Project Elements

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

(1).　Five desktop computers and three laptop computers: establishing a website and data collection and analyses.

(2). Photocopy machines: xeroxing related materials

(3). digital cameras and SLR and Smartphone: picture taking.

(4). one recorder: interviewing our subjects

(5). USB: saving data

(6). Notebook: Hutchison progress

(7) Ms word2007, 2010, 2013: collating information

(8).Facebook & Line: communication.

(9). Internet Explorer & Google Chrome: searching for online materials

(10). PhotoImpact x3: photo editing

(11). Macromedia Dreamweaver

(12). PowerDirector and Ulead VideoStudio: editing films.

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

　　　Our students emphasized that they are international trade majors and they want to do something valuable about the globe now and even in the future. We are glad that they have developed the vision of being global villagers and appreciate for their doing kindness to the world. They started bewaring small but significant things from their surroundings. When they decided to introduce Shanshuilu Eco-Park, also called as Green World Ecological Park in Chiuchuang, Taiwan, we told them that not many literatures of Shanshuilu Eco-Park they could find; the only thing they could do was to explore it individually in the field. They said that they wanted to be a pioneer and be a spokesperson for the community. During the process of doing the project, there were some anecdotes worth mentioning. First, they did all the arrangement of the interviews with the officials. Next, when the officials explained the history and development of the eco-park to them, their concentration and involvement convinced the officials, who explained patiently and enthusiastically, to believe our students’ willingness, commitment, and ability to fulfill this job. Our students promised to show their website to them when they finished it. It is a rare situation that the officials agreed to meet some unknown high school students and gave them presentation and demonstration. Then, our students sacrificed their weekends and holidays to do all the field survey and observation. Our students laughted at one another, saying that it was pleasant for them to do a project and have a field trip with suntan at the same time. This indeed is not easy for students who are studying at night school. We are really impressed by their humor, courage, and enthusiasm. Hereby, we would like to say that our students are qualified to be ambassadors.

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

Doing this project indeed makes a difference in our life, our community, our school, and even more. First, for us, it helps us develop not only the component skills of technology and communication but also the needed knowledge to perform a research-based task. Next, because of our web-based project, people can know more about Shanshuilu Eco-Park, the green world ecological park in Chiuchuang, Taiwan. To be honest, we did not really know the community, Shanshuilu Eco-Park, because little sources did we find about it online. Likewise, many of our classmates did not know it well, either. For example, when we were suffering searching information about it and asked many of our classmates whether they knew the community, many of them said, “Not really”. If the ones said yes, they just knew it is a recreation place for them to hang around there, not one of the environmental actions and outcomes. Most importantly, our web-based project helps us comprehend the facts and methods of environmental protection (EP), promote an outstanding effort of EP in a small village, and further educate the public the concepts of EP. Before doing the project, the concepts of EP for many people like us seem to be words in a textbook only. Now, it is crystal clear and concrete. Some other students in our school even want to do a follow-up task. All in all, the community that used to be an undesirable place, now it apparently becomes a pearl of great value. Many people in this community in fact are concerned about the EP issue and we, small potatoes, hope to use our project to help them pass through the voice for nature.

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

The completion of our project would not have been possible without the help, advice, and encouragement of many people. To begin with, we would like to thank the residents and Environmental Protection Administration officials who helped us understand our community, the green world ecological park. In addition to the detailed and patient explanation of the history and development, they even taught us how human wastes are transformed into a valuable resource for the environment. They also made us know it possible to love the earth like them. Second, we thank each of tourists who visited our community for helping us fill in the questionnaire. They stated their thoughts and reflections about our community to better our understanding. Third, we express my profoundest appreciation to our two advisors, ChiaLan Chang and Yu-Ying Chang, for their guidance and patience throughout this project, not only in technical knowledge and skill but also in language and research-notion consulting. We still remember the time when we were struggling and proceeding our project, worrying about how we should do, they always stood by us, offering timely help and keen insight into the significance of our project. Fourth, we present big thanks to our each team member for their tolerance, support, and heartfelt expressions of love when fights and disagreements happened all the time doing the project. The friendship made us feel working with each other an unforgettable and wonderful experience. Last but not least, becoming one of the Cyberfair teams is not easy, but it is meaningful. Thank you, Cyberfair!

5.Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises

We were stumbling along while doing our project. At the beginning, we spent a lot of time deciding what project we wanted to do. Then, finding time for one another to get together was not very easy because we are high school students in night school. Many of us had a part-time job in the day time, so we used many weekends and holidays to conduct the project. In addition, although all the team members are familiar with one another, disagreement and arguments occured inevitably, which challenged our esprit de corps. With our enthusiasm, we made it, though. Furthermore, interviewing the officials in EPA was challenging and nervous because, except for school faculty, we’d never talked to any official in the government. Last, each activity in the project must be done with its good value and significance, so comprehensive planning consumed us a great deal of energy and time.