School: Uzhur Additional education center for children
    Uzhur, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia

6 students, ages 11-16 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 19, 2016. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2012, 2013

Classes and Teachers: Anna Bukhtoyarova

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://

1. Description of Our Community

Let us present a small Siberian town Uzhur that is located more than 300 kilometers from Krasnoyarsk, the biggest city of the region. The main industry here is agricultural products that are distributed all over the region. The best dairy and meat products are made here. The town is by the federal way connecting regional capital Krasnoyarsk with the area of beautiful lakes. A lot of people driving through the city in summer to get to them. The city is developing but at the same time keeping a lot of traditions from the past. We are in the middle of Siberia and Siberia is the heart of Russia.

2. Summary of Our Project

When we are ask people to think of something related to Siberia they almost always say “Cold!” Siberia is famous for cold weather though in summer it can be really hot. We are Siberian children and we love winter! We want to prove to the world that cold and snow can be a lot of fun. Games, sports and New year traditions are very important for our culture. This project is devoted to Russian Winter Fun. You will love cold and snow!

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:4-6

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

For all of the students except one it was the first website, the first group project, the first research they have ever done! They had to learn a lot of basic computer and web literacy skills. They had to work with a lot of new technologies. They started to become not just users but developers. They also had to come up with the design ideas to overcome their limited skills.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Siberia means “cold” for many people around the world. Cold is something scary for many of them. But we do not agree! Snow and cold can be a lot of fun! These are the essential parts of Russian culture and Siberian character. We would like to tell you about winter as a part of our life and culture. Let’s play with snow together!

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

As it was the first project for the students who are under 12 except one the idea was to develop basic research and web design skills. They learned how to collect and process information, how to cite the sources properly, how to visualize the information. All these skills are on great demand for the curricula of the more senior grades. But the real discovery for them was the fact that the Internet is not just for communication and entertainment, but also something to be used for learning new information. The students started gaining skills of sorting and evaluating the information based on particular criteria.

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

Creating a website with Google sites, image processing, video making and other activities were very challenging for the students. So they mostly used very basic functionality. But as a result of the project a few of them expressed their interest in improving their skills and further international project participation.

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

The topic of the project is very positive. It is cross-cultural and cultural specific at the same time. The students’ idea was to show the fun part of the winter, that is a very important part of Russian culture. They wanted to share their everyday experience to encourage the dialog on the pastime of people. Climate distinguishes people a lot. The team wants to compare the pastime children activities in different countries to understand different cultures better. But we would like to start with understanding and presenting ourselves!

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

We mostly created that project to understand the huge part of our culture that is related to winter and cold. We did it to discuss with our families, to discuss in different classes, to show to our online friends abroad. A lot of people keep on asking about Siberian winter when our school participate in collaborative online projects. The students decided to make a self-made Internet resource to share their view on this question. We would like to fight a stereotype that cold always means something dangerous and negative. We would like to promote the bright side of Siberian winter!

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

We are very grateful to families and friends that provided pictures visual materials for the project. They really helped to make the project better with their great advice! As our topic was based mostly on personal experience and area specifics we did not use any help from remote partners. But this is just a start! We hope to include them in our project later.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

The project taught the team that learning and creating can be a lot of fun! We can find great things around us and even cold and snow can be presented as a part of the culture. Cold place requires people to be warm with each other!