|
1. Description of Our Community
1.Geographical Location
Fushan Village is situated in an area spanning the boundaries of Yilan and Taipei Counties, between WulaiTownship in Taipei County, and Husi Village in Yuanshan Township of Yilan County. The village is bounded by A-yuMt. in the north and Hongchai Mt. in the south, and is situated in the main region of Hsueh Mt. Range. It is located at a height of 400-1,400m above sea-level and the school’s administrative building is located at 614m above sea-level. On the eastern side of the community is Cukeng River, a branch of Lanyan River, and on the western side is Hapeng River, up-stream of Nanshi River.
2. Humanitarian Environment
The people from our village mainly originated from 3 areas. One group first arrived from Nantou to Fushan Village, led by “Yave Buna”, and was first to develop Wulai Township’s populations. The other group had moved from Taoyuan County in Fushing Township, while the last arrived from Yilan, a group that used to reside in the Old Hapeng Tribe. There is also another smaller group of people who, for easier access to Christian teachings, relocated from Ma-an Tribe to Fushan Village. By using Fushan Elementary School as the central point, Mao-an Li and Kalamoki, of Fushan Village, can be seen. Most of the agriculture in the village consists of animal farming, but some also farm organic vegetables and sweet persimmon.
2. Summary of Our Project
For some people, living in the mountains may be somewhat backward and laggard, but to others it is a pleasure to be away from the cities. Yet, after staying in Fushan you will discover that, “living in the mountain”, means more then a simple lifestyle choice, and that a group of people naturally exists here. The changing era had also changed the traditional way of life for the Atayal, as their village transformed from a self-providing community to one that farms fish-stock and hairy crabs on the lands left by their ancestors, and we hope that though our investigations and research we will lead everyone to see how the village had created its own agriculture, and how through marketing they turned the produce on their lands into competitive products
3. Our Computer and Internet Access
A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:less than 20
B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:2-3
C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection
D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:4-6
E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):
Our school is currently equipped with a computer room, with 15 internet-connected computers, and since most of the students do not have such privilege, all the necessary data collection and compilation required by this project were completed at school.
Additionally, the school also has a digital camera and scanner, and Teacher Shi-chang had also provided his pen-recorder to allow us to record valuable audio data. During each visit and interview, the students also fully took advantage of the opportunities to use these equipments, and because our numbers were few we were able equally share the usage of the various equipments among the student, so that we could all become skillful.
4. Problems We Had To Overcome
1.Informatics Skills: Since most of our children did not have computers in their homes they often needed stay in school to practice the programs they learnt, which meant that they would often miss the school bus, but the students were quite mature and would wait in school for the community bus or for the teachers to take them home. 2.Data Collection: The distance from school to the library is rather far, and it is not easy to travel up and down the mountain, thus most of the data were personally collected or found,. However, after much investigation, we eventually located a few villagers who had established organized management of their crops and livestock, and from the elders in the student’s homes Fushan’s history was traced. 3.Language: Most of the elders we visited only spoke the Atayal language and Japanese, consequently their ability to communicate in Mandarin was limited. The students could understand the Atayal language, but were not very fluent in speaking it, which meant that most of the time they could only spell out single words, so the teacher was required for interpreting the Atayal language where communication was required. Yet this did not affect the students’ curiosity and we were still able to overcome this problem, although comical situations where body language mixed with Mandarin and Atayal language did take place. 4.Transport: Often the locations we visited were very far from the school, and arrangements with the school were frequently required for usage of the school bus to transport the students. 5.Time Management Furthermore, during the event, rains and cold fronts had affected the condition of the roads.Fortunately, we had a group of super-tough volunteer teachers, who would always arrive regardless of weather, and also a group of lively students and teachers who chose to remain on the mountains, thus in the end each event was successfully and safely completed. 6. The great help and support from the Hope Agent Association We want to thank the Hope Agent Association for our participation in this event, since they had helped us solve the problem of funding and allowed us to conduct visits and improve our equipment. Also, to the school’s staff, community’s members and CyberFair’s staff, for your help which allowed us to overcome problems and difficulties, and for you assistance which warmed our hearts, we would like to show our most sincere and deepest appreciation here.
5. Our Project Sound Bite
“So a hot-spring also exists in Fushan!” “Kooeys are fireflies in the water.”… These questions had filled the children’s hearts with kaleidoscopes. We might be living in this tiny mountain village but we still have a broad view, and we not only saw the beauty of life in every living thing but also heard the sorrow that accompanied this land’s past. The pleasant and peaceful attitude of Yaki yokay provided us with an afternoon of learning, where she taught by example. During the interview with this elder, other than being able to fill their sheets with questions the children had not only learnt how to respect an elder but also how to, in this era of fast-paced lifestyle, calm down and listen to the stories of a grandma. From these interviews and field-investigations, we became closer to Fushan stepped out of the school to see the rich contents in the world of nature, which the students could respect. We learnt that the changing lifestyle and times would affect all things, including ourselves who are also part of the environment, so we must learn to be humble and thoughtful and grow together.
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
During this deeply meaningful event we discovered that, the students, teachers and volunteer teachers had not only acquired the opportunity to improve their techniques, but also learnt how to use the internet and programs to construct a webpage that told our story. They also learnt how to use digital equipment to record and store the unique local culture, and furthermore we also understood how to unite the two through humanitarian means, so that technology was not only metal instruments but also our partners in building and displaying the local agriculture and culture.
More importantly, the students also gained the chance to grow in interpersonal communication and self-atonement. They learnt how to conduct in-depth interviews and practiced how to be considerate during interviews. Also, prior to each interview and during post-interview discussions, questions aimed at guiding the students in self-conversation were designed, so that the children and teachers would think about what happened in the day’s activity, what role they played, what their feelings were, and what their findings were. We believe that this was the most important thing gained.
|
