Tamil
Web Page for Kids - First International Competition
Deadline for submission of
the completed project is extended to
September 21, 2002, 11:59 PM PST (California
time).
This is the first-ever international
competition organized by INFITT to promote Tamil content creation on
the internet by school children. This is an online project in which
children from various schools across the USA, Canada, India,
Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Europe and the rest of
the world over will make projects based on their images of
Tamil.
The
idea is that children, in the process, would develop new ways
of seeing the Tamil language and Tamil culture around them
and at the same time get exposed to the power of creating
web pages in Tamil and vast educational resources on the web.
Children must have active, creative participation rather than
passive except perhaps to acquire basic skills. The projects
may be built by Teams or Individuals.
IMPORTANT:
The web pages should be in Tamil and cover topics related
to Tamil, Tamil Nadu, culture, history, and future of Tamil
as outlined in the categories below.
Project
Categories
Please
select one of the following 10 categories for your entry.
To
help you get started, some initial questions and starter activities
are provided.
We
encourage schools to coordinate with other schools in their
area so that each school picks a different category rather
than choose identical topics. This project should increase
the variety of Tamil based content available on the internet
with an emphasis on originality.
CATEGORY
1
Our
Tamil Heritage
Design
a website that showcases our Tamil Heritage describing the
civilization and cultural influences of Tamil across the centuries
(you may describe Tamil literature, Kingdoms, morals, values
and ethics as described by Tamil literature and history, folk
stories/poems/art forms, etc.)
CATEGORY
2
Local
Music, Art, Craft forms
Design
a website that showcases local music and musicians or art
forms that are important elements of the community experience
(i.e. dance, festivals, songs, ceremonies, sculpture, painting,
crafts).
CATEGORY
3
People
that inspired me/us
Design
a website that identifies famous or important people in your
community (i.e. scientists, poets, leaders, authors, artists,
musicians, sports figures etc.)
CATEGORY
4
A
Book that inspired me/us
Design
a website that describes a book that inspired you and why
(e.g. ThirukkuRaL, Ponniyin Celvan, etc.)
CATEGORY
5
Place
that I/we love
Design
a website that showcases the place that you love (your hometown,
school, river, beach, mountain, place of worship, monument,
etc. )
CATEGORY
6
Wonders
of the World
Design
a website that describes ancient or modern wonders of the
world in Tamil. ( Tajmahal, Pyramids, etc.)
CATEGORY
7
Wonders
of the Sky
Design
a website that describes the wonders of the sky with an astronomical
perspective (planets, Moon, Asteroids, Metors, stars, Hubble
Telescope, etc.)
CATEGORY
8
Tamil
as a global citizen
Most
of the Tamils live in multi-ethnic nations and are strongly
infludenced by multiculturalism. Design a website that showcases
the Tamil diaspora describing the experiences of Tamils settled
all over the world with families scattered across the globe.
(you may describe the experiences of your relatives, friends,
teachers, etc.)
CATEGORY
9
Sports
that Tamils Enjoy
Design
a website that showcases sports that Tamils enjoy participating
in and watching. (you may describe Tamil sports stars of the
past or present, kabaddi, cricket, soccer, tennis, mountain
climbing, etc.)
CATEGORY
10
Internet
Design
a website that introduces computers and internet. Explain
why computers and internet are useful, describe the tools
available in Tamil and in English, point to resources available
on the internet. (You may describe Tamil Virtual University,
Project Madurai, Tamil Heritage Foundation, University lessons
online, search engines, web based e-mails, web page creation
tools, web magazines, chat programs, video conference programs,
internet radio programs, etc.)
The
themes give an opportunity to the team members and individuals
to combine research with their personal experiences such as
visits to places, and conversations with people.
By
meshing their experiences with broader facts culled from research
in libraries/museums and on the Net, the team members and
individuals enhance their ability to integrate personal experience
with broader data to see the bigger picture.
Mode
of presentation
Children
can present their projects in the form of the written word,
with children's stories, rhymes, art, games, self drawn illustrations,
photographs, and animated sound and picture clips, the teams
can create a fascinating 3-D architecture on the web, pulsating
with the energy of their experiences. They can create educational
web pages. The Web pages should be in Tamil.
