School: Huangzhong Vocational Middle School
    Xining, Qinghai, China

8 students, ages 16-18 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 8, 2007. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): none

Classes and Teachers: Li Yue-fu; Ms. Li Hong-yan; Mr. Chen You-xi; Ms. Wang You-ju

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://qh000008.edu.17888.com

1. Description of Our Community

Huangzhong Vocational Middle School is located at Lianhua Shanzhuang of Huangzhou County. Influenced by Ta’er Monastery, our school created special major- Tangka and appliquéd embroidery. The students in this major are aged 13-16 disable children. We plan to trains their practice skills of making Tibetan folk art in first term and combine normal students later. In this way, the disabled students will conquer inferiority, improve their confidence, and increase communication and practice skills.

2. Summary of Our Project

Huangzhong Vocational Middle School is located at northeast of Lusha’er Town, Huangzhou County, Qinghai Province. The title of our project is Ta’er Monastery’s representative arts: Tangka and appliquéd embroidery. There is a major in our school to make these folk arts, in which the students are aged 13-16 disable children. In our project, we make research about background, development, production and social support of this special major. Also, we have acknowledged the importance of teamwork in addition to improvement on making website. At the same time, colleagues from Town and Talent Co., Ltd-Ms. Li Zhi-hua has given us a lot of support and help. And our main purpose is to make more people know about Ta’er Monastery’s representative arts: Tangka and appliquéd embroidery. We hope the disabled students in this major can draw social attention.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:none

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:1

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:not sure

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:4-6

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

We only have one computer classroom having access to internet with the ADSL broadband system, in which there are 40 computers. There are many students major in computer, so we can surf on internet once a month, which is a big problem for us to solve.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

This is the first time we participate in the CyberFair. The three supervising teachers and the team members lack previous experience in webpage construction. We have to consult others whenever difficulties arise. The team members are major in electronics. Although we have 12 computer courses a week, we can’t search information about our project in class. Thus, we have to spend our spare time on it. We have only two computer classrooms in campus, one room has no access to internet. Our computers are very old with low proceeding speed and surfing speed is also terrible. However, with our endeavor and help from Town and Talent Technologies, we have succeeded in completing the website. We are proud of ourselves and the experience is unforgettable

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Ta'er Monastery's representative arts-Thangka and Duixiu are the essence of Tibetan culture. In our interview with local monks and folk artists, we find that the extensive knowledge of these two arts is far beyond our imagination. The interviewees tell us that as long as they endeavor, they will work out the true essence of folk arts some day. Their determination enforces the necessity of choosing local art as our project theme. We want to show our sincere acknowledgement to Town and Talent Technologies, who offers us a great chance to publish our Tibetan culture. It's a platform for communication between different ethnic groups, between teachers and students. We hope our website can draw more people¡¯s attention on Huangzhong Vocational Middle School, Huangzhong County and Qinghai Province. We want to do something to develop and carry down the Tibetan treasures-Thangka & Duixiu.

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

All the team members are major in electronics and information. According to participating in Cyber Fair, we get to know the spirit of ethnic culture and improve our computer skills in web page and website making. With our instructors' guidance, the computer skill level of the whole team makes great progress. We all have a kind of passion and confidence unique to ourselves. In this activity, we put the knowledge on textbook into practice, which is a good way to improve our abilities.

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

(1) Hardware facilities: computer, digital camera, recorder, flash disk. (2) Computer software: Dreamweaver for webpage editing, PhotoImpact for graphic processing, Microsoft Word for textual information editing, Internet Explorer for browsing website, ACDSee for image browsing, CuteFTP for transmitting information. (3) Internet: E-mail, FTP server

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

The purpose of our project is to do research on protection of ethnic culture-Thangka and Duixiu, and the situation of disabled students in this major. Before our research, we know quite a little about this major, which is just an ordinary department in our mind. After the contact with teachers and students, we realize their hard work and contribution in protecting and developing traditional ethnic culture. We share our research product in campus to draw more people's attention on this special major. Moreover, we interview disabled students' parents and people in their life circle. We play the role of 'community ambassadors' to make the public understand the necessity to protect ethnic culture and pay attention on special education.

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

This is our first time to contact with students major in Thangka and Duixiu. We are quite excited when seeing their certificate and prize cups. Also, we are impressed by their contribution of developing and protecting traditional ethnic arts. As their schoolmates, we feel honored. In our interview, we find that they are optimistic, diligent and proud of being students in this major. What's more, in front of their smiling face, we get to taste the sense of life.

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

First of all,we would like to thank?Town & Talent company.From them we learnt about Cyberfair and have made many good suggestions on this competition. They provied?us the support of computer,and helped us to carry out registration in Cyberfair. Our headmaster-Mr. Xiong and Mr. Wang spare time to take part in our interview in their busy schedules. The teachers and students in Thangka and Duixiu major offer much material of our website. Without their help, we can't finish our website so smoothly.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

In the research, we find that all the students major in Tangka & Duixiu work very hard, in which the disabled students work much harder. These students are teenagers, who have more interests in playing than studying. What¡¯s more, the creation and production process of Tangka & appliqu¨¦d embroidery is very dull. However, the deaf-mute students can devote themselves into study without outside influence. At the same time, more people begin to pay attention on this class in our school. They think that our school does a good work in combining folk art and special education. We feel quite honored. In the interview, many parents of disabled students want to send their children to study in our school. We believe that this is the contribution of our propaganda.