School: Shimen Junior High School
     New Taipei City, Taiwan, Taiwan

8 students, ages 14 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on January 30, 2015. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2015

Classes and Teachers: Cheng, Hsing-Ling, Huang, Pei-Ching

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.smjh.ntpc.edu.tw/default.asp

1. Description of Our Community

Located in the northern tip of Taiwan and closed to the East China Sea, 'Shimen' has a very beautiful ocean views in different seasons. In spring and summer, the ocean is gentle and poetic. In winter, due to the strong winds and cold weather, it would be severely cold here. However, The beauty of North Coast ocean views make Shimen the National Scenic Area and well-known for the tourists all around the world. Traditionaly, the International Kite Festival is held in November. This big event makes Shimen ?Hometown of Kites ? and well-known all over the world.

2. Summary of Our Project

In this project, we will introduce you the beauty and entertainment in Shimen. First, the anual'Shimen International Kite Festival' is the country's major events which draw attention all over the world. Therefore, we will tell you many interesting things about kites; from types of kites, kite making and flying, the director of Shimen Kite Associatio, etc. Then we will focus on Shimen International Kite Festival. this wonderful event won’t dissapointed you. There are a lot of fun things you can do here. At last, we will introduce you the natural beauty of Shimen to you.

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:1

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

1. Web pages producing is actually a very big challenge for us. Although primary school teachers have taught us a little about it, how to make a nice and functional website still need lots of effort and discussion. 2. As for the other categories of IT equipment, from basic voice recorder, photocopier to camera, each is not familiar for us. It takes time for us to learn how to use them properly.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

The entire case study and the process of creating web pages is such a long process. Conflict and disagreements occurred several times during the process. Some people complain about too much work. Under the teacher's guidance, we learn to accept other people’s opinion. After adjusting ideas and encouraging each other, we try to overcome the problems little by little. Although there is still a lot to go, we will continue to move forward.

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

This project makes us know much more about kites. School also offer relevant courses about kites, making it an important part of our school courses. (?)Combining the arts field, art teachers teach students to make indoor kites and to paint kite. Performing Arts teacher teaches students to dance with indoor kite. Music teacher teaches students to choose appropriate music as a soundtrack, so that students can dance with the beautiful music. These courses make Shimen 'Taiwan's northernmost indoor kite school.' (?)Combining the service learning activities, we teach and accompany the Shimen elderly. We teach the elder to make indoor kites and spend a relaxing holiday together. (?)Combining the community activities, the teachers invited Kite Association to teach students to operate stunt kite, therefore, we will have access to super-kite technology, making the heritage of kites more effective. (?)Combining the IT education, in this project, we learn a lot about data collection, web producing, taking pictures and so on. Thanks to the IT volunteers and our teachers, without them, we will never know how to use those IT products and make our own website.

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

We use desktop PC and laptop to searching for information online and make websites. We use 'kompozer to make websites'. 'Filezilla' is a tool to share the information and data.We use 'FastStone photo resizer ' to resize the photograph. As for data collecting, we use the camera and a recorder.

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

Our main interviewee is Mr. Cheng, Keng-Ho. Under the assistant of our teachers, we get his contact. Through email, we set up our first day of interview and the subsequent interviews. If we need to ask Mr. Cheng, Keng-Hoon the spot, we would discuss the issue first, find out the questions, compile them in order and then tell Miss Huang our need. Everyone in the team is the spokesperson of the project.

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

The most important impacts are the advancement of our two abilities. The first one is our IT ability. Through producing the websites, we learn how to tell stories by the websites. The second ability we’ve learned is interviewing people. Under the guidence of teachers, we learn to ask adquate questions. During the interview, we learn to listen carefully and to take notes completely. One impact is the difficulty of making kites. It is not easy as ordinary people think. You should concentrate and focus on every detail. If one is careless, the kites will never fly in the sky even you put so much effort on making it.

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

The majority of website text is interviewed, summarized, filmed and organized by the team. Some information has been searched from online articles that have been re-edited by our team members. Most of the pictures in the websites are taken on our own. The It volunteer college students teach us how to use the IT software and hardware well. We interview some community elders in Shimen. Their experiences really broaden our view on the project.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

From Mr. Cheng, Keng-H, we can feel an elderly efforts to promote the culture of the spirit. He always spends his time serving the public of Shimen and striving for the rural disadvantaged children. From making kites, we learn the importance of coroperation and carefulness. We also know how to harness the wind. Because of Shimen strong northeast monsoon, we could see the kites flying in the sky beautifully. To add more, the most surprising thing for us is getting to know the “interactive kite”. This kind of kite’s wings can swing up and down which break the tradition of inmovable kites. Thanks to the efforts of Shimen Kite Association members, without them, we will never have chance to learn this.