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▌How did your activities and research for this International Schools CyberFair project support content standards, required coursework and curriculum requirements?

The study plan participation enabled teachers to enhance professional knowledge and skills so that students can be guided through. Children also understood that it was only with continual discussion and collaboration could the study be completed. They also understood the importance of group work. Student learning changed from passive knowledge acquisition to active knowledge construction. Interests and capabilities were fully explored and cultivated.
　

What skills have you learned?

1. Interview skill: to conduct a topic interview, data has to be collected in advance. The topic has to be determined before going out for an interview. The interview contents should be recorded within a day or two before we forget them. The records are important references for webpage production in the future.

2 .Internet resource use: Resources are available on the internet but some data requires further checking. Do not believe just everything you find on the internet. Statistical data is often posted on the internet by government agencies. For example, statistical data is open for access by Agriculture and Food Agency Council of Agriculture. All you have to do is enter the year on the search webpage to find data history. It is very convenient.

What teamwork ideas and methods have you implemented or practiced?

Our school is a mini elementary school. The number of people per class is limited. As senior students in the school, we often help out in school activities. Although there is a lot of work to do, we are quite close to one another and we always help one another. In this contest, we divided ourselves into groups to collect data. The data was then compiled and discussed. We also took turns to write the journal in order to lighten our work loads.
　
What special concepts have you learned from experience or are you aware of ?
　
In the rice town, rice fields are either beside our school or home. Some people’s grandfathers or fathers are farmers. Everyone is aware of the fact that irrigation is important in rice planting. However, before attending classes, we had no idea that irrigation is knowledge. How can we make sure water flows to rice fields so farmers can channel water for irrigation? (Pilotage)It requires irrigation engineering, a set of systems, and the efforts of many to make water available.
　
How does this topic research project meet the needs of your school or class?
　
Hsin Chia Elementary School has engaged in topic researches for the past 5 years in conjunction with Cyberfair. Each topic is related to the humanity and customs of Houbi Township. The topic this time is no exception. Chia-Nan Canal is first introduced to let everyone know the functions of the canal inside the village. Students will understand the meaning of community landscapes. Like website works from previous years, webpage topic contents helped everyone understand their origin. They also serve as reference during other subject teachings.
　

Did you discover any problems related to the existing education system during the research process?
　
A language is the fundamentals of all activities or courses. The existing course allotment is rather complex. The hours allotted for the Chinese subject is rather limited. Consequently, students’ ability to write weakened. Our topic study was affected by this to some extent.
　
What role do you play in the place where your school is located?
　
Through topic and station setup, we hope everyone will have better understanding of the rice industry and irrigation. On the other hand, we hope to promote our school features and students’ competence through this activity holding so that the local residents will know about our learning activities in the rural area that measure up with those of schools in the urban area.
　

Is internet teaching and learning more efficient than traditional methods? Please share your experiences.
　
The internet is indeed much more convenient as we have instant access to information on the internet. Before, we had to go to the library to copy the statistical data. Now, we simply download it form the internet. It is not only time-saving; internet search is organized and arranged. Data pops up right away. There is no need to go over the books. However, despite the versatile data available, they are often repeated, and information is not necessarily correct. We need to first check it.
　

▌Please explain which information technologies were adopted by your group in completing the topic study project.
　

▌What online or personal contact method was adopted to play the role of the Cyberfair topic research?

Over the past year or two, the rice from Houbi gained popularity. The school also conducted many activities and held classes. A research was conducted on the irrigation topic. We visited the water man in the village, farmers, work station workers, and rented a car to visit Wushantou Reservoir. The locals approved of our local topic research, and were interested in our fieldtrip learning.

▌What influences or impacts did the topic research have on the locality?

It had been years since we started the topic research on our homeland. From the earliest Sinjia village investigation, the Sung-Chiang Battle Array, Wushulin Sugar Refinery, Houbi Township Temple (Taian Temple), Jing-Chung Temple, Orchid Biotechnology Park, to Lianfa Rice Mill, each item was connected to Houbi Township. Last year, we received a letter from the Houbi Township Office. It was stated in the letter that it wished to cite our school data and post it on its website. To us, it means approval, and encouragement. This year, we conducted more in-depth studies on farmland irrigation. Although the topic scope was extended to cover the county and the city, there is a connection between the two. Houbi Township is considered a rural agricultural town. Since the canal passes by the school, and enters our rice fields, we hope that more comprehensive data related to humanity, culture, and history can be gathered, which shall also serve as reference for future teachings.

▌Intellectual property and citation

If webpage contents are cited, a footnote is found at the bottom part of the webpage. If the data source is the internet, website link should be available. Most photographs on the WebPages come from teachers or students. If there are other citations, permission is first secured from the interviewee.

▌Discoveries, lessons learned, and amazement

We learned how to formulate study contents through this topic research. We also learned interview and communication skills. Like a treasure hunt, we acquired knowledge and were amazed at our discoveries. We have certainly grown!

 ▍Hsin Chia Elementary School ˙Houbi Township, Tainan County , Taiwan (R.O.C.)˙2008˙1024*768