1. Description of Our Community
Located in the northern valley of the island and surrounded by New Taipei City, Taipei City is the capital of Taiwan. With 2.7 Million residents, it has the 4th largest population and the highest population density among cities in Taiwan. It is also the economic, technological and cultural center of Taiwan, densely populated and highly urbanized. Covering 271.1997 square kilometers, it has a concentrated number of houses, and housing prices have been rising each year. Located in the Taipei valley in northern Taiwan and surrounded by New Taipei City, Taiepi City has the 4th largest population and highest population density among cities and counties in Taiwan. The Taipei metropolitan area it forms together with its satellite cities and towns is the most populated metropolitan area in Taiwan. As the core of the development of Taipei metropolitan area, Taipei City is also the center of political, economic and cultural development.
2. Summary of Our Project
Living in Taipei is convenient, fast and accompanied by advanced technologies, with almost all of our needs could be fulfilled immediately. However, as commodity prices increase and the economy suffers, lives in Taipei are no longer as easy as imagined, particularly in terms of purchasing properties. Because of the soaring housing prices, buying a house or an apartment has become a unreachable dream for the younger generations. Concerned about individuals' right to housing, a group of people decided to speak up. Undertaking the landmark Snails without Shells movement 25 years ago, the new Housing Movement consists of many different groups, all of which have devoted their effort to changing this difficult situation, as well as to serving as a communication bridge between the people and the government. Our study aims to thoroughly understand the Housing Movement, the activist groups and their work, and in the meantime to explore the public's opinion towards the issue.
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:dedicated connection
D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6
4. Problems We Had To Overcome
The large amount of research materials created pressure on our schedule, so time management was very important to us. We always assumed that we had sufficient time in the beginning, and therefore, failed to properly manage our time and were even a bit indolent. At first, we were unorganized, and not very active in terms of searching for materials, integrating the questions and designing the project, so we only realized the seriousness of our problem shortly before the deadline, and were forced to catch up. For this contest, our harsh experience has taught us a brand-new attitude. In the future, if we are again to participate in any 'long-term battles,' we would remember the lessons from this time and be more cautious. When a group works together to achieve something, they are often likely to encounter many difficulties. Communication, task distribution, and conflicts of opinions may all lead to frictions. As everyone had a different idea, frictions were inevitable, but we had to be united for the shared goal. At the end, we worked out some compromises that included the advantages of each idea and integrated them into a new plan that belonged to all of us. By doing so, we hoped to avoid the bad feelings caused by being rejected, and to present a better piece of work. We are high school students, and our school did not pause the classes because of our participation in this contest. Therefore, we had to work on both at the same time, managing our time properly so that we did not lose track of one thing while attending to the other. We used our lunch break to have discussions. With 1 hour a day, the accumulated result was also quite impressive.
5. Our Project Sound Bite
This project has allowed students to understand and become closer to issues that concern our society, and to explore the public's opinion of young generations towards the issue.
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
This project has allowed us to further understand and become closer to issues that concern our society. We've developed a civic awareness and stepped out of our comfort zone, learning how to interact with adults. We have also become more familiar with computer software, not just using them for presentation. When we signed up for this contest, we did not expect that it would improve our communication and language ability. Discussions, interviews, formulating the texts and taking notes all require language skills, especially interviews. Talking to representatives who specialize in this field was an experience that we could not acquire from a conventional school class. How to behave oneself when asking questions and responding to others is a topic worth being reflected upon. In the meantime, conflicts between the team members during meetings and discussions are also a great lesson about inspiring different ideas, reflecting on each other, sharing and accepting suggestions. We've also improved our communication ability greatly in this process.
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