School: Kao Yi National Elementary School
    Taoyuan county, Taiwan, Fu Hsing Hsiang

10 students, ages 11 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on February 21, 2006. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2006

Classes and Teachers: Hsu Kun-Chen

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.gyes.tyc.edu.tw/

1. Description of Our Community

GaiYi is located at the 40 kilometer of Northern Transverse Road, Fuhsing Township, Taoyuan County.The Upper GaiYi area in GaiYi is 1250m above sea level, and the residences are mostly Tayal descends and most of them are prayerful Christians.The word “GaiYi”, meaning “drought” in Tayal, was living a group of optimistic Tayal. Everyone living in GaiYi is always wedded to his family, his homeland and his race.The natives are noted for their hospitality.There are always tourists throughout the year

2. Summary of Our Project

Causation: Our school is located the Tayal national tribe, the geographical position belongs to the Fuhsing Township of the mountain. They are content with life. The Tayal culture laboriously relies in world is hard to maintain her life. In under the tribe, the community, the school adults are ambitious the gentleman to lead diligently avoid the culture dissipating. The inheritance, is a difficult work, but actually also is urgent. Therefore, we must unfold the Tayal race in the adverse circum

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:more than 6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:1

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

We completed the web pages I school. The computer classroom in school is connected to the web with a 100 MB education fiber optic line. The web pages are stored on the computers of the teachers. We use the computers in the computer classroom to upload the data to the computers of the teachers by using the My Neighbors function.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

The problem and solution Unstable attendance rate

The pupils here usually went to church service on Saturdays or Sundays. Some of their parents work regularly outside the village and went home only on holidays. Therefore, these parents tended to take their children outside for leisure. Some of their parents are actually living and working elsewhere and only the grandparents were still living in the village. The pupils have to help with the housework and therefore attendance is hard to control.

Solution

The teachers tended to use the school hours to discuss with the pupils and put their insights into words. They encouraged the pupils in the positive direction and have taken additional effort for higher attendance so that more pupils can take part in the activities. Problem and solution

Language barriers

Language barriers were a critical problem in the interviews. Some of the seniors here do not just speak the Tayal dialect. They blend the dialects with Japanese. Some of them even cannot understand Mandarin.

Solution

We invited parent volunteer workers or teachers of the tribe who speak their mother tongue well to the interviews for two-way interpretation, and used a tape recorder to record the conversations.

The Dissipation of historical culture

No written record has been made on the community. The people of the tribe gradually are being amalgamated into the values of the mainstream society. Therefore, some of the information obtained from the interviews may have errors or be incomplete.

Solution

We looked into the information useful to us from limited resources. With the assistance of the village office and the seniors, village chief and cultural workers of the tribe, we compiled and matched all the data we obtained to sort out the accurate and complete historical materials

The pupils are not proficient in language:

The education environment in remote areas is far behind that in urban areas. Therefore, pupils there could not articulate themselves with words properly in the interviews and keep records. They can use the computer much better, but they still had language problems. This should be improved.

Solution

We conducted an exercise drill and discussion each time before we headed for the interviews. We guided the pupils to respond properly to the questions and absorb information, and discuss with the teachers on how to write the insights. The teachers did not make direct corrections.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

This team of a few digital heroes brought with them modern information technology to the tribe. They take with them local pupils, who will act as the heirs to this legend, to find out and understand the people who breathe and live on this small piece of land. They will find out how this remote but beautiful land gave us such a touching tradition, and will seek to preserve the ethnic cultures in this community. In so doing, school will no longer be just school. Le us share the burden to merge with and participate in eye-witnessing and carrying on this part of history.

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

This research is based on the traditional Tayal community culture and the specific features being preserved. The school mapped out relevant curriculum in this direction and led the pupils to follow different topics in different courses in order to help them to understand Tayal culture. In addition, this research also helped to achieve the goal of cultural preservation through education, and perpetuation of traditional Tayal culture not just through paperwork.

(1) The school-centered curriculum

The focus will be on understanding the history and culture of the tribe or the village. Different topics will be set down for different school terms for designing respective curriculum. Different levels of learning will be designed for pupils of different grades. Currently, what has already accomplished is the exploration of hot springs and falls in the district and the lecture on hunting and related practical training. There has been positive feedback from the pupils.

(2) Curriculum with special features

Different courses with special features will be arranged in accordance with the scheduled curriculum of the year, including dancing and sculpture. This arrangement will help to promote traditional Tayal arts. Local cultural workers will be employed to give lectures on these traditional cultures. Lectures will be given on every Wednesday and Friday afternoon so that all pupils can learn these traditional Tayal arts. (3) Variety Functions

The school has made use of the weekly variety functions to introduce Tayal dance and music for some time. There will be two Tayal dance and music training sessions every week. A school team has been organized for this purpose. This team always participates in inter-school contests and stage performances and has been awarded in the national dancing and singing contest for the best dance. Besides, the school has designed a voluntary learning program centering on Tayal culture and was supplemented by this special research project in order to enhance the sense of identity of the pupils with their ethnic culture and hometown.

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

.Interviews Interviews with seniors and other people of the tribe. .Computer Search for data via the internet, liaison by e-mail, share experiences in the discussion zone and production of the result. .Books, Magazines Reference: books including Our Hometown, Folk Cultures of the Aboriginal Tribes… etc. .Tape recorder Record the content of interviews. .Digital cameras,V8 Use digital cameras and DV to record the interviews and the course of the contest. .Scanner, printers Use scanner to process the image and graphic and printer to print out the materials for circulation.

.Telephone, fax Liaise with the interviewees via telephone and fax. .Computer software FrontPage2000, Dreamweaver MX, PhotoImpact7, Microsoft Windows XP , Office 2000 , WinRAR 3.0 , ACDSee 4.0 , and realplay10.

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

We used the Summer and Winter holidays to visit or discuss with the people there at least once or twice a week. During the school terms, we used Saturdays and Sundays, or the evenings (19:00~21:00) of Mondays and Thursday to process the data.

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

The main topics are the understanding of the origin and the story of the face tattoo, mouth organ and the performance of the ancient pieces and how to carry on such pieces. In addition, they also interviewed the elderly with face tattoos for their stories and gathered relevant information on the cultures of this place. The subheading of the research included the profile and history of the village, and the detailed discussion of face tattoos, ancient melodies and mouth organs. The primary sources of data for research are interviews with seniors and workers of folk cultures there. Complemented by the special design of the school curriculum, this project can be used for achieving the goal of preserving local culture.

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

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

(1) We have learned very much in this event. Most of our team members are pupils in grade 6. Our biggest problem is the lack of information capacity. After the intensification of training, the young friends have continuously improved their information capacity. I realize that they are indeed splendid and terrific, even though they are young.

(2) When we went to visit the seniors of the tribe at the very beginning, these young friends really did not know what to do. They needed us to help them draft the questions for the interviews or they could not accomplish the interviews as planned. Later, some of these pupils criticized the questions prepared by the teachers and they wanted to raise their own questions. We are surprised with pleasure. They have grown up indeed, and they have their own mindsets. (3) This event allowed us to further understand the unique Tayal culture. Kao Yi Community contains ample hidden cultural resources. May we introduce our songs and dances to those who are interested in Tayal culture! Let us share our liveliness and passion!