School: Academia Cotopaxi
    Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador

2 students, ages 16 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 20, 2005. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2005

Classes and Teachers: Ms. Aiken, Nicole, Ana Maria

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.cotopaxi.k12.ec

1. Description of Our Team

Our team consists of Nicole, 15, and Ana Maria, 15. Nicole and Ana Maria are both in an International Relations class at Academia Cotopaxi an American International School in Quito, Ecuador. They began this project in mid-January. The project was a class work grade for them when half of their class was at The Hague Model United Nations conference. Nicole and Ana Maria decided that out of the choices for various projects that Doors to Diplomacy seemed the most interesting. Nicole approached Ana Maria about joining her to work on the Doors to Diplomacy project and Ana Maria agreed. The work was divided mostly into research and technology parts. Since Nicole is currently taking a Web Programming class she focused more on the technical side while Ana Maria focused more on the research half. Our teacher advisor is Ms. Emily Aiken; she is a History and International Relations teacher. She has helped us come up with resources that would be helpful, and ways to improve our research.

2. Summary of Our Project

Our group chose topic six, History of foreign relations, because we are in an international relations class and in class we have studied many aspects of this topic. Our project answers a broad variety of questions from definitions of foreign policy tools to opinions of world leaders today. We have designed our project to target people between the ages of 11-18.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:more than 6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

Our group did not have an enormous amount of problems that we needed to fix, but along the way we had to overcome obstacles such as research. In the way of research finding decisive information on various topics was hard. A lot of the research had to be thought out by us and had to be thought through and put together. A lot of the questions we could not find direct answers for. Had we have worked on this project with a group it would have taken much less time and we could’ve gotten more research done. Also if we had begun the project earlier then we would’ve more time to have worked on it.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

“Foreign relations refer to the dealings between two, or more, nations and how they cooperate with one another… Good or bad foreign relations tend to stem from past relations and historical events. Usually an event or events can diminish or strengthen the relations between countries.”

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

We chose this project because it seemed the most interesting out of our choices and we chose the particular topic because to work on it we used notes from our international relations class, because so far this year we had studied diplomacy and subtopics beneath it. We began the year by studying conflicts all over the world, then moved onto studying the United Nations, then onto studying the Arab-Israeli Conflict, and to currently studying economy in the world. Our background knowledge proved helpful in research and answering the questions posed to us. Our project meets the Doors to Diplomacy standards because we carefully read through the evaluation rubric and followed the recommended topics stated under our category.

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

We used personal computers for most of our project. These materials helped us work from home, and maintain contact throughout the course of the project. Television helped provided us with a source of current information around the globe, regarding foreign relations. The school library greatly helped in providing a reliable outlet of information. Our most valuable tools were our computers, without them we would not have been able to work at home and we would have had to spend much more time at school working on the project. Talking to our teachers, Ms. Aiken and Mr. Russell, gave us great examples and ideas on what our project was missing.

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

So far we really haven’t done much that makes us a spokesperson for our project and an ambassador, currently though we are working on getting the word out on our project by using the school’s website for our webpage.

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

This project has had little to no affect on our school community because it was worked on by only two students and most of the work was work done on our own. Also our community showed little interest in the project since it was going to be optional and done on personal time.

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

Our project involved our international relations teacher, who in the way of research, has helped us tremendously. We cannot thank you enough Ms. Aiken, as well as the web programming teacher, Mr. Russell, who has helped us in each step of putting together our webpage and who gave us the permission to publish our site on the school website. Cesar, our school webmaster, also greatly helped us in uploading our pages to the school website. Thanks a million Ms. Aiken, Mr. Russell, and Cesar.