Read
instructions for completing this CyberFair Project
Narrative
Project Narrative
NAKAJIMA
A Challenge of My
Father
Information About Our Site
- Link to our
CyberFair 98 Entry
- Link to
our School Home Page
- Date of
Project: March
31,1998
- School: King's English School KUMANODAI
CLASS
- District: Kumanodai
- City: Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan
- Teachers or
Classes:
Masaki Seike
- How many students worked on
this project? 1
- Their ages were:
18 years of age
- Project Contact Email:
masaki@dokidoki.ne.jp
Project Overview
- We entered our Web site in
CyberFair Category:
Local Specialties
- Description of "Our
Community"
Nakajima Town
is in the Inland Sea of Japan. The town consists of 6 inhabited
islands with 7200 people and 22 uninhabited islands. Since this is
a rural island-town, people highly depend on their most incomes
from orange farming and fishery. Many of residents are farmers and
fishermen or related to the industries.
- Summary of Our
Project
In 1972,
the National Geographic Magazine introduced this island town,
Nakajima, and mentioned the change of their lifestyles like
decreasing number of residents on the islands during the
high-growth economy of Japan in the 70s. The orange production in
the town once boomed at that time and won their reputation for
excellent oranges. But in 1991, the town suffered from
an enormous
typhoon
and it left the damaged of 1499 acres for farming area and 73.8
billion yen of loss for orange growers. And again, people live
here are struggling to survive. A high school girl, Toshinari
Chiharu whose father is an organic orange grower in Nakajima, is
to find out more about her town and her own father through its
history, local specialities, and her father's challenge.
- Our Internet
Access
We have a ISDN connection on one Macintosh computer. We are quite
satisfied with the speed of internet access, but we feel more
computer facilities are needed to make our lesson more effective
and exciting for our students.
- Problems We Had To
Overcome
We found out about the CyberFair Project a month ago, and we could
only manage to have 1 student who can work on this project. But
the students is eager to work on this, and told me that she
learned a lot through the process. Interestingly, she is from an
island town, and the most distant student from our school. We and
the student made a commitment to achieve this project since the
town, Nakajima, has interesting features to introduce. I believe
the project work well even for just one student.
- Our Project Sound
Bite
Putting her
work on the web site generated our student's motivation. She could
not stop herself learning about her town, and her father, so she
can be proud of them.
Project Elements
This section explains how your
project addressed the project
elements found in the
CyberFair
Assignment to Schools.
1) How did your activities and
research for this International School CyberFair project support your
required course work and curriculum requirements?
- What new skills
did you learn?
We did have a software to make
a web site before we start this project but we were not sure how
we can use it if we make ours and combine with the classes. But by
knowing the CyberFair 98 help us great deal to get started. Now we
know how to use the software, and we put our students' project to
introduce their
hometowns.
- How do you better
understand specific ideas?
We and our
student were inspired by looking at other schools' web site. They
are all great!
- How does your
project fit into the requirements for your school or class?
Since this is
a small, neighborhood-style school, we are pretty flexible for
taking a new program like the CyberFair 98 into our class. We
would like to keep our school to be compact but practical for our
students. And we believe that by connecting our school to others
in the world through the net, is the effective way to learn
English.
- What discoveries
did you make about your educational system? About the role you
play in your school community?
The most of
classes at Japanese schools are too big for both teachers and
students. 40 students in a one-teacher class is a typical number,
and schools are becoming a place only to pass the entrance exams
for Universities rather than to learn about student's
possibilities. We believe being "Small, but efficient," will be a
key to bring a true meaning of education for Japanese Educational
System and students.
- Has using the
Internet for teaching and learning been more effective than
traditional methods? If so, explain?
Being small is
great. But without educational facilities, we can't do much. We
need a powerful tool to bring new ideas, different points of view
into our classes. Students' lifestyles are changing rapidly, and
we just can't teach them how to live in an information-oriented
society with a piece of chalk, while they carry their handy phones
and electronical pets like "Tamaggochi," if you have heard of it.
We need to be advanced in every educational technologies, with a
heart of Heraclitus (6th-5th century b.c. Greek philosopher).
"There is
nothing permanent except change."
2) What information tools and
technologies did you use to complete your CyberFair
project?
- We have used most of information
tools we can get our hands on from oral interviews to Online
Databases. And we realized how important to go out of the
classroom and collect what you want on foot. Doing so, we can be
more inspired. And sometimes we meet interesting
unexpected story.
3) In what ways did you act as
"ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both
on-line and in person.
We asked people or organizations to
help us for some information, and then we explained why we need them
or how we use them on the web. We had only one student to work with
and didn't have much time to speak out more about it. But if we make
some documents tell about this event in Japanese, or carrying
something like business cards, printed "CyberFair 98 Spokesperson"
on the
card, it might be helpful
when we entry for next year.
4) What has been the impact of
your project on your community?
- How has your
project made a difference?
The project bought us a goal
to work with. Frankly speaking, it is so easy for Japanese
students to lose their interests in leaning English which they
don't use often except for their examinations. Learning English
here in Japan, it is tend to be nothing but just a tool to enter
universities. The project gave us a chance to focus on where on
the earth live, and how we can relate to other people in different
countries by explaining who we are. Students need to know more
about themselves, and share what they found with others.
- Have people in
your community learned new things through your Web pages?
Yes. Not from the content of
our web site, but from just one high school girl with a passion
can do so much. Everybody we met was impressed with her
work.
5) How did your project involve
other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?
We get to know various people through
this project.
1. Japan Agricultural
Exchange Council
We talked spokesperson from
the
organization on the phone
that she told me it was great opportunity for them too, to be
introduced on the web. And they said they will look for the web site
we made and the Global School Foundation Site.
2. Japan-U.S. Workshop for
Agroecology
We met met Dr.Hideo Ueno, one of the
organizers for
Experiment
Farm of Ehime University, He
is an Associated Professor of Ehime University who allowed us to use
the photo and sources on the web. We corresponded by e-mails also, we
explained the project, and introduced the web address for CyberFair
98.
Dr.Hidoe Ueno told us he has seen our
project and mentioned us that American Researchers at a workshop were
very interested in Chiharu's father's speech. And he will tell them
our project on the web to introduce Nakajima Town and the father's
work.
3. Officials at Nakajima Town
Office.
In order to get the sources on our
project, Chiharu visited their town office and explained what she
needs and why. And she was more than
welcomed.