School: Li-Chih Valuable School
    Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China

10 students, ages 15-18 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 10, 2018. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2012.2013.2014.2015.2016.2017.2018

Classes and Teachers: Shih-Hung Lin, Pi-Hua Lu, Chung-Ying Kao

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://163.32.74.12/

1. Description of Our Community

Kaohsiung is located in the southwest part of Taiwan. Due to geological variations, Kaohsiung is famous for her natural landscapes and thus cultivates rich features in humanities. With culture influence from Fujian Province of Mainland China, many Chinese cultures were brought into Kaohsiung. After years of cultural evolution, Kaohsiung gradually develops her own traditional culture. Recently, Kaohsiung City Government has been devoted to preserving and adding glory to traditional cultures in many districts. Shadow puppetry is one of them. As a member of this community, we need to treasure and pass on this valuable traditional culture.

2. Summary of Our Project

The title of our project is Pride on Puppet; Revival from Kaohsiung. It is mainly about 'shadow Puppetry.' Shadow puppetry used to be a traditional and popular pastime in temple fairs for people in southern Taiwan. Due to its costly and complicated production process, the popularity of it has been declined. After further study on shadow puppetry, we think that it is such a pity to see this kind of traditional entertainment disappear. Therefore, we visited a local shadow puppet theater in Kaohsiung. Shadow puppetry is like an old version of movie. We thought that most plays are Chinese folk stories. To our surprise, the group leader even combines western fairy tales and middle east saga like Ali Baba in the show. As a result, this little change ignites our fire to passionately conserve our Kaohsiung local culture for the better.

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:more than 6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

Although we have already obtained certificates in web page design, our work is not that professional. Therefore, we use our spare time to consult our computer teachers and other experienced senior classmates for further advice. Each individual member has business such as volunteer activity to take care of. To have them gather at the same time is really difficult. As a result, we make use of the after-class time like four or five o’clock in the afternoon every school day to discuss related matters. Each member is responsible for different parts of the project. It’s kind of hard to get things organized. So we choose a team leader good at web page design and leadership to coordinate the whole project.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Our project does sound bite because people in Taiwan will be deeply fascinated by the play of shadow puppetry. There are many temple fairs in Taiwan. In order to spice up the atmosphere in the fair, many kinds of art performances are displayed and shadow puppetry is one of them. With their dedication and perseverance to this art form, we should let the whole world know that there is such a unsung hero in Taiwan.

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

The part we learn most about is how to design web page and put into practice. Besides, another thing we are proud is the richness of culture in Kaohsiung City. Kaohsiung is really a city full of surprises. For some of us, before we devoted ourselves to this project, we never knew that there is such a world-class shadow puppetry performing group in the community. After our teachers explained the origins of this project and the techniques we can apply, we really had a blast.

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

Hardware:

Digital Camera Uses:It is convenient to upload digital pictures, and it even contains filming functions.

Desktop Computer Uses:Searching for information online, designing websites.

Printer Uses:Print out data.

Scanner Uses:Scanning the collected pictures.

Cd Burner Uses:Organize information, data backup.

Flash Drive Uses:Convenient for us to store data and to carry around.

Cellphone Uses:Assign the jobs of every member through the phone.

Software:

Frontpage Uses:Designing the web

Photoimpact Uses:Creating the pictures needed for the web

Macromedia Flash 8 Uses: Animation making

Microsoft Word Uses:Writing the details of the web, designing structures

ACDSee 5.0 Uses:Viewing the videos filmed

Internet Explorer Uses:Browser for searching data online.

Others:

Notebook Uses:Recording the details of our interview.

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

We students are the best ambassadors and spokesperson because we try to pass this traditional art to generations to come. We even did a free publicity for the shadow puppetry troupe. The people and leader of the troupe really thank us for letting more people know and hopefully like this traditional pastime. Meanwhile, we also feel that they are a group of nice and hard-working people deserved to be respected by us. In a word, this project is mutually good for both sides. We are all impressed by the their efforts and learned a lot.

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

The impact we try to have from doing this project is to let more people, especially kids, know and understand about traditional pastime that their parents' and grandparents enjoyed. The Education Bureau of Kaohsiung City will help us to spread our website to other junior and senior high school students. As a result, my neighboring schools will know more about this traditional art. Best of all, students seem to like this topic a lot.

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

As I mentioned before, the Education Bureau of Kaohsiung City helped us greatly because it let more people and students have more knowledge in the shadow puppetry field. Besides, the Bureau also helped us contact related people who have involved in the shadow puppetry. We went to the Kaohsiung Cultural Center to see the shadow puppetry play and made some of the puppets in person by hand. During the process, we thanked people helping us finish the project and learned that there are still many people dedicated themselves to their respective field. Therefore, we as students should do more to give back to the society.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

Thanks to this research project, every member of the team really appreciates the meaning of teamwork and division of labor. The leader of the team thinks that a team is like a house building. Any little falloff will lead to the collapse of the house. Only through working together will the team achieve success. Though members had conflicts with each other in the process, we therefore cherish every moment and excel ourselves.