next to the
road one is driving on), so it should be possible to add points at a
distance from ones own location.

Good luck with your project. :)

Friendly,
-- 
Petter Reinholdtsen