• Project Elements

Our school is a vocational high school and as such is especially focused on practical subjects. Our activities and research for the International Schools CyberFair project coincided with two subjects and really integrated well to compliment each of them to the fullest extent.

The first subject is our Data Entry and Analysis class. In this subject we learn to use a plethora of different computer-based tools to do data entry and analysis and more, the tools include among others – Microsoft Office programs, Flash, and more. By developing the project into a website, we had the opportunity to spend countless hours in the computer lab working on the computer and improving our computer skills. All in all, we believe that this project really opened our minds to the possibilities of what we can really achieve when we combine what we learn in class with a bit of creativity and diligence.

The second subject that coincided with the project was Project Development class. We had to make a presentation that illustrated the traditional Taiwanese wedding in Chinese. Our research paid off well here as we could merely apply what we had already learned and compile it into a presentation, which we must admit, was a great success.

Apart from the integration with our school coursework, our project also induced us to work together as a team and to develop other needed skills we had not previously mastered, such as in-depth web development and website statistics analysis.

While working on the project, we realized how valuable and practical our coursework was. By having to overcome many an obstacle ourselves, with the light guidance of our mentors of course, we learned to teach ourselves. This, we believe, is probably the most valuable lesson we have learned regarding teaching and learning online.

　The Hardware we use:

　The Software we use:

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

We employed a number of ways to contact prospective interviewees such as by phone and e-mail, but the most important form was through personal contact. By personally visiting the people we wanted to interview, we established trust with them and could also engage them in more conversation on the topic than would have been possible through the other means.

During our visits we actively piqued the interest of our subjects by being lively and showing genuine interest in the subject ourselves. This helped us get the most possible information from them and also to secure their help if needed in the future.

Seeing the elder matchmakers’ faces light up at the notion of youngsters like us actually taking active interest in the traditional customs and culture of Taiwan made us realize that they were very impressed with what we were doing and with what we wanted to achieve. It also gave us a great feeling of accomplishment whenever they thanked us for continuing the old traditions.

4. What has been or will be the impact of your project on your community?

Our project aim was to learn more about traditional Taiwanese weddings, then spread the knowledge we have gained to our community as a whole. Since there is a great gap between the knowledge of traditional Taiwanese weddings between the older generation and the younger one, we especially focus on educating the younger generation. We strongly believe that by educating the younger generation about the customs and courtesies of a traditional Taiwanese wedding, we can make a difference in our local community by preserving our rich and wonderful culture dating back thousands of years. Through the use of vivid illustrations, fantastic tales, and meaningful explanations, we capture our readers’ attention and tickle their fancy.

By engaging different groups of people, such as traditional wedding planners—matchmakers, wedding gown shop owners, as well as newly-weds, we not only learned a lot from them but also forged new relationships with them which helped us continually improve our website to pass down the knowledge to our community.

Though our website is relatively new, according to our statistics, we have had page views from a number of people in Taiwan already. This only goes to stand as a point in case for the idea that there is a lot of interest in Chinese and Taiwanese culture internationally.

We have had quite a bit of feedback, especially from young people who intend to get married and want to have the ceremony conducted in the traditional Taiwanese custom. They lauded us for providing them with the information about traditional Taiwanese weddings which would otherwise have been rather difficult to come by.
All in all, we believe that our project has, and will, make a huge difference both locally and globally in people’s understanding of traditional Taiwanese weddings.

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

Since we did not know much about the nitty gritty of traditional Taiwanese weddings at the onset of our project, we really needed a lot of advice and knowledge from people in the know. The wedding planners and the wedding gown store owners were all of great help and provided us with a plethora of information we could compile on our website.
We’d like to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts that so happily parted with their time in order to help us achieve our project goals. This project would certainly not have been possible without their help and guidance.