School: Li-Chih High school
    Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic Of China

20 students, ages 15~17 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 9, 2014. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2008

Classes and Teachers: Shih-Hung Lin,Shang-Chun Tsai,Jack Kao,Bi-Hua Lu, Feng-Yi Wei

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.lcvs.kh.edu.tw

1. Description of Our Community

“Love River” played an very important role for transportation and leisure in the early time of Kaohsiung. However, with the development of industry, it gradually became notorious for pollution. Everyone in this city tries their best to restore its original beauty. Under the 4 billion dredge by the Kaohsiung City Government, “Love River” reappears its vitality and becomes an significant ecological stronghold for this city. In order to establish Kaohsiung as an artistically friendly city, Kaohsiung City Government has devoted herself to holding many artistic activities and inviting hundreds of street artists around the river to promote Kaohsiung.

2. Summary of Our Project

A group of teenagers, dressed as clowns, please audiences with themselves in the city of Kaohsiung. They are the “Absence Dance Crew.” These teenagers has become more and more popular with people in this city, especially kids. Kids are full of joy due to their funny moves. They tend to draw an equal sign between this crew and happiness. Like what the crew leader says, “Pressure is like a lubricant for success. It could be small or big. Peaceful waves can’t cultivate a good sailor. We, the “Absence Dance Crew,” are the saviors to the drowned and bring happiness around the world. This time, we will not be absent. We are here to make audiences smile and fill their soul with joy.”

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:dial-up modem

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

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

The biggest difficulities we faced in doing the project is too much schoolwork that makes us not concentrate on the project. As a result, we need to take advantage of the winter vacation and other spare time in order to turn in the project on time. In additions, finding common time for us to work together is another problem. As you know, we all play different roles in our lives. Therefore, we need to schedule a time which every member considers it suitable to work together. The third problem is that we are still technically insufficient in the area of webpage production to some extent. Although we all have certificates on webpage design, we think that we still have a lot to learn in this field. Thus, make good use of after-school time to ask teachers for further skills in designing webpage.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Our project does sound bite because it brings joy to this world. When thinking of a clown, people usually associate it with fun and happiness, not to mention six clowns at the same time. Besides, we learned a lot from the Crew and had a blast during the interview. Like what the crew leader says, “Pressure is like a lubricant for success. It could be small or big. Peaceful waves can’t cultivate a good sailor. We, the “Absence Dance Crew,” are the saviors to the drowned and bring happiness around the world. This time, we will not be absent. We are here to make audiences smile and fill their soul with joy.”

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

The purpose of our project is to use the 'Absence Dance Crew' as a lubricant for us and others to bring happiness to this world and fill peoples' hearts with joy. Happiness is an easy thing to say but a difficult thing to do. In this rapidly changing and busy world, there seems to be a hole in everyone's mind to be filled because of pressure. Happiness is that piece to fill our mind. Through this research project, we learned that pressure has such a great impact in our daily lives and happiness can help us relieve that pressure. That is why the “Absence Dance Crew” is here for. They want to bring joyfulness to this world. I think that this Crew teaches us what we learned in 'Life Education' class. During the process, we learned how to work together as a team and confronted problems we faced. In additions, we learned how to communicate with different opinions. It takes time and effort to finish a research project. That is the spirit we also learned from the “Absence Dance Crew” to help more people and fill this world with love and passion.

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

Hardware:

Digital Camera Uses:It is convenient to upload digital pictures, and it even contains filming functions.

Desktop Computer Uses:Searching for information online, designing websites.

Printer Uses:Print out data.

Scanner Uses:Scanning the collected pictures.

Cd Burner Uses:Organize information, data backup.

Flash Drive Uses:Convenient for us to store data and to carry around.

Cellphone Uses:Assign the jobs of every member through the phone.

Software:

Frontpage Uses:Designing the web

Photoimpact Uses:Creating the pictures needed for the web

Macromedia Flash 8 Uses: Animation making

Microsoft Word Uses:Writing the details of the web, designing structures

ACDSee 5.0 Uses:Viewing the videos filmed

Internet Explorer Uses:Browser for searching data online.

Others:

Notebook Uses:Recording the details of our interview

Live Interview Uses:Arriving at Principal David Chen's house and learned the trials and hardships of the calligraphist, also learned more about calligraphy

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

We and the 'Absence Dance Crew' are the ambassadors of joy and happiness. We explore the topic of pressure in the modern society and this led us to find the “Absence Dance Crew” along the way. Through this research project, we learned that pressure has such a great impact in our daily lives and happiness can help us relieve that pressure. That is why the “Absence Dance Crew” is here for. They want to bring joyfulness to this world. Success won’t happen overnight. This group also experienced struggles and setbacks. They still insist their unique performances to the audiences and want them to feel the spirit of happiness without any pressure.

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

We explore the topic of pressure in the modern society and this led us to find the “Absence Dance Crew” along the way. We also sent out questionnaires to find that people, after watching their performances, had what kind of influences on them to help relieve pressures. We interviewed the Crew in person. During the interview, we found that it takes time and effort to arrange a performance and practice to perfection. Also, dancing is not an easy task. They dance for having fun and meantime dress as clowns to bring this “fun” to the public. Watching them perform on the spot really is a lot of fun. Although their move is easy to learn, they actually made people laugh out loud. Due to the economic slump in Taiwan, people feel more stressful than ever. As a result, the “Absence Dance Crew” inspires Taiwan people with courage to keep going.

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

At first, we are very grateful for the support from Tungfang Design Institute because all the crew members are currently enrolled at Tungfang. Being with the 'Absence Dance Crew,' we gradually have a better understanding of what happiness means. Thus, we took action to bring joy to the world at Sanmin District Day Care Center as volunteers. This is the first public day-care center in Kaohsiung. In our opinion, it is the spirit(bring joy to the world) that we need to learn from the 'Absence Dance Crew.' As a result, we want to be doers not sayers. Besides, we also need to thank Kaohsiung Volunteer Center, Street Dance Club, and of course the 'Absence Dance Crew' for their unselfish and sincere help to make this project come true.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

Thanks to this research project, every member of the team really appreciates the meaning of teamwork and division of labor. The leader of the team thinks that a team is like a house building. Any little falloff will lead to the collapse of the house. Only through working together will the team achieve success. Though members had conflicts with each other in the process, we therefore cherish every moment and excel ourselves. After the interview with the Crew, we all felt that there are many things to accomplish at different stages of our lives. Since we talked to the Crew, we have gradually developed interests in dancing. That is something we never felt before in our lives. We really thanked the Crew for talking to them and teachers for their guidance in this project with their sacrifices and dedications.