CyberFair Project ID: 7817

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International Schools CyberFair Project Narrative
Title: Living Aesthetics of Calligraphic Art
Category: 8. Local Music and Art Forms
URL: http://librarywork.taiwanschoolnet.org/gsh2014/gsh7817/index.htm
Bibliography: http://librarywork.taiwanschoolnet.org/gsh2014/gsh7817/bibliography.htm

School: Lukang junior high school
    ChangHua, , Taiwan

20 students, ages 12-15 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 4, 2014. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2005,2012,2013

Classes and Teachers: Wen Sheng Huang

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.lkjh.chc.edu.tw/

Project Overview

1. Description of Our Community

Lukang is located at the midpoint of the west coast of Taiwan and is the closest city to Mainland China from Taiwan, so it was naturally developed to a prosperous city of commercial port. Between 1785 and 1845, Lukang was in its heyday. Later, it quickly declined due to the sediments in the port. Therefore, many old architectures and valuable cultural and artistic assets were kept. It became a famous cultural and tourist city for its unique and fascination in historical sites, temples, crafts, foods, and literature art.

2. Summary of Our Project

Calligraphic art is an important part of Chinese culture. Due to the rapid development of writing tools and extensive use of computer peripheral products, the calligraphic art is increasingly neglected. The younger generation is neither interested in learning calligraphic art nor knowing how to appreciate it. Lukang has the reputation as a calligraphic town all the time. Due to the profound foundation of culture and arts for 400 years, it pays attention on calligraphic education, and quite a few people are learning calligraphy. Therefore, we decided to use the unique strengths in local culture to introduce calligraphic art, which involves living aesthetics of the local life, and present its beauty in many ways, such as Spring Festival couplets that every household posts for Chinese New Year, horizontal inscribed boards hung on the walls at temples and stores, and the unique calligraphic signboards advertised on Zhongshan Road in Lukang.

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

It was a brand new learning experience for students participating in Cyberfair 2014. The students used to be led and taught by teachers in the past, but for this project, they are required to collect data independently, visit teachers that have expertise in various areas, and participate in experiential activities. The major problem for the students was the change of the way they learned. Fortunately, through teamwork, sharing, communication and coordination, they finished all researches and activities. Besides, we did not have enough time and know how to make web pages. It was difficult for us to find a time that we were all available for activities since all 20 students are from different classes. Sometimes we had to ask some students to sacrifice their regular curriculum. Therefore the research progress was very slow. As to the use of computer technology, it took time for them to learn and get familiar with the application of all software, in order to produce a great Cyberfair project website.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

I learned many things that I could not learn from a regular school while working on the 2014 Cyberfair project. For each activity, it was very important that we teamed up to accomplish it. Everyone had to do the best to contribute. I also learned that it was not easy to be as good as teachers, unless we have very strong perseverance to insist and proceed to the end. All experiences are very valuable and helpful to me. We had chance to have better understanding of our traditional culture through this activity, and promote our culture through the Cyberfair project. What we had done might be a combination of technology and culture! We let people realize that Lugan does not only have tourist spots, snacks, and historical sites, but it also has a unique calligraphic culture.

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

The goal of the Grade 1-9 Curriculum announced by the Ministry of Education is to “train citizens to have the human-oriented mind, integration ability, democratic citizenship, local and international consciousness, and lifelong learning capability.” The experience of the Cyberfair project is very important to the students from which they learn to become initiative learners. Besides the contents of the project, they have also learned others as the following: A. Learned to make good use of Internet to search for the data needed and learn web page design. B. Learned probe into problems voluntarily and solve the problems, and continue the routine repeatedly. C. Learned to team up with others, work in detail, and become responsible. D. Learned to get along with people with different personality, develop mutual trust, then support each other, which is the biggest reward to us. These are what the Grade 1-9 Curriculum emphasizes, using life experiences to train modern citizens with the basic abilities of “carrying with them to go”.

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Project Elements

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

Computer and computer software: Surf internet, search for data, process photos and make web pages. Removable Hard Drive: Big capacity and easy to carry. Recording Pen: Used to record our interview process, and help us to type report to enrich web page content. Scanner: Used to scan calligraphic work and document into images. Digital Camera: Used to take pictures and short videos for web page to use.

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

When we started to research the Cyberfair project of “Floating Cloud and Flowing Water”, we interviewed people, collected data and created web pages to help people understand calligraphy and learn more knowledge about it. Our research includes Spring Festival couplets and horizontally inscribed board. In order to collect data, we interviewed two calligraphic teachers and one craft master for horizontally inscribed board, and participated in two activities for performance of writing Spring Festival couplets onsite. We would like to introduce all we learned from Cyberfair project to all people in the world through these web pages so that they could know and understand the local characteristic of calligraphic art in Lukang more.

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

We contacted a few calligraphic professionals in the community through the process of this research, and experienced their profession and passion. We showed our affirmation and respect to them in the interview too. For example, Teacher Chao-hsun Wu provided great help to us when the school invited him to teacher calligraphic seminar, calligraphic performance, and work exhibition later after our interview. We even invited him to be the instructor of school calligraphic club. He helped a lot in promoting calligraphic art. We held a calligraphic competition for students. We let teachers and students of the entire school go to the internet to vote, and we also posted the works which won the awards on the doors of all offices at school We grabbed their attention on Spring Festival couplets, and encouraged many classes to decorate their classroom with Spring Festival couplets, and make it part of their life.

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

In order to collect data, we interviewed two calligraphic teachers and one craft master for horizontally inscribed board, and participated in two activities for performance of writing Spring Festival couplet onsite. We went to temples, stores and residence homes to take pictures on horizontally inscribed boards, calligraphic signboards, and Spring Festival couplets. We also visited factories, which made signboards, to learn the procedure and hard work of signboard production. Besides the people shown on the webpage content such as Teacher Ming-chu Huang, Teacher Chao-hsun Wu, Master Chuan-de Shih, Legislator Hui-mei Wang, and Ms. Hsiu-chuan Wei, many other people helped us, consulted us, provided data for us, and helped us obtain calligraphic works. Without their great help, we could not finish this Cyberfair project.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

I found that writing good calligraphy not only depended on practice, but also required much knowledge about calligraphy. For example, how to appreciate calligraphic art, what skills are required for writing good calligraphy, and so on. Through this opportunity, I was glad to enter the world of calligraphic art more deeply, and learn knowledge and some secrets about calligraphy. Also, learning helps me build my sense of achievement, and helps me find lots of fun in the procedure. After these few interviews, I learned that “Each industry has its own specialty.” My knowledge about calligraphy and horizontally inscribed board was improved. I also learned the fact that no matter what kind of work you do, as long as you try hard, you will get what you deserve. Finally, I learned from the entire activity that it is not easy to be as good as teachers. We needed to have strong perseverance to insist and proceed to the end. Every experience was valuable, and helped me a lot.

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View our CyberFair Project (Project ID: 7817)

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