School: Taipei Municipal Da-Zhi Senior High School
    Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.

6 students, ages 17 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 11, 2012. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2005

Classes and Teachers: Liang, S.M., Huang, Y.S., Chang, Z.H., and Wu, S.Z.

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://engweb.dcsh.tp.edu.tw/

1. Description of Our Community

The location where this study takes place is Taiwan. The research scope starts from visiting the most famous temple “Longshang Temple” in the city we live in, to interviewing craftsmen who we have learned work on renovations of temples in surrounding countries and towns. Furthermore, we visited towns in Taiwan that have developed a tourist industry because of Koji pottery, while selecting cultural parks of Koji pottery as the major research area. As a result, the study extends from northern Taiwan to middle and southern Taiwan for a thorough exploration, covering several important towns in terms of Koji pottery.

2. Summary of Our Project

Koji pottery is a special sort of pottery originating in China, a type of art that has been quietly developed and extended among folk cultures. After being passed down to generations and innovated for 300 years, it has become a feature of Taiwanese culture. Because the performance and production of the decorative art of Koji pottery applied to temples are very interesting to us, we interviewed several famous craftsmen, observed their work and learned from them the differences in Koji pottery among different regions and different factions. We also visited a ceramic workshop, during which we even particpated in the production process in order to study directly this artistic culture. After collecting data considering the origin, history, materials, methods as well as glazes of Koji pottery, we have summarized, introduced and then compared the information.

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:1

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

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

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

Our school uses a 100Mbps fiber-optic to connect to the Ministry of Education.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

At the begining we were unable to find interviewees. Meanwhile,we had been demoralized when a team member dropped out. Despite of these, we pulled ourselves together and tried to solve the problems, looking for craftsmen and temples that were willing to be interviewed. Each team member has encouraged each other. Led by our team leader, we were finally able to complete the project.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

We have not become masters of this traditional art form, but what this project hopes to achieve is to encourage everyone to appreciate this art form and to become interested in it. What is the most important is that the young generation should be aware of the risk of a cultural interruption and should learn about these different cultures.

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

1. Social study related courses: local cultures, regional geography of Taiwan. 2. We applied what we have learned from computer courses and multimedia projects to construct a thematic website.

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

Digital graphics tablets have been very helpful for designing layouts of our website. Most buttons on the website were designed by our team members, which became an independent experience for us, who are turning into grown ups. Google Document has been a very practical tool for our project. It allowed us to exchange ideas, to review and to revise the essay when staying at home, and we could carry out instant discussions without having to go to the school. We have used the Internet to collect, transmit and save data, digital video cameras and cameras to document the interviews, graphics software such as Photoshop combining with a graphics tablet to design layouts of the website and flash animations, finally DreamWeaver to set up the website.

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

We attempted to contact individuals involved in this culture on our own, and to introduce to and share with our family members as well as schoolmates the studios we visited, craftsmen we interviewed and our own art creations. We intend not only to introduce this art form, but also to share with everyone stories behind it. The most important is that we, like everyone else, learn to examine and discover these often forgotten art forms.

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

We constructed a website to present our data to everyone, and to promote Koji pottery and the art of cutting and pasting. We hope that school teachers would organize tours for their students after seeing our website, so that in additional to that the traditional Koji culture can be preserved, local economy and tourism could also be improved.

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

We are very grateful for the assistance of craftsmen and masters of Koji Pottery, managing personnel of the visited temples, instructors at the ceramic art gardens, guides at the Koji Pottery Museum.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

When working on this project, we have wasted much time and thus, almost could not finish the project in time. We therefore have learned from this lesson that good time management is always important for such projects, so that not all tasks are done in the last minutes. We have also found many people who are still passionate about traditional arts while working on this project. Although unfamiliar at first, we are more and more touched by this art form.