School: Dacai Middle School
    Xining City, Qinghai Province , P.R.China

6 students, ages 14-15 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 16, 2006. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2006

Classes and Teachers: Mr. Cao Yuanzhng, Mr. Liu Fagang, Mr. Tan Liang

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://qh000001.edu.17888.com/

1. Description of Our Community

The name Tar Monastery means 'Holy Place for the 100,000-Body Maitreya Buddha,' Zongkapa, founder of the Gelug (Yellow) Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, was born in the place where the Tar Monastery is located. Ta’er is more than 600 years old. Due to its size and influence, the Tar Monastery emerged as one of the six major monasteries of the Gelug Sect. The Tar Monastery is also famous for its butter sculptures, frescoes and duisui embroidery. Butter sculptures are most often of Buddha, other figures and flowers. It attracts thousands of pilgrims of Tibetan, Mongolian and other people.

2. Summary of Our Project

Tar Monastery is located in the Lotus Flower Mountain south of Lusha'er town. Huangzhong County, Qinghai Province. We mainly research on its history, scenic spots, Buddhist activities, Tibetan Buddhism and art. We have acknowledged the importance of teamwork in addition to improvement on making website. At the same time, colleagues from Town and Talent Co., Ltd have given us a lot of support and help. And our main purpose is to make more people know about the ancient monastery.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:none

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:1

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dial-up modem

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:2-3

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

We only have one computer having access to internet with the dial modem at the speed around 32k and our team members don’t have computer at home.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

We have established an 'online discussion group,' making use of the one hours on Thursday afternoon. The 6 team members all come from different grades and classes. We have little commonly free time apart from the time for group activities. Therefore, we make use of the lunch hour three days a week for group discussion with the teachers.

This is the first time we participate in the CyberFair. The three supervising teachers and the team members lack previous experience in webpage construction. We have to consult others whenever difficulties arise, hence, we have to overcome all kinds of hardships and difficulties during the process.

Our computers are very old with low proceeding speed and surfing speed is also terrible. However, with our endeavor and help from Town and Talent Technologies, we have succeeded in completing the website. We are proud of ourselves and the experience is unforgettable.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

We have got a better knowledge of Ta’er Monastery’s history. The activity has enhanced our teamwork spirit and improved our communicating and interpersonal abilities.

We have learnt a lot about communication with others. Although the process of research is harsh, we know that there is no harvest without sowing. The sweet fruit comes only with hard work. We have also gained the valuable experiences of interacting with others; this ability will be a long-life benefit for us.

By working together on the project, we have a fresh knowledge about ourselves. We not only see the merits of others, but also realize the strength of ourselves. With a common goal, we learn to 'respect, communicate, be considerate and understanding', and we come to understand the meaning of 'humility, contribution, agreeableness and gratefulness.'

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

The activity involves literature, history, geography, computer, art and culture. We have learned many things that are not in the text books.

We break out of the classroom, and learn from the real-life environment and experiences and from various experts in history and culture. Through this research project, we have learnt how to search for information, how to conduct an interview, how to organize information. These abilities will become our life-long assets.

In addition, Huangzhong County Museum and Ta’er Lamasery Management Committee gave us a lot of support and help. Although due to the busy study, we had to do the work at noon break time and weekends and sometimes we were very tired, we have a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.

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

(1) Hardware facilities: computer, digital camera, recorder, scanner, flash disk, scanner.

(2) Computer software: Dreamweaver for webpage editing, PhotoImpact for graphic processing, Microsoft Word for textual information editing, Outlook Express for receiving and sending mails, Internet Explorer for browsing website, ACDSee for image browsing, CuteFTP for transmitting information.

(3) Internet: E-mail, message board, FTP server,dial-up modem.

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

We consider it our responsibility to make the public understanding the 'history of Ta’er Monastery', thus we should play the role of 'community ambassadors' and reveal this history to others.

We have tried to tell others what we know and introduced Ta’er to school mates and villagers.

We realize our research result in the form of signboards, as well as a homepage hosted by the school website. Apart from being a resource for countryside education, the homepage also allows citizens to deepen their understanding of the local history through the Internet. The website we make is believed to make more people know about Ta’er and Tibetan Buddhism.

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

Through this research project, we have come to know more about the history of Ta’er Monastery and Tibetan Buddhism. We are fully confident that our work, when finished, would be the most exhaustive online resource on “Ta’er Monastery” at the moment.

In the process of research, we have felt the public's concern about the future development of Ta’er Monastery.Protection of cultural assets has become the most concerned issue in the past decade. We hope that our project would not only deepen the public's knowledge of Ta’er Monastery, but also arouse their recognition and passion for cultural assets.

We all have a kind of passion and confidence unique to ourselves. Through this project, we have established good interaction with the community. Our actions are full of passion, and we behave with full confidence.

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

We interviewed Ta’er Lamasery Management Committee,Huangzhong County Religion Department,Huangzhong County Museum in order to learn more about history of Ta’er Monastery.

We interviewedTown Talent Technologies in order towebpage construction.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

We have got a better knowledge of Ta’er Monastery’s history and the story of Tsongkhapa. The activity has enhanced our teamwork spirit and improved our communicating and interpersonal abilities.