Genesis

Our group was formed in late January 2007 comprising of three students, Yan, Jian Hao and Tat Leong. However at that time, we lacked a member experienced in web designing, and thus Kwang Wei was subsequently recruited into the group. We soon found out though that the workload was quite immense for a group of only 4 and we went headhunting for another group member. Then, we received a double blessing when our assistant coach told us that two new members from another college will be joining our team, and from then on it was full steam ahead for the team.

“If you fail to plan, plan to fail.”

We placed great emphasis on the planning and preparing before creating this website as our coach constantly reminded us that our time is very tight (we had less than three months to the deadline when the group was formed), thus we could not afford to make any mistakes, wasting precious time.

Initially, it was very difficult to think of a topic for our website as we would like it to cover a wide spectrum of aspects while being specific enough for us to go more in depth into the topic. After a day of brainstorming, we settled with Internet Addiction disorder as our topic. Balancing between the width and depth of the topic we were doing on was a challenging task. However, after mind-mapping out our preliminary ideas, we stroke a balance between the two and proceeded with ease in constructing the website.

A Global Problem

The reason why we did this topic is because Internet Addiction Disorder has affected many countries worldwide (excluding those without widespread Internet access). It is because of this mental disorder that the lives of many people are ruined. Most people who realised their lives are affected want to kick their addiction but they often fail in doing so as they are unaware of the effective methods of treating their addiction. Hence, our website aims to equip and educate them with methods to treat their addiction and also to enlighten people of all ages on the implications of Internet Addiction Disorder.

No 'I' In 'Team'

Making a good website is important. The co-operation among members in the team was the integral part of the whole project. From the content to the design of the website, every byte in the website is a contribution from all the team members as everyone is encouraged to give their opinions on how the website will look like and what are we going to include in it. Only when each and every member is satisfied with the website then will we be able to commit ourselves into constructing a successful site.

There were several times along the way when some of the team members felt like giving up as they had difficulty juggling between school work and the project. However, the other members would spur them on and boost their morale by offering to handle some of their workload, and of course words of encouragement and advice to inspire and push them on to complete their tasks.

Coaches:

Mr Chia Keng Hian

Role: Coach I am very proud of this ThinkQuest team. ThinkQuest served as a platform for students to apply what they learn into the applications. The team work is important for their collaboration. As a coach for Thinkquest, I will see what is going on, give them feedback and motivation and help if asked to. I see how the group develops and support them in their development in order to find their own way, goals and dynamics to complete their task. Mr Gi Soong Chee Role: Assistant Coach Good morning! I am a happy ordinary Computing teacher in Victoria Junior College, Singapore. :) Honestly I do not exactly know how the students did it, but they did it! With minimum input from the coaches, virtually everything from conceptualization of the topic to the implementation of the site were done by the self-motivated and hardworking members. Despite the fact that the students were from different schools and came together with different backgrounds and skill sets (and at different phases in the project), they have really collaborated well to come up with a site of a significant scope and standard. It must be due to good leadership, strong commitment and a desire to achieve a good social cause that propelled the team onwards to excellence. I wish them every success in the competition and in life. May the FORCE be with you. Team Members:

Bo Age: 17 Role: Researcher and Interviewer I am from the People’s Republic of China. Doing such a huge project is indeed a rare opportunity for me to improve myself in terms of IT skills and interpersonal skills. I joined this competition when my school (Hwa Chong Institution) posted a message stating that some people from Victoria Junior College is seeking people to join their ThinkQuest groups. I joined this competition seeking to enrich myself. As a researcher and interviewer, I was compelled to flip through piles of books, browse through hundreds of web pages, looking for information relevant to our topic on Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD). In addition, I also looked for people to interview through both street interview, and finding connections. Throughout this period, we have encountered many challenges and difficulties. For example, our team formed in mid-March, leaving us with a month’s time to completion. Communication was also difficult, due to the fact that we come from different schools. However, I’ve also learnt many things from this quest; I learnt to work independently and efficiently, and to carry the responsibility of educating people from all over the world about IAD – I had to make sure that all information are accurate, including Chinese translation which is aimed to educate people from China where the majority of people suffering from IAD are from. Jian Hao Age: 17 Role: Content research, Editor I’m currently a computing student from Victoria Junior College, Singapore. Prior to ThinkQuest, I had no idea about the severity of the implications of IAD. To me, it was nothing more than the occasional news report of yet another gamer who died after an exhaustive gaming marathon spanning over 48 hours or more. However, as we began to delve deeper into the subject, I began to realize how little I know. This project had been an enriching experience that broadened my knowledge on IAD and opened up my eyes to the proliferation of IAD amongst the young in our modern society. Being one of the members in charge of content and editing, not only was I able to hone my linguistic skills along the way, I’ve also developed a keener eye for filtering out irrelevant information and assimilating the useful articles within our content. The experience I’ve gained from this short three-month adventure with my teammates had been deeply enriching, refreshingly fun and unforgettably enlightening, and I am honored and glad to have worked with them.

Kwang Wei

Age: 17

Role: Web designer, Interactivity

I am currently a student in Meridian Junior College, Singapore. My interest in Web Designing and flash application making began when I was in secondary 2. Since then, I often started designing websites, making flash movies, and search for tutorials online to enhance my ability.

During my year 4 in secondary school, the Chinese department was having plans to revamp the department website. My Chinese teacher is aware of my interests in this field and decided to recruit me into the team in-charge of managing this project. It was only then that I felt that my ability in designing is recognized.

In this project, I was assigned the task of designing the website and making the flash applications. The current website you are reading may look simple, but it is actually the 4th design that has been decided on after a series of edits and ‘demolishment’. It is definitely not an easy task.

Before I uploaded the website to the ThinkQuest server, I uploaded it elsewhere so that others can preview the site. I did so in order to allow my friends who are not involved in the project to participate in commenting on the site. They commented. One asks for one part to be torn down, another asked for another part to be removed. One gave a suggestion, I made changes; another person commented that it looked worse. No design seems to satisfy everyone. After all, everyone has different taste. But, well… I guess the site looks fine anyway.


Shu Peng

Age: 18

Role: Web designer

I am from Hwa Chong Institution in Singapore. I have been designing webpages since I was 13 and I have a strong passion for the visual and digital arts. I believe ThinkQuest International is an excellent opportunity for me to apply my knowledge and skills to create interesting learning packages for students all around the world. Most importantly, it provides an enriching learning opportunity outside the classroom and teaches me the value of teamwork and spirit and learning to compromise and work with my peers

As a designer, the challenges met were many. The biggest challenge I had was to design a website along with my partner Kwang Wei. Both of us had differing opinions on the structure and layout of our website but we managed to work together after evaluating the pros and cons and finally reaching a consensus together. Another challenge was to ensure that our website is user-friendly and at the same time appealing, and trying to consider the views of our entire team which were at times conflicting. Hence, a lot of discussions were held to ensure everyone is satisfied and agreeable to the way the website was constructed.

I believe I have walked away with invaluable experience from this year’s ThinkQuest competition. I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of sharing my knowledge and skills with my peers and at the same time learning from them and from our research on our project. Such learning opportunities and experiences are more than enjoyable and meaningful to me than classroom learning. I believe I have learnt many things that cannot be taught in the classrooms such as inter-personal skills, compromising and accepting the multitudinous perspectives of others and also working as a team towards a shared common goal. Such a time was definitely well spent and I believe the lessons and life-skills that I take away from this will be assets to my continuous learning journey and future endeavours.

Tat Leong

Age: 17

Role: Researcher, Translator, Team Leader

I am a Singaporean and currently, I am studying in Victoria Junior College, Singapore. I was introduced to the ThinkQuest competition by my Computing teacher in Victoria Junior College, Mr Gi (our assistant coach) and he appointed me to be the leader. Even though I changed from Computing to another subject around February, I still continued with the project with the other members as I believe it is a rare opportunity for my team members and me to participate in such a prestigious international competition.

As the leader, I help to facilitate the progress of the team by allocating group members to tasks that are related to their area of expertise. In addition, I ensure that the latest content researched and paraphrased is sent to the web designers to fuse their design and the content into our sensational website you are viewing now. Although we do not meet the deadline we set for ourselves, we help each other cover some of their duties and thus, with such wonderful team members, we managed to complete our website.

ThinkQuest has definitely proved to be a great learning experience for me. Up till now did I realize that translation and filtering off irrelevant research was not an easy job. While helping out in some parts of the website, I learnt how to use Dreamweaver and PhotoShop, thanks to my team members that taught me so patiently.

I would like to thank all my team members for putting in so much effort into the website and I would also like to thank our coaches for their precious advices that made this website a success.

Yan

Age: 18

Role: Researcher, Translator, Content for games

I am currently studying in Victoria Junior College. I am from China. I came to Singapore 5 years ago and had improved my English since then, but still struggling with my English in school. I don’t know a lot about IT, that is why I am assigned to research and translate the website to Chinese. I joined ThinkQuest because I was asked to join by the leader. Another reason is that I find ThinkQuest very challenging and this was not I had done in school before.

As a researcher, I searched from the internet and library for topics on internet addiction. It was quite messy and difficult at first as I was not prepared for the overwhelming information which pours in like never ending. But as time goes by, I became clearer of what was my objective and goal. Next I need to organize all my researches and sent to the editor for editing. As I am better in Chinese language, I also do the translating which was tedious and time consuming.

I feel that I biggest challenge is the researching part whereby I have to compile all the researches and ensure there is no overlapping. Through this, I was able to gain necessary skills of picking out the right contents and improving my organization and analyze which information is relevant. It is fun to work with other people from other schools even though I need to continuously log on to internet to communicate with them. Through this few months of project, I almost ended up becoming an Internet addict.