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1. Description of Our Community
Fengtian is in Hualien, Taiwan. It's located at the north of Hua-tung North-south Valley, and belongs to Shoufeng Xiang, Hualien County. It's about 25 kilometers away from Hualien. Fengtian was a Japanese colonial village before, but now it is divided into three villages: Fengsan, Fengli and Fengping. Though they are located separately, in fact, they share the same historic memory, culture, and natural resources. Some Japanese traditional sites or even the customs can still be seen in these three villages. This community is called "Fengtian Three Villages" or just "Fengtian". In the recent years, because of the industrial development, many historic sites have been destroyed. Some villagers have gradually sensed the declination of history and thus begun to urge local people and the government to protect their culture, a very unique one, indeed. So far, people here organize a group called "Fengtian Community Management Association" which is sponsored by the Central Government to carry the historic reconstruction into effect. The group designs many classes and activities for local people to join, hoping that they can appreciate the value and the beauty of their hometown and then become engaged in preserving this historic treasure.
2. Summary of Our Project
Fengtian was an officially-run colonial village during the Japanese Occupation. It was called "Toyota" before, but don't misconstrue, it was not a car company at all. Since the early twentieth century, Fengtian had been a Japanese colony for almost forty years. During that period, Japanese did a lot on the village, such as setting up a primary school, a clinic, and spreading their religious beliefs. After the World War Two, most of the Japanese colonists went back home to Japan and left lots of things, both material and spiritual, behind. The Japanese houses are quite different from the Taiwanese ones, and so are the temples. Different cultures can be seen through different architecture, and this is very evident in Fengtian. The old doctor's house, the old police station, the old tobacco towers, the primary school and even the old trees reveal vividly those historical memories. The most amazing about Fengtian is its multi-culture. In addition to the Japanese culture, Haka, Holo, Aborigines, and the new colonists from other provinces in Mainland China brought in their own cultures. All the cultures mixed together and formed a unique and diverse multi-culture of its own. Fengtian is famous not only for its historic value, but also for its natural resources. There were asbestos and jade mining areas before, and both of the minerals brought a lot of fortune for the local people. Moreover, because of the abundant underwater and the numerous ponds, it provides an extremely good habitat for all kinds of waterfowl and has become an important stopover for the migrant birds.
3. Our Computer and Internet Access
A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%
B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:2-3
C. Connection speed used in the classroom:not sure
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 have ADSL speed-connection at school, but while at school, we didn't have much time to deal with our project. So, we worked mostly with the dial-up modem at home after school. Although the Dial-up ran a little too slowly, we still worked hard with it because we had much more working time while at home.
4. Problems We Had To Overcome
1. We didn't have enough skilled students: At first, we had six teammates, and all of them are very good at typing. But only the team leader had the experience and ability to make homepages. It really took time and the leader had too much work. Finally, we found two more students to share the leader's job. And then, the problem was solved. 2. Time was not sufficient: Because most of the teammates are in the second year of junior high and they have lots of homework to do every day. So, it was difficult for us to work together after school. We could discuss our project and visit our target place only on the weekends. When in school, we worked on the computer only during the short break time after lunch.
5. Our Project Sound Bite
As a man sows, so he shall reap.
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
In Taiwan, the ¡§Local Resource Education¡¨ now plays a very important role in our basic nine-year-long education. And it¡¦s also valued by the Education Administration. Therefore, every citizen in Hualien has the responsibility to further their understanding of Hualien. Moreover, being members of Taiwan, we should know the history of our homeland. Our project not only makes students better understand the history of Hualien but also presents the beauty and historic value of Fengtian. In the past several months, students were engaged in discovering the old history that most of them didn¡¦t know. Every time they visited the community and talked with the aged people, they always became fascinated with those exotic but familiar history and memories. At the same time, some teammates who didn¡¦t have any idea about how to make a homepage at first now already know what it is all about. During the whole process, they have learned a lot of knowledge and technical skills. And most of all, they have known how to cooperate and work actively, but not nervously or randomly. Meanwhile, we are very positive that using the Internet for teaching and learning is indeed more effective than traditional methods. For example, our project needed a lot of historical information. With the Internet, we could look for what we needed on computers rather than choosing a limited amount of books in the libraries or bookstores and then coping what we needed to students. The Internet takes less time but offers more information for both teachers and students.
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