School: I-Lan Senior High School
    I-Lan City, Taiwan, Taiwan

5 students, ages from 16 to 17 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 12, 2001. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2001

Classes and Teachers: Chang, Huei-Chen

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.ylsh.ilc.edu.tw/

1. Description of Our Community

Taiwan, also called Formosa, is a picturesque island located in the Pacific Ocean; our place of residence is the most beautiful place in Taiwan. Although there is no prosperous industry and business sector in this lovely world, the friendly residents of hospitality enjoy a simple life style and make every efforts to protect the environment and to retain the delightful landscape--all these are the characteristics we value the most. The geographical environment of Ilan County is enclosed by mountains and the sea, creating a very special local atmosphere, humanist concept and political stance. People in Ilan are so tough that they always stick to their ideals and have no fear of oppressive power. In addition, they emphasize the importance of environmental protection and culture and develop traveling enterprise. The Statistics show that people in Ilan have the highest self-esteem in being local residents among the counties and cities in Taiwan; they have the most willingness to introduce their hometown to people from other parts of Taiwan. The County is also the most competent among the counties in Taiwan.There are numerous local residents who stress the importance of community development; many of them are even willing to devote everything they have to the community. For instance, Ms. Liu Tien, wife of Governor of Ilan County, is exactly a person who cares about the society and local community. However, she does not do it simply under an obligation because she feels that the nature needs her and it is rewarding to do something for those enthusiastic people.

2. Summary of Our Project

Our project is about a brave woman of beauty and wisdom. As a new Taiwanese feminist, her capability and boldness almost overpass her male counterparts. She is one of the participants in the history of Taiwanese democracy, as well as a pioneer of the environmental protection movement in Taiwan, who contributed to the birth of Chilan National Park. She is also the mother of our classmate and wife of governor of our hometown, -Ilan-. Never claiming for fame, she devotes herself to Taiwan without expecting anything in reward. In order to make her efforts visible, we took her as the theme of our project to record her contribution to democratic development, environmental protection and ecological maintenance. We also hope that her story will encourage people to work harder for their ideals and do better for the society.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:21-50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:more than 6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6

E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):

The internet environment at our school is provided by the ISDN double network of Chung Hwa Telecom.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

At the beginning of the project, a number of difficulties emerged since some of the members in the team had to participate in the scheduled club activities. We had numerous discussions about the arrangements for the interview because some had to go to the cram school, while some lived too far away from the school to take the school bus. When we finally went for the interview, there had been a gap of several weeks between the interview date and our provisional schedule. Considering this, we treasured the opportunity very much, though some of the questions we asked went beyond Ms. Liu Tien's expectation. It was very kind of her to offer positive comments on our interview as thorough and well-prepared. Many emergent situations also occurred quite often, such as members' withdrawal, technical problems and lack of experience. Fortunately, most of them were sorted out with the support from our leader and his mother, Ms. Liu Tien, a number of social groups and our teacher. Thus we all owe a debt of gratitude to them. One of the members who had withdrawn was convinced by our enthusiasm and decided to return to the team. The process was incredibly exciting and enriching.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

The democratic process, environmental protection and ecological maintenance is not accomplished in one day. It takes people's sacrifice, efforts and devotion to perform these tasks. Their attitude is worth our consideration and learning.

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

We learned "Chiu-Chin," a female revolutionist at the end of the Ching Dynasty in China, in history and Chinese lessons. However, she seemed to be very distant from us. Later we met another "Chiu-Chin," from whom we learned the modern history of Taiwan and the importance of environmental protection and our own ecological environment.I believe that the webpages we made are not only a personal biography but also a record of how a new Taiwanese woman can do for her country and society. These webpages enable people to understand the deeds of a democratic worrier, a pioneer of environmental protection and a protector of ecology.Regrettably, the cooperation in the team was not quite satisfactory due to a very heavy studying load in our senior high school. In spite of this, we had "brainstorming" with our interviewee by asking one question after another. This is a perfect example of a saying: "Two heads are better than one." Surely our division of labor was going quite well. Actually we didn't know what "Taiwan Cypress Woods Protect Association" means at the beginning of doing this project. We had a better idea about the February 28 Incident and the murder of Lin's family after reading intensively about them. To be honest, we felt terribly awful when we were reading the documents in tears.As for the learning process, we found that learning based on tasks provides us with more self-motivated and effective learning experience than learning by memorization. We will have more fun if we are offered time and space to think about our tasks and complete a report.The world of internet is so infinite that you name it and you get it. You will have lots of fun but you may get lost sometimes.

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

Telephones: Contacting team members and the interviewee to confirm the time, date and place. Television or radio stations: Referring to relevant news.Digital cameras: Using SHARP and OLYMPUS 2002 for taking photos and creating MPEG4 files and then transit the data to the PCs via USB.Scanners: Using EPSON STYLUS SCAN2500to scan the pictures into the computer.Recorders: SONY Mini Disc DIGITAL RECORDComputer software: : FrontPage 2000, Photo Impact 5.0, IE 5.0, Word 2000, Windows 98, Microsoft Photo Draw 2.0¡CLibraries: Ilan County Cultural Center Library, Ilan City Library, Ilan Senior High School Library, Tsunah Foundation. Oral interviews: Interviewing Ms. Liu Tien, Chiu-Chin by using the latest MD digital recorder!

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.

Our leader acted as an ambassador, who had to contact all the students and teachers, as well as borrowing equipment and ordering lunch. He seemed quite capable of doing the job because he had succeeded in completing a webpage project before. Although our time and ability were very limited, other members also played the role of ambassador supportively. We learned how to integrate social resources to ensure a smooth process of our work and data collection. Our leader's mother is an "underground ambassador". We would never be able to interview Ms. Liu Tien, collect the data and produce the webpages for the project without her coordination. We were told that she even contributed money to the Taiwan Cypress Woods Protection Association. She also supported the Association by joining the demonstration in Taipei to request for more attention to the protection of the cypresses woods in Chi-lan. There were another two "shadow ambassadors": Miss Chen, Shu-Yun of the Governor's Office and Miss Lai of the Taiwan Cypress Woods Protection Association. Ms. Liu Tien, Chiu-Chin was also our ambassador, who helped us to find plenty of valuable information and the support from Tsunah Foundation. Once we asked Ms. Liu, Chairman of Environmental Protection Association, to tell Ms. Liu Tien that the appointment was canceled. However, she seemed not to be able to contact Ms. Liu Tien or perhaps she forgot to do it. Later our leader apologized to Ms. Liu Tien without mentioning this anecdote so as not to cause any embarrassment.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

In our hometown, people know Ms Liu Tien, Chiu-Chin as the governer¡¦s wife. Through our webpages, people recognize her as heroine and learn what she has done for our community. The most important thing we want to present is that many things we take for granted are achieved by people who pay a great deal for it. They may have made considerable efforts or experienced a variety of incredible conflicts or sacrifice before they make it. For example, there were so many difficulties in the process of democratic development (and so many people died); people have to protest in public for environmental protection (to fight against Tai-Sou Company in order to avoid the air pollution in Ilan); some people's living has to be taken into account when it comes to ecological maintenance (e.g. aborigines in Chi-Lan Mountain and the personnel in the Ilan Forest Development Center).

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

At the beginning of the project, it was our leader's mother who helped us to contact Ms. Liu Tien and obtain her permission to be interviewed. Next, our leader set the time and space for interview with Ms. Liu Tien. With Ms. Liu Tien's support, we obtained the assistance from Young Sun Foundation, Tsunah Foundation, Taiwan Cypress Woods Protection Association and Ilan Environmental Protection Association, who provided us with information, places and pictures. Ms. Liu Tien also offered us generously the data and magazine report about herself. Miss Chen, Shu-Yun of the Govenor's Office helped us to contact Ms. Liu Tien and confirmed interview schedule for many times. We appreciate her help very much.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

The most exciting thing is that Ms. Liu Tien is so moderate and kind that she never shows any arrogance. Since her child is our schoolmate, she is just like our mother--she is by every inch our Auntie Liu Tien.After completing the project, we discovered loads of things behind the scene, which we had never learned before--especially those related to the democratic process in Taiwan.Our leader's mother has been of great help. She encouraged us to do our level best so we finally realized that "Rome wasn't built in a day" and "Every why has a wherefore." If we had not devoted our consideration, efforts and concentration to one single thing, it would be quite unlikely for us to finish our project in time--we would even fail. We also learned the importance of communication and coordination in a group. All these will become our most wonderful memories.