School: Crescent Girls' School
    Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

12 students, ages 13 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 16, 2006. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2006

Classes and Teachers: 2C1

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.crescent.edu.sg

1. Description of Our Community

Singapore is a multiracial community which has progressed far since being founded in 1819. Over the years, the melting pot of races, religions and cultures witnessed many trials such as the Maria Hertogh riots, and yet can count many triumphs, the greatest of which must surely be overcoming differences to weave the fabric of this nation we call Singapore.

2. Summary of Our Project

Singapore is a country with a rich and diverse past, with many of our ancestors coming from different countries like China, India, and Malaysia. People coming here often marvel at how a small red dot on the map could survive and grow as we have, overcoming war, colonization, and racial and religious conflict. Our project, therefore, will be showcasing historical landmarks involved in the rise of Singapore, the different races, and of war. Focusing on the time from the founding of Singapore to after World War II, we will be displaying a collage of landmarks following a timeline and telling the story of Singapore in the early years.

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:2-3

E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):

Crescent Girls' School is privileged to be offered the usage of tablet PCs in school. There is also a wireless network provided, so that students are able to connect to the Internet at any time.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

One of the problems we encountered was being unable to meet up with each other, even though we were separated into groups of four. Being in our streaming year, we had many classes, homework and after school activities going on, with at least four of us unable to make it for meetings on any given day. So, in the end we had to each sacrifice some of our activities to work on the project. Additionally, we were only informed that we were to take part in the competition less than 2 months before the deadline so we were very short of time, and this was also our first time taking part in Cyberfair, so the whole experience was very confusing and overwhelming for us.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

To our group, participating in this project has meant a lot to us as it gave us an opportunity to discover more about our roots and culture, and to show to the world our vision for a better future.

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

This year, our school curriculum requires us to learn various multimedia software used in the making of websites like Adobe Photoshop and Flash animation, both of which we have used in the making of our website. Apart from that, we have also learned how to use more complex HTML coding, directional skills, and developed an extraordinary patience in dealing with SOME of our more blur and procrastinating group members who caused us to get lost on our way to some of the landmarks.

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

- 11 Fujitsu Tablet PCs and 1 IBM ThinkPad (members) - Canon digital camera and video camera. - MSN messenger for sending files and discussion - Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Flash - The Uniquely Singapore website - Visiting the various landmarks involved in the project - Exploring Our Past' history book for checking significance of the landmarks in Singapore's past. (textbook) - Singapore National Library - Singapore National Archive

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

We have acted as ambassadors by contacting the managements and staff of the various landmarks via phone calls to find out more about them, and telling them about our project.Apart from that, we have also taken the time to go down to the various landmarks, speaking to members of the public and tourists about our project. Many of them seemed interested in the project, and they were quite impressed by the fact that a group of thirteen-year-old girls with no prior website making experience could manage to make a website like this.

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

Since we started making the website, we have already shown parts of it to our friends, classmates, teachers, families, and to interested members of the public. Many people have gained valuable knowledge about Singapore's past, and it was an opportunity for many of them to view Singapore's past in a different way than they have before. Through our project, they can see and learn more about how Singapore managed to come so far in the world through a series of landmarks since it was founded in 1918 by Sir Stamford Raffles. Most people who have viewed our website also gave us quite positive feedback, and many of them said that our website managed to tell them something about Singapore's past that they did not know before.

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

Like most other CyberFair teams, we too needed help from people around us. We would like to thank our classmates and families for the countless times in the past that they have helped us with our project. We are also very fortunate to have Feng Ren, a previous participant in CyberFair, helping us and guiding us in the making of our project.

Also, when going to the various landmarks, quite a number of people approached us to find out what we were doing, and they gave us plenty of feedback and constructive criticism on our website, all of which was used to improve it.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

'I learned about the history of world war II and erm, stuff?' - Charlene Teh

'I discovered some facts about Singapore that I did not know before. I would definitely recommend this project to other students!' - Sherlyn Shagar

'Participating in cyberfair has certainly helped me learn about time management skills and I had a more deeper understanding of why some historical landmarks are just there.' - Jia Hui