We've completed our program, using research and interviews for our background information, and have integrated the characteristics of Taiwan's educational system, such as: different languages, use of society, science, and technology. This was done through the steps listed below:
Apart from conforming to the Taiwanese educational system, taking the normal classes, we also designed a langauge and literature course, apart from knowing Chinese, we also integrated research into the course, learning more about Taiwan's natural characteristics. This research includes history, geography, economy, transportation, and industries, allowing us to better understand Taiwan, letting us practice research and gaining experience doing research. Using traditional educational systems, as well as hands-on experience with technology, we are able to take research to another level, completing this year's Cyberfair.
。In this year's Cyberfair project we are introducing Choxue founder Cheng Ho, as well as the impact he has made on our community through his organization. Because of Choxue, students in Taiwan who do not specialize in sports have a chance at finding higher education through sports they love to play, even when society thinks of sport as nothing more than recreational activities. It also allows sport-specializing students to have a platform where they can shine and perform their best in their sport, giving them another shot at higher education. As part of their mission to eradicate cram schools from Taiwan, using the time people usually spend in cram schools for sports and other interests, Choxue hopes to change the trend in Asia where sports are often overlooked, changing it to an essential part of society.
Interviewing people we don't know can be difficult, especially as talking to people we've never met before can make us nervous or stutter when we talk. Still, with sufficient preparation, we have learned to cope with the difficulties of interviewing people. After this experience, however, we can overcome our fears, using this as practice for future public speaking occurrences we might meet. For example, we learned we should only ask one question at once to the interviewee because if we give too much information, we may provide them too much information for them to absorb in such a short time. Recording is another issue altogether. Because some interviewees speak fast, it can be hard to record what they are saying. Therefore we have improvised: record the main points in an interview, recording the whole conversation with a camera, and write down all of the information later.
Although we do research regularly at school, in this CyberFair project, we can improve our research skills to find only the information we need, but get enough to complete our research. We visited a variety of different websites, using various sources of information. While looking at all of the causes, we were able to draw conclusions based on the different sources we found. From this process, we were able to improve our organization skills, working on our ability to organize the information into ideas. Our audience would understand easily, allowing people who read our website to more easily understand the main point we are trying to get across.
In real life, we don’t usually get to practice interviewing people, so this experience was a very intriguing and educational process, and one of the most important components of this process is planning our interview. To best be able to convince our audience of the point we are trying to convey, we have to know what kinds of information will people be able to relate to and understand the point of most. Even getting to the destination required planning on our part, finding the best way to get to the destination and how we can get there through different forms of public transportation. At the same time, we have to contact the interviewee to confirm the time and place of when we are conducting the interview, all of which require planning.
For this CyberFair project, we used Adobe Dreamweaver, a program we have never used before. Although using Dreamweaver is difficult and confusing, under the guidance of our teachers, we learned to operate this program and write code to produce what we want our website to look like. In terms of graphics, we drew our different vector shapes with Adobe Illustrator, another program we learned to use under the guidance of our teachers, even though we have already learned it in the past. We also used Adobe Illustrator to plan out the website, making it easier to implement in Adobe Dreamweaver. After learning how to use these software programs, we were able to create our website, as well as use these websites for other projects in the future.
During this project we divided our teammates into “data group” and “website group”, both groups have their assigned jobs. Students in the “Data group” must discuss together the content of websites and analyze the information. On the other hand, students in “Website group” will discuss the photos and colors used or the layouts of the texts. At the same time, “Data group” and “Website group” must discuss together for any adjustments to insure that everything goes well. This way, students can learn the importance of teamworks between groups.
After a complete discussion, we set the topic of this project. First, we use phone and email to contact Cheng Ho. Then, after confirming the location and time of interview, we plan a very thorough topic for better data of our project. Lastly, we actually interviewed and collected datas for our project. Through this process, we learned that playing the role of “ambassador” isn’t easy, we must be the bridge of communication to properly do complete our project.
This project transmuted every one of us, no matter our mentality or how we view things. This project taught us that no matter who you are or what you can do, as long as you have the heart and passion to do something, you could do your best. At the same time, we are more passionate about things now. Everyone in a team has their own character, everyone has different advantages and disadvantages, and everyone could make up someone else’s disadvantages, that is what a team should be. We improved a lot in written expression, writing skills, data collection, creating websites, and interviewing. Furthermore, we have new insights on the difficulties sports students must face.
The photos and videos used inside the website are all taken by ourselves. Choxue starter–Cheng Ho agrees to accept the interview and referencing. Background information is all cited.