1. Description of Our Community
The local community presented in our research project is Xinpu Town in the Hsinchu County, which is located in the western part of Taiwan. Majority of the residents belong to the Hakka Ethnic Group. They not only have unique Hakka culture, but also many historical buildings and monuments. Families with the same last names lived and developed together, creating a unique ancestral culture in the course of Xinpu Town’s development. Our goal is to promote the Xinpu’s unique Hakka culture to the world through our website.
2. Summary of Our Project
Our research topic is “Xinpu Ancestral Shrine Museum”, which can be divided into several major categories: Xinpu Hakka History, Xinpu Ancestral Shrine Museum, Cultural Heritage, Investigation, Education Promotion, Hakka tradition.
Xinpu is an urban township known for its rich Hakka cultures. It has retained many historical Hakka buildings and traditions, as well as landmarks such as ancestral shrines. One of the key cultural spirit is to unite families together and strengthen the family bond through gatherings in the ancestral shrines.
To build some background - Hakka ancestors migrated from China to Taiwan 200 years ago. This was a difficult time for Hakka clans as they had to fight with other clans for farmland and resources. Eventually this united the Hakka clans and transformed into a strong family bond for Hakka culture.
To promote Hakka culture of filial piety of the ancestors and memorize Hakka traditional lifestyle, the local government revitalized the old streets by forming the “Ancestral Shrine Museum of Xinpu”. In so doing, the Hakka clans are once again reunited.
Through this museum we envision our ancestors’ lives 200 years ago, and we also envision Xinpu as a delightful township in the near future. One in which you could just walk into an old monument on the corner of a street and travel in time there! With half of our team members are Hakka, we envision to see much more integration of the ancient Hakka life and culture to the modern society. The ancestral shrines not only are spiritual landmarks, but also the core to promote the Hakka value and culture to see the future we have envisioned.
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
As we are participating in this year’s Global SchoolNet International CyberFair, the biggest challenge is to translate all the data to English. With the guidance from our teachers and team members’ effort, we have completed the website in both Chinese and English. Another challenge we have encountered is learning how to build our website through Weebly platform. Furthermore, as team members are from different classes, it required more time to coordinate meeting hours. Lastly, it is a long distance between Taipei and Hsinchu, each trip to Hsinchu can be very time consuming.
5. Our Project Sound Bite
We have collaboratively made use of the internet and social media by disseminating information with regard to the protection of historical ruins and the preservation of Hakka culture.
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
1.Language: (1)Submitted articles to publishers, enhancing writing skills (2)Sharpened English skill through translation, hoping to promote Xinpu’s Hakka culture to the world. 2.Society (1)Understood Xinpu’s Shrine culture, historic sites and Yimin religion, and learning Xinpu’s history from Japaese-Occupied period to date. (2)Get to know the traditional Hakka building’s design and structure through ancestral shrines. 3.Information Technology (1)Learning how to process video and images. (2)Using Weebly to build the website. (3)Using Excel to analyze data and create charts and graphs. 4.Data & Statistics Designed questionnaires and performed data analysis, getting a clearer understanding of the public's perception and acceptance of the topic through statistic charts. 5.Integrated Activity (1)Everyone shares tasks and rewards. (2)Common goals, effective meeting and discussion with completion deadline.
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