School: High School #27
    Ashgabat, Ahal, Turkmenistan

6 students, ages 15-17 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 20, 2009. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): none

Classes and Teachers: Mered Akamov, scientist, and students from 8th-10th grades

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://

1. Description of Our Community

Our team consists of six people: five students (Flora, Esmira, Dovlet, Marina, Shasenem and Aidyn). We'd like to add a very important person to that list, a scientist from “Sun” Scientific Production Association by the name of Mered Akamov who we consider our teacher. Our team meets regularly at Internet Access and training center administered by International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX). We have passed trainings on computer skills and that web site is our first experience on web design. Our trainer Artyom Hachunts gave us skills of woring in dream Weaver and encouraged us on creating a site. As a result we have created a site about Solar Energy which is important for Ecology of Turkmenistan. Our story is a story of teenagers who met at the computer center and have become a team. We are all interested in developing our computer skills and would like to get acquainted with our overseas peers. Internet gives us an opportunity to be up-to-date and become part of the global community.

2. Summary of Our Project

Our project is a site about beneficial usage of Solar Energy in Turkmenistan. Solar energy plays important role in the ecology of Turkmenistan. The issue of Solar Energy usage has been discussed and developed in all over the World for many reasons: The first conference informed USSR was held in Tashkent in 1972 where Turkmen scientists discussed the future of Solar Energy usage in Turkmenistan. In 1977 the physics of Turkmen Academy of Sciences held conference in Ashgabat where they considered the issues of Solar Energy. A little later “Sun” Scientific Production Association was founded in Bekrava place in outskirts of Ashgabat. The scientists started the research work in the field of Solar Energy. Such Turkmen scientists as Djora Muradov, Guljahan Nazarova, Nury Sayilov, Sapargeldi Seyitkurbanov, Shirin Rejepova, Buran Achilov and others scientists. The worked on collectors of Solar Energy, greenhouses with linked water cycle, applying Solar Energy for desalination and receiving cold, and Solar Energy usage in Oil and Gas Industry.

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:none

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dial-up modem

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:1

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

There is no Internet access at our school. We have computer classes but we are not allowed to work there during outclass time. The computer center at IREX has become a second house for us. We come here, communicate with each other, gain new skills, participate in online forums and work on our first website.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

The first problem was slow internet connection, then we didn't have enough skills for creating a site, then we had to collect maerials which were not awailable. To overcome all these we attended trainings at IATP center in Ashgabat, studied web design, learned how to work in a team and learned how to be patient if internet connection is very slow. And we also had problems with collecting materials. We had to get permission to visit “Sun” Scientific Production Association and the library at the National Academy of Sciences. Our trainer and teachers helped us to get that permission and we received all the materials we needed.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

We created a web site which taught us many useful skills and we hope that it will teach others what Solar Energy is and how it benefits for ecology of Turkmenistan. It has been an exciting time for us full of discussions, meeting new people, explaining our classmates what we did and simply communicating with each other.

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

When we started our project we discussed a lot of problems which Turkmenistan face every day. Independent Turkmenistan is a young neutral country. There is much to do in the field of economy, establishing international relations, ecological issues and many others. Our theme doesn't touches only ecology but also has educational meaning. We study at school various sources of energy. SolarEnergy is described very shortly in our textbooks. Students may enter our site and learn more on the issue. Other people may also learn much about Solar Energy in Turkmenistan. We hope that our example will encourage our classmates to participate in such a contest next year or encourage them to study. Without doubts, internet is a powerful tool in education. Having created our web site we have made our little contribution to the global education. We do not insist on the fact that internet can teach better than traditional ways but we strongly believe that internet resources are really helpful and provide users with necessary information. One more important thing is connection with other people through the world network. Not only through e-mail but also through participating in the International Online projects like Cyber Fair.

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

When we worked on the site there were 10 computer stations (Pentium 4) at our disposal. We used digital cameras to take pictures of necessary pages. We also used telephones to arrange meetings and prpare for the oral interviews. Digitizers and scanners were also used during our work on the site. Mostly we worked in Word Microsoft, Dream Weaver, Photoshop. We visited state libraries twice.

All the tools we were given by IREX. The most valuable for us was access to the internet because it is not wide spread in Turkmenistan and has low speed.

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

When we visited from “Sun” Scientific Production Association we acted as teenagers' ambassadors who want to know more about theesearch conducted in Turkmenistan. The employees first were surprised and asked a permission from us. When we brought the permission they talked to us like equal to equal. Then when we came home and to school we told our friends and classmates about wonderful things we learned about solar energy. We were listened with interest.

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

The issue of solar energy is being rewived at present. In former Soviet Union it was a leading branch of industry. There were a lot of scientific researches done by Turkmen scientists. Then after the collapse of the Soviet Union everything was frozen. Now the time has come when the issue of Solar Energy is going to be continued in our country.

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

First of all we'd like to thank our trainer-volunteer who encouraged us for creating the site and who made us believe that we would be able to create our own website. We also want to give our credits to from “Sun” Scientific Production Association employee, scientist, Mered Akamov who opened our horizons in the field of reproducible sources of energy. We express our gratitude to IREX international nonprofit organization which provided us with all the necessary facilities to implement our project. And finally we express our thanks to the organizers of Cyber Fair contest for such an opportunity to join global community and make our contribution to the Internet.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

When we started we didn't expect that creating a site is not easy thing. That 's not only writing pages, inserting pictures, and creating a good design. We learned that it is , first of all, the team work, where we discussed a lot and came to joint decisions. It's creative work which needs much concentration and requires certain skills. It was a lesson for us when we didn't follow the schedule strictly. Everything should have been organized according to the plan. It was a real surprise for us when we started studying the issues of solar energy. We have learned so much and met so many unique people.