2017 IIME REPORTCountry/Region [ TAIWAN ]School[ Naitonal ShanHua Senior High School] Teacher [ Hui-Yen Yang, Ching-Yi Chang]
Grade ( 11 ) Member (64)
JP school [ Toyohashi Chuo Senior High School ] Teacher [ TAKAKURA Yoshio,
KOMATSU Asami, FUJII Noriko ]# Subjects, Activities and Hours of the lessons
Subject
Conception of the lesson
Introduction of Have the basic idea about this project through the website, and know what they
the IIME Project will do in the following year
Slef-introduction Introduce oneself to a foreign friend in English

Hours12OnlineInteraction

Get familiar with the presentation skills and etiquette in an international videoconference

6

Mural Painting

Learn to work together and represent the cultural features in the form of art

20

Greeting Cards
MakingProject
Management

Realize the meaning of love and sharing by designing greeting cards andappreciating the received/exchanged cards

6

Learn to organize a welcome event for foreign friends visiting our school

5# Theme and Message of the mural
ThemeMessage
United thoughts to share withthe world

The mutual elements of the past bring both of us to a better future.
We know that there are many corresponding cultural elements in Japan and Taiwan.
Because of the history and cutlure we share, we have stronger connection than thatof other countries. Therefore, we want to express that what Japan and Taiwan
share in common in the mural. Because of the tradition, the culture, and the effortsof the ancestors, we are moving toward a better future together.

# Effects and the Problems
Effects your students have gained
Points for further improvement
Our students had great fun interacting with our IT problems sometimes would happen during theJapanese partners and knowing the familiar and video conferences, which would interrupt theunfamiliar sides of Japanese culture. In the process, progress of the online interaction.
they also gained confidence when they successfully
use English to introduce our cultural beauty to
Japanese friends. When our students painted themural and make videos to welcome Japanse friends , I
found how talented they were. In short, they weremore willing to express themselves in various ways.

# How has your impression toward your partner’s country/region and the world changed?
Changes in the students
Changes in the teachers
In the beginning, they thought their partners, who are Before the project began, we teachers were worried
from a class with an international student from that our students’ performance might not be as good
Germany, shy but good at speaking English. But they as their seniors. Luckily, with the help of Mr.
found their partners willing to share and they also Takakura and our colleagues, we knew how totried hard to make their English understood. instruct our students step by step and accomplish
Gradually, our students’ anxiety to speak with this project.
foreigners decreased. Most students would pluck up
the courage to communicate with each other inEnglish.

# Flow of the Activity
ContentMonthMEET
Selfintroduction

SHARE
Research onthe theme

UNITEUnited
message/
Mural design

CREATE
Muralpainting

APPRECIAT
E
Reflection/
Appreciation

What you did
Students prepared theirbrief self-introduction.

Sep.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.
lFeb.

March

Students made researchon the Taipei 101, a
famous baseball player
and other culturalelements , and theyshared their findings totheir partner.
Students discussed withour partner in the videoconference. We teachers
also discussed on theforum to finalize thetheme and design.
Students were guided towork together on thebasis of their draft
although some adjustment
had to be made.
We also invited our Fine
Arts teacher to help us.
The completed mural washang in the library to beappreciated by ourstudents. When ourpartner school visited ourschool, we took photos
with the mural together.

Your students attitude/reflection
At first, they were shy and nervous
about talking about themselves in frontof a camera, but getting an instantfeedback from their partner made themvery excited.
They found it took much time andefforts to give a great presentation.
They also gained a sense ofachievement after accomplishing thejob.

Students worked hard to come up withthe cultural elements they wanted torepresent on the mural, and made thedesign finalized.

Students worked very hard to makethe two halves look as a harmonious
one, and they found it was not thateasy as they thought. Many of themcame to school on holidays tocomplete the mural on time.
Students from either side were very
excited to see the final product. Theylooked forward to another chance tocollaborate with each other. We also
formed sister school alliance this year.

Subject
English,IT

English,IT

English,Art andITArtArt# Effect and evaluation gained through the collaborative learning
Evaluation: Rank 5 to 1 (5: very effective / 4: effective / 3: so- so / 2: not so effective / 1: not effective at all)

Expected effectEvaluation

Understanding yourown cultures

5

Understanding yourpartner's cultures

5

Scenes / points teachers felt the effects
They made research on a landmark in Taipei, Sadaharu oh, traditionalreligious events, school life, and tourist spots. Even though these werefamiliar to them, trying to introduce these in English was still a bigchallenge to them.
Through video conferences, they learned more about different
perspectives of Japanese culture. They were particularly curious about
what Japanese students do at school. They also want to know more
about Japanese MANGA culture and traditional entertainment.

Information literacy(research, share)

Communication ability(interactive exchange)

Critical thinking(objective, critical views)

Active learningand action
Collaboration(in the class, with partners)

Expression ability(in words, in pictures)

4454

54

Appreciation ability(the mural, the wholecollaborative learning)

4In order to present the content they prepared, they had to do theresearch about the topics, write a script and memorize it. Most students
were not good at researching, but they were willing to learn under theteacher’s instruction.
After the first video conference, students became familiar with theconference and less anxious when they spoke in front of the camera.
They could try to talk to their Japanese friends, and ask questions theywanted to know. They were also motivated to listen to what Japanesestudents said in the video conferences. We also designed worksheets toevaluate how much they understood about the presentation.
The elements on the mural enable students to explore the deep meaning
behind what Japanese partners painted. Also students learn to compare
the difference people deal with their own culture and hence strengthen
the mutual understanding between our cultures.
Most students became more active than they used to be in learning
English because they knew the importance of language learning whileinteracting with their Japanese friends.
In the process of either mural painting or school visit preparation,
students learned to cooperate with their classmates.
On the school-visit day, our students tried very hard to conquer thelanguage barrier with the help of technology. Some of them even tried touse simple Japanese to communicate.
They would discuss the completed mural together and exchange feelings
toward it. They also gave those painters a thumb-up as a kind of praise
when they met them. Many 10th graders from our school also showed
their motivation to join the project next year.