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1. Description of Our Team
Lee Keng Boon – “I am 16 years old this year. As the team leader of the group, I strive to maintain constant synergy, teamwork and discipline in the team. Being the research, it’s my duty to ensure that I break down all the complex chunk of information into digestible bits in a bid to ensure that readers who have no prior experience or knowledge on globalization or trade would be able to understand! As the vice-captain of the Badminton Club, I have the experience and the know-how to boss people around and ensure they meet their deadlines, at the same time vetting through their quality of the work! With mounting school work everyday, it was tough to maintain the team harmony but alas everything went smoothly.” – when there is a will, there’s a way!
Chua Wang Zhi – “I am 16 years old this year too! As the webmaster of the group, I take charge of all the information that my group members send me and organize them! As the chairman of the EC³ club, I have a vast amount of experience in coding, as well as web creation skills! Furthermore, through my learning of the complex computer world , it actually gives me an excellent ability to grasp complex concepts which makes me the most suitable for dissecting the complex theories and information my group members send to me! Lastly, it’s my duty to ensure that the colors and font suit all of you!
Aaron Koh – “I am 15 years old this year and am also another research in the group. With my great passion in the area of humanities especially social sciences, I was left in charge with doing research of the complex issues like the factors influencing countries decision to …
2. Summary of Our Project
Since in the coming year most of us in our school would have to take economics as a subject, we realized that instead of waiting till next year, why don’t we prepare ahead! That’s the reason why we came up with this project so as to better understand the complex issues and theories behind economics, globalization and trade! Furthermore, we have also heard from our seniors that economics is not an easy subject to study for, so we hope that through our project, our peers in the future would be able to utilize our project to help in their understanding of the lessons and possibly even used by teachers in their lessons! By making use of creative tools and interactive platforms to present our information, we hope that students can learn, at the same time, have fun! Basically, our project is focusing on the issues of the impacts of globalization in improving the overall welfare of the global population and the different aspects of trade and investment like the factors influence trade and investment. Furthermore, we also have added an extra element in our project, which is the use of HDI (Human Development Index) whereby countries are ranked accordingly to their life expectancy, education, literacy, GDP and standard of living. During our research on the HDI, numerous websites have made it inconvenient for us to search for a specific country with over 177 countries squeezed together in a single page with microscopic font size! However, through a search function and a real-time map, we hope to make life easier for people interested. We also believe in using mind maps and point forms to present our information because we believe that interactivity and simplicity is the key yardstick that separates us from any other information site!
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
Life is never a bed of roses and it’s only through setbacks and problems that we can taste success. Similarly, in our case, during the course of our project, we faced numerous problems like an incompatible schedule. Due to the fact that most of us are from different classes and programs, our lessons vary quite often, thus it wasn’t easy to find a common time for us to meet up together with our mentor! However, with the advancement of technology, we managed to make do by meeting up online at night via online programs like MSN and Skype
Secondly, our next problem was the mountain of tests we had to face during the course of our first term! With such a tight schedule, it wasn’t easy for us to make time to continue with our project and that was when proper time management had to be observed and most of us had to make do with our leisure time to continue on with our project. Though it may seem tough initially, but we upon completion of our project, even if we do not win anything, we are definitely enjoying the fruits of successes!
Lastly, because of the fact that there weren’t many resources in our library regarding the issues of economics and globalization, we had to rely on internet resources, which could present a credibility flaw, however, through rigorous group discussions and analysis, we managed to differentiate facts from myths!
5. Our Project Sound Bite
Are you coping with your economics subject well? Can’t seem to grasp the concepts in class? Well, these are some of the questions most students have to ponder during their course of study, however, we believe that through this project, we hope to allow them to learn and understand the concepts in a fun way and at the same time, prepare ourselves and our current batch of peers! Furthermore, we also hope to enlighten people who have no prior knowledge in this field and realize the importance of globalization and trade to our economy and the overall well-being of the population
6. How did your activities and research for this Doors to Diplomacy Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
We believe that our project certainly has fit into our school’s curriculum because after browsing through notes from our seniors on economics, we realized that though the content was there, but trying to understand them was mind boggling, thus decided to initiate this project in the hope of helping our peers and seniors to better understand what their teachers are saying in a more interactive and fun way. On the flipside of the coin, I believe that through this project, we have also learnt proper time management and teamwork because it wasn’t easy to come together and sit down to discuss on our project, coupled with the fact that tests were coming at a fast and furious pace! We also believe that the internet is a more useful tool in terms of teaching and learning as compared to traditional methods of notes after notes because what the internet offers is interactivity, which textbooks don’t offer.
Some of the theories we found on the internet were indeed quite tough to understand so we actually sough our teacher-advisor to aid us and help us dissect them into simple-to-understand terms. In the process, though, we feel that we have actually learnt a lot on economics, business and trade and much more prepared for economics as a subject next year!
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1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your Doors to Diplomacy project?
In this project, we made use of a whole variety of tools and technologies. Technology was in fact, the most vital ingredient of our project. We made use of both print and online resources for our prior research on the topic. The newspapers, magazines like Times as well as the internet played a highly important role in our project. The computer was also a tool which we made use of at most stages of our project. One of our team member, Wang Chi, has been a revelation at his superb grasp of Macromedia Flash as well as programming tools like Java, amongst other computer programmes. These tools have been a key part of our project, for we have included stuff like interactive timelines and quizzes on our webpage that were made using flash. Moreover, the unique search engine we have provided in our webpage could not have been possible without the use of Java. In addition, Adobe Photoshop allowed us to create a website template that was unique and original to our group. The formulation of the interactive world map which is included in our webpage could not have been possible without the use of programming tools like Java as well. Indeed, it would be adept to say that information tools and technology are inseparable in our endeavour to complete the project.
All the aforementioned tools belonged to us, and we did not borrow any from the school or any other places. In a nutshell, the most valuable tool to us was the computer itself. With the computer, a whole library of information was available to us with the use of the Internet, and this coupled with the whole list of computer programmes like Macromedia Flash and Adobe Photoshop allowed us to add on a new, interactive dimension to our webpage, and inevitably to our project.
2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your Doors to Diplomacy project both on-line and in person.
A primary goal of the Doors to Diplomacy Doors program is to raise awareness about the importance of international affairs and diplomacy. In this section, tell how your team has acted, or will act, as 'ambassadors' for your Web project to help raise awareness about the importance of international affairs and diplomacy. ( An 'ambassador' represents his or her country or, in this case, project, to promote, inform and educate, publicize, and otherwise encourage people to visit and learn from your Web project.) Describe contacts and connections you have made with potential visitors to your Web site, and describe future plans you have to encourage more visitors to your Web. Also share any interesting anecdotes or stories or outcomes of those contacts. For instance, did you get any visitors or donated services because of your contacts? Are people impressed with the work that you are doing? How did they tell you they are impressed? Limit your comments to 300 words (2000 characters) or less. If you have a compelling story to tell, then create a Web page as part of your project pages and make a link here.
3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?
We believe that our project will make a difference because we only conducted our survey after announcing to the school that our website is on display and surprisingly, some of the comments made by our students e.g. John Yeo 16 years old,” I was struggling with my economics subject for quite awhile but your website certainly has made my understanding easier, especially the page on the needs and wants. Good job,” Since in the coming year most of us in our school would have to take economics as a subject, we realized that instead of waiting till next year, why don’t we prepare ahead! That’s the reason why we came up with this project so as to better understand the complex issues and theories behind economics, globalization and trade! Furthermore, we have also heard from our seniors that economics is not an easy subject to study for, so we hope that through our project, our peers in the future would be able to utilize our project to help in their understanding of the lessons and possibly even used by teachers in their lessons! By making use of creative tools and interactive platforms to present our information, we hope that students can learn, at the same time, have fun! We also have established a closer working relationship with our teachers because many of them would constantly provide feedback to us and discuss some of the issues we raised in our website and whether it was suitable for class. All, in all, we hope that our website would serve as an interactive platform for students to make use of to understand their queries, at the same time, having fun whilst learning!
4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?
Our group would like to take this chance to acknowledge all those who have helped us in one way or another. First and foremost, our mentor Mr. Ng Seaw Choon provided us invaluable advice and a listening ear when we poured out our worries to him during the course of the project. He made sure that we knew where the project was heading towards, and also enlightened us during the whole course of the project with his astute experience in the area of economics.
Moreover, our project could not have been completed had it not been for the many people who sat for the survey we had organized. They took the survey and aided our research tremendously, not to mention without a word of complaint. Their help is greatly appreciated, and our group would like to thank them from the bottom of our heart. To add on, the group of people who sat for the surveys are none other than our friends in school. They did not expect anything in return and willingly aided us. It was an eye-opening experience for our group as well.
Lastly, we consulted online forums during the course of our projects. There, we posted up several queries to the global community. It was heartening to see that many people from around the world responded to us, enlightening us and providing us invaluable advice regarding our project. Though the communication was long-distance, it was nevertheless fruitful and a fresh experience.
5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)
Throughout the course of the project, our group made a plethora of discoveries, both innately within the group and towards the project as a whole. Our group realized over the course of completing the project, that teamwork is essential in our everyday lives. It is only with teamwork that one can truly succeed in a project like this, and everyone has to play to his own strength, contributing actively to the team. Mutual respect for one another is also very pertinent and we have to learn how to accommodate each other in the group. One has to be tolerant of each other’s flaws, but be an admirer or each other’s talents. Only then will the group possess a positive team spirit laced with optimism. Secondly, this project has been a very good “pre-lesson” to our Junior College lives. In college, unlike high school, we will be taking a new subject called “Economics”. This project has opened our eyes to a whole new academic field, and prepared us for college life in time to come. It deviates from the normal genre of subjects that we take in high school, and that posed a little problem at the start.
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View our Doors to Diplomacy Project
(Project ID: 5255)
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