Team
Jia XuanInstitute of Technical Education, Singapore
AdamInstitute of Technical Education, Singapore
Abdul RahimInstitute of Technical Education, Singapore
AnsariInstitute of Technical Education, Singapore
Age Range
19 & under
Coaches
Mr Yeo Kwan HuaInstitute of Technical Education, Singapore
Leong MartinInstitute of Technical Education, Singapore
Category
Sports & Recreation > Extreme Sports
Audience
Ages 12 and up
Language
English
Site Features
Reading Guide / Book Guide
Quiz
Teacher Resources (Lesson Plans, Worksheets)
Photo Gallery
Video / Sound
Team Collaboration
The team came to know about this competition through our mentors. We were very-much ecstatic and excited to participate. Hence after our registration, we quickly sat down to brainstorm on the topic to work with. We came up with a few topics and proposals and eventually narrowed it down to “extreme sports”. This was because the team members were all familiar with it and interested in this topic. Also, with some of our other peers engaged in such activities, we felt comfortable and confident in taking on the topic.
Our next phase of the project was to define our roles: our mentors did so by analyzing our profiles and skills – that were largely based on the subjects we took as well as our school project portfolio. Through defining our roles and duties, it also gave us an insight / overview of the web site we were going to create: an explosive web site splashed with illustrations to express our creativity. From then on, we brainstormed on the various designs, content and functionality that we wanted our web site to have. When all these were clearly defined and storyboarded, we went about our respective tasks.
Adam and I began with gathering contacts for interviews, as well as resource references. In the midst of conducting our research, we were fortunate to come across www.xtremeadenture.com.sg. Speaking to the person-in-charge (Khee), he provided us with a host of resources, including references, locations, materials and new contacts. Armed with this additional information, we went about on a mini ‘escapade’ to conduct interviews, photo and video shoots. While all these were taking place, the other group members were also working simultaneously, constructing the other required items of our web site.
Jia was putting together the design layouts of the web site, while Razin – our cartoonist ‘prodigy’ – designed the illustrations. When these were completed, we then began to insert them onto our web site. Concurrently, other items such as style-sheets, user interactions, and activities (quiz) were also integrated onto the project. With the basic structure of the web site ready, the gathered information from Adam and me – textual information, photos and videos interviews – were done too.
Thus, in our final phase of our project, we proof-read and inserted the text, edited photos and converted videos (Adobe Flash) onto our web site. Testing, error-fixing were also done before we uploaded our web site for judging.
Team Diversity
The four of us all come from different backgrounds – in terms of culture, race and religion. Our diverse family backgrounds and upbringing have allowed us to develop different point-of-views, which we considered helpful in molding our project. In addition to that, with the unique skill sets and talents that each of us possess, we divided ourselves to work on areas that befitted each of us. The following summarizes the individual roles that we played:
Adam and I – whom were considered the outspoken individuals in the team – were given the task of going out to conduct interviews, taking photographs and shooting videos. Relying on our social skills and networks, we set out to interview friends and acquaintances that are into extreme sports. The information provided by them was useful for our write-ups for the web site. Also, through referencing books and other extreme sports web sites, it has helped us to put the write-ups together quickly, within weeks.
Adam was also the primary photographer and journalist because of his love for sports and photography. His knowledge in digital photo-editing was also helpful to us.
As for me, I (Ansari) am an avid videographer who does a lot of video work for my school’s Student Council club. Therefore, it was only natural that I did the video pre and post production work.
User interface design and web site functionalities were handled by Jia. This is because he is well-versed with many multimedia software tools (including web design tools), as well as web scripting. Form, functionality, user-navigation and user-friendliness were also areas that he was familiar with. These traits that he possesses have allowed us to put our ideal web site together.
Razin, on the other spectrum of creativity, was our key illustrator and colouring artist. His love for sketching and cartooning was identified by our mentors and hence, the role he was given. Through his contributions, Razin breathed life into the extreme sports characters put on our web site. Razin was also a key-contributor in conceptualizing the user-interface design of our project.
Working individually on the different aspects of this project was not sufficient; tapping on our personal strengths did not allow us to gel our web site together. Rather, it was COMMUNICATION and TEAMWORK that has allowed us to work faster, and more effectively. That is why we have managed to put together a product that all of us – including our mentors – are proud of.
