|
1. Description of Our Community
Our community involves mainly people in Chinatown and basically people living around and near us. The community helped us a lot, in a sense that they were very friendly and also extremely willing to help. When we approached people whom we did not really know well, specifically strangers, instead of shying away from us, they were helpful and were enthusiastic to answer our long-pondered questions when we interviewed them. They helped us understand more about our project and we felt an immense bond with the community. Initially, we went to Chinatown mainly to interview the people there, and only had the heart of getting what we wanted, the answers, but we realize that was not only what we went there for. We realize that the main purpose of going to Chinatown, is to learn more about its culture, its history, its landmarks and most of all, we found ourselves uniting with the community and to engage in conversations instead of just asking questions and getting our answers. The community helped us to understand that Singapore’s Chinatown has a rich history and story behind it and we need to let the next generation know about Chinatown’s story so that it can pass down from generation to generation and not let it fade away just like that.
2. Summary of Our Project
Our CyberFair project is about Chinatown, the vibrant and historical town in Singapore, filled with unique landmarks, rich culture, traditions and history, which, amazingly, stood through globalisation and is still here today.
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:none
C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection
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):
Our classrooms do not have any computers, however, our teachers carry around laptops for classes, whenever needed. Also, there is a fixed internet connection in our classrooms if required. Our computer labs also have fixed internet connections for the school and for our CCA-Infocomm Club.
4. Problems We Had To Overcome
Throughout this project, we have faced countless difficulties and problems. They disappointed us, made us so upset and feel that our project will never be accomplished, our trip to Chinatown had been postponed so many times we lost count, and the phrase, “Let’s give up!” was heard by each member numerous times, making it almost our pledge, however, our group leader was always there, enthusiastic to be up on our feet and to finish the project well and quickly, supporting us and encouraging us. Moreover, our website was completely lost or destroyed, our links lost and information gone, causing us to feel like we were going to cry. Once, after gathering and editing all the information, due to a moment of carelessness and overlooking the need to save it twice, ALL our information was lost. We have also faced other problems such as planning the meetings and discussions, and often, sudden events popped up unexpectedly, making us cancel so many planned meetings and trips. However, we, with the moral support of each other when we were down, and our CCA (Infocomm!) mates cheered us up and encouraged us to continue even when, for the millionth time, felt that we were going to give up.
5. Our Project Sound Bite
Our participation in CyberFair competition has taught us more about the Chinese culture and what the previous generations had to go through. The hard work they put in, and the sacrifices they had made just to build Singapore into the buzzing metropolis it is today.
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
The CyberFair project addressed the Chinese culture in Chinatown. Being SAP(Special Assistance Programme) school, learning about the Chinese culture has enriched our moral values, let us know more about our roots. We have learnt to be more responsible and to be more resilient- to never give up, as all the difficulties we have faced changed us forever, and taught us that more hands make light work. We united as a group to walk through this difficult journey together. We have learnt more about the importance of Chinese culture and traditions in Singapore. Being a Chinese in Singapore, it is definitely worthwhile to learn about our history and what our ancestors had endured and sacrificed for us to enjoy what we have attained today. We realised that nowadays, chinese teenagers do not really care about chinese as much as they do for english. So, we need to raise awareness that chinese is just as essential in our daily life as any other language. It dawned on us that using the internet to source for information and learning through it has been much easier and gives better results than using traditional methods such as flipping through thick books.
|
