School: Tamkang High School
    New Taipei City, Taiwan, Republic Of China, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

9 students, ages 16-17 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on January 11, 2022. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2022

Classes and Teachers: Humanities and Social Sciences

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.tksh.ntpc.edu.tw/nss/p/index

1. Description of Our Community

Pastor Kai Rui Li, who’s name translates originally into George Leslie Mackay, arrived in Taiwan 150 years ago, and since then began his missionary journey in Tamsui, where he landed. Pastor Mackay's influence is not limited to the Tamsui area, and even has extensive and far-reaching influence in the northern part of Taiwan. Pastor Kai Rui Li was repeatedly rejected and humiliated during the early days of his mission due to the fact that foreigners were not understood and accepted among the locals, but the situation improved with the arrival of the first disciples. In the following 30 years, Dr. Ma Kai devoted himself to mission work and was instrumental in the development of Christianity in northern Taiwan. His descendants and the students he cultivated also made significant contributions and had tremendous local weight. Dr. Mackay is a significant figure in Taiwan's religious history, for being the first western missionary to bring Christianity to northern Taiwan.

2. Summary of Our Project

The title of this thematic research project is 'The Legendary Life of Mackay in Taiwan'. We would like to review Dr. Mackay's contributions in the fields of religion, education, and medical care in the northern Taiwan region (especially the Tamsui district) through literature research and interviews. In addition, we also hope to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Mackay's mission to Taiwan through the creation of a website, as well as promote the great spirit of Dr. Mackay's love for Taiwan and allow more people to acknowledge his resilience and selfless love.

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

The biggest roadblock we encountered in the beginning was the technical aspect of the project, due to our inexperience in operating art design software, and we didn't understand the programming needed to set up a website either, but we overcame the technical problems thanks to the guidance of our seniors. In addition, we also encountered the bottleneck of insufficient literature material during the process, which we solved by interviewing experts on the subject of our research. Thanks to these experts and teachers, who altruistically provided their views and opinions, we were able to acquire information that wasn’t available on the internet and address the lack of data. However, the biggest problem we encountered during the whole project was 'lack of action', and because of this, the progress of this research project was close to being stagnant for a long time. We really appreciate the schoolteachers and seniors who didn’t give up on us despite our slacking and helping us complete all the website content, one step at a time.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

It was a quite an experience for us to represent the school at the International CyberFair 2022. We had to work together frequently to solve issues while working on the project. This process taught us that teamwork often stimulates the incredible potential of the group, and the results achieved by collective cooperation often exceeded the sum of individual achievements. The theme of our website is 'The Legendary Life of Mackay in Taiwan'. The reason for our selection of this topic for research was because Mackay's eldest son, Kai Rui Lian (George William Mackay) actually founded Tamkang High School. For all Tamkang High School students, Dr. Mackay and his family are part of our campus life. 2022 also coincides with the 150th anniversary of Mackay's missionary mission in Taiwan, so by participating in the International CyberFair, we hope to educate more people about the extraordinary life of Dr. Mackay.

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

The theme 'Mackay's legendary life in Taiwan' was chosen because of our school, Tamkang High School’s deep relationship with Dr. Mackay. Not only was Tamkang High School founded by Mackay's eldest son, Kai Rui Lian (George William Mackay), the school history museum on our campus also houses a lot of historical materials about Dr. Mackay and his family. These first-hand materials were of great help in the enrichment of our website when it came to content. During the process of data collection and interpretation, we also consulted many literature and history workers or teachers who are engaged in the research of Mackay. These experts or teachers enthusiastically shared with us the results of their years of research during the interview, and even had many small stories related to Dr. Mackay to share with us, which was information that was not recorded in general market books or the Internet. It was this kind of information that gave us a more comprehensive understanding of Mackay, so that he is no longer just a character in a history textbook or documents.

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

.Scanner .Desktop computer and Laptop .Projector .Smartphone .Digital Camera .Cloud storage .Libraries .Museums

When it came to acquiring equipment and tools needed, we were very fortunate, as we were already in possession of several hardware items that became invaluable towards our completion of the project, such as Laptop computers and art tablets. The school also lent a us hand by lending us one of their state-of-the-art video cameras for recording purposes. These tools came in handy on more occasions than one. The laptop computers made the conversion and organization process of material information a lot easier than it would have been and carried a number of useful software that helped in their own way, from image processing to content production, such as Photoshop and Lightroom. Smartphones also played a huge role in the completion of the project, as it allowed teammates to stay connected not only to each other, but also to the latest information and progress. All it took was the push of a few buttons and new and essential information can immediately be shared and received by all members of the group, no matter where they are. The laptop and smartphone proved to be extremely useful items for all they have accomplished in link with the thematic project.

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

Contestants who participate in the 'International CyberFair' have a responsibility to uphold their mission of introducing the local characteristics of their region to audiences around the world. In the past few months, we have used a series of methods such as data collection, literature research, character interviews, photography, and records to first complete all the data related to Dr. Mackay, while simultaneously organizing our research results gradually. We hope that through the far-reaching influence of the Internet, more people around the world will get to know Mackay and our community better. We strive to complete the content of our website, become the best community ambassador, and promote Mackay's story to more people.

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

Over the past 150 years, many missionaries have come to Taiwan with religious zeal. Among them, non-other identified with Taiwan the most than Pastor Mackay. Not only did he marry a Taiwanese wife, but his two daughter’s hand in marriage were also taken by Taiwanese individuals. When he was 28 years old, he came to Tamsui, and he wrote in his diary: 'I was excited when the boat entered Tamsui Harbor, and immediately understood that this was the place to be. No one has ever preached on this land before. Praise the Lord!' He fell in love with Danshui's natural beauty at first sight, a love that continued until he died of throat cancer on June 2, 1901. Dr. Mackay came to Taiwan from Canada and made his home in Tamsui as a base for his missionary work, medical care and education. After untold hardships, he established churches, medical centers and schools. He not only contributed a lot to Tamsui, but also had a great impact on Taiwanese society. The main purpose of this project is to help more people understand Mackay's efforts for his hometown, to help them feel his selfless dedication, learn from his love and sentiment for his work and service, and most importantly, we also hope that more Taiwanese can develop a deeper connection to the land where they grew up on and become a person who truly cares about their hometown through this website.

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

The reason behind our participation in the '2022 International CyberFair' was mainly because we were inspired and moved by our seniors. They signed up for the '2020 Taiwan Internet Expo Theme' competition last year with the theme of 'Rugby Soul of Tamkang High School', and with it they were awarded the highest placement of the year - the Gold Award. http://librarywork.taiwanschoolnet.org/cyberfair2020/tkshsocial/index.htm) Because of their outstanding performance, we, the younger generation, yearned for the opportunity that we could one day shine on the stage like our seniors. Despite our ambitions, we encountered many technical issues at first, for we had no idea on how to set up a website, what we would do for the design of the webpages, and how we would produce artistic elements digitally. Just as the situation seemed bleak, our savior for this competition was sent to us by God – Howard Hsu, our senior. The senior not only provided us with professional and technical support, but also selflessly contributed his previous experience on participating in the Taiwan Net Expo competition, feeling that is was his obligation to guide us. He was not only our director when it came to technical operations, but also acted as our guardian angel, who supported us in our time of need. Senior Howard Hsu's care and dedication to us reminded us strongly of Dr. Mackay’s selfless dedication.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

During the production stage of this project, the archives that we had collected and organized with great effort were accidentally deleted by a team member at one point. This tragedy became one of our most unforgettable memories from our time working on the project. All of us were extremely frustrated when the accident occurred, because it meant that weeks of hard work had just been unraveled in an instant. Fortunately, the incident happened during the early stages of the competition. Although everything had to start from scratch, the instructor told us that we could either continue to spend time complaining and being swallowed by regret, or we could view this accident as a 'lesson' and find a way to turn our tragedy into a happy ending. Thanks to the reminder from our teacher, we learned from our mistake, and also developed the good habit of backing up files every time we edit the data.