(三) Project Elements  

How did your activities and research for this International Schools Cyberfair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

1. Merging the social and multi-faced education:
During the course of doing the project, we visited various parts of the village and the old tribal site for photo shooting and information gathering on Wednesdays and weekends. We shared the things we learned from those outings with students who were not involved in the project, and by showing them photos they were able to take the journey with us. Students were often surprised that there were so many interesting stories in the community they live in, and as a consequence of being intrigued by the stories, they would often went home and asked their parents things like: “what is our family tribal name?”, “where were we from”, and “where did we live?”. Every Wednesday afternoon the students would watch the project team went out for interviews with envious eyes, and asked us to tell the teachers that they would also like to join us. Unfortunately the students were not able to join us because there was not enough room in the cars. Nonetheless they would still bombard us with all sorts of questions regarding the project, it was really a task for us to answer them all!

2.Cultivating the love we have for our home town:
While doing the project, we stepped out of the school and went into our tribe. Through the website, we hope to introduce people the beauty of our community, and to bring a piece of hometown for those who moved from the tribe to other parts of Taiwan, so that they would be proud of the remote Paiwan Village. We all worked really hard for achieving these goals, and we encouraged each other throughout the process. It is with hope that in the boundless world of the internet, the small Paiwan Tribe, the beauty of the deep mountain forest, and the old tribe full of legendary tales would be known by everyone.

 

3. Our journey of growth:
We aimed to help every student to shift from passive executor to someone who is active in asking questions, planning and organizing; from a listener to a presenter; from a reader to a writer. Knowing how to ask questions, make notes, and analyze information in a way that makes sense to ourselves. We know that if we don’t do it now, we will lose more and more cultural history, and we will forever stay at the stage that we only speculate based on legends but not facts. The project also helped us improve our ability in using the mother tongue.

 


What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your Cyberfair project?

We used many information technologies for doing the project, including:


Information technology device

How to use them

Provider

Digital camera

It is the most important thing for taking photos during interviews and for capturing sceneries in various places.

Teachers

Digital video camera

When it was difficult to capture special moments with photo cameras, we were taught to use digital video camera during the interviews. We were able to show other students what we got with the video camera, for it was the truest presentation of what we actually experienced during our outings.

School

Scanner

We scanned many precious pictures and photos with the scanner, which converts documentary information into digital information, so that we would be able to process using computers

School

Audio recorder

We recorded the interview contents with the audio recorder every time we did our interview.

Teacher

CD-Rom burner

We saved extra copies of photos in the CD-ROMs while we were doing the project, and after we have finished the project, the teachers made us copies of the photos and the final version of the website for us as something to remember by.

School

Computer software

Website constructing software, FrontPage and dreamware, and photo design software, Photoimpact and Irfan View, enabled us to build up our website and web design.

School

The internet

Useful for information gathering and communicating through emails.

School

Telephone

Through telephones we made appointments for various tasks and contacting with one another.

Home

Books

We did our research of Paiwan Tribe’s customs, history, and geographical features in the books.

Teachers, school

Field trips

We visited elders, chiefs and historians of the tribes, and went to Old Paiwan in the remote mountain area, the old tribal site down the hill, small tribes scattering various spots, and the original sites where legendary tales took place.

Everyone

*In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your Cyberfair project both on-line and in person?

With the starting point of cultural history, we visited the tribe’s elders and chiefs, who told us about the history. The information they gave us were translated by teachers or tribesmen fluent in the mother tongue, and they asked the elders and chiefs questions for us, in order to find some tracks to the past. We also visited historians of the tribe, who knew much about the history of Paiwan Tribe. Then we visited houses of the chiefs, in order to obtain more detailed information, as well as for the opportunity of seeing more exquisite historical articles in their houses. With so many visits, we hope to let people get to know more about the ordinary-looking Paiwan Tribe at the roadside of Yan-shan Highway. Although the village does not have dashing appearances, it is a place full of history, culture, natural features, and art. It is a place deserves your visit.


*What has been the impact of your project on your community?

1.The project’s effect on tourism:

We often met some tourists on our outings. At first they were not sure what we were doing, but then with more understanding, they would show their admiration and appraisal for what we were trying to do. We hope that through the project tourists would be more interested in digging deeper for the tribe’s history. By knowing Paiwan Village, they would develop a love for old tribal sites, and would then grow to love tribal arts, history and culture. Moreover, we hope that by introducing Paiwan Village, people would have more understanding and become more interested in the tribe. Here in the village we have culture, history, natural scenery, Paiwan art, and it is also a good place for mountain hiking. The project could work together with the tourist bands of Maulin National Scenic Area, and attract more tourists.

2.The project’s effect on educational resources:

The project could serve as an educational example, as well as the best resource for outdoor education. During the process of doing field trips, we learned that beautiful sceneries were just right next to us, and historical information was almost ubiquitous, all we needed to do was explore. We also hope that our passion could be delivered and touch more people.


* Intellectual property rights

Most of the contents of the website were completed by the teachers and the students. The source of the information included visits, books, and information in the internet. The website contents were the result of our numerous visit notes, document reading, and discussions. All the photos were taken by ourselves. Although they were not the most beautiful photos, due to the limitation of the instruments and techniques, they were nothing but real. All the referred information and pictures were noted with citations and references, and the use of them were also permitted by the publishing authorities. We also give thanks to the information providers.


*Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises

Getting to know the history of Paiwan Village was the most overwhelming thing for us. We learned that our village has a history of over a thousand year, and is one of the origins of Paiwan Tribe. The village has the art and culture of Paiwan Tribe, and many people have worked very hard for passing down Paiwan Tribe to the next generation. Through the process of working on the project, the teachers, team members and community residents all learned the beauty of this land, and how to treasure it. Although this land has no sky-scrapers and trains of cars, we have the simple and honest spirit that others don’t have, and the fresh air and the greens that everyone is after. We would like to tell everyone that we love living here; it is a place that we are proud of, and deserves a visit from you.

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