Internet cafe.vol2no1

Developing An Internet Café

[Chew Keng Chee, Eugene Gan, Ng Zhuo Yang, and Samson Cheung]

Abstract

A group of five 16 year-old students from Raffles Institution in Singapore decided to do

their service-learning research project on development of an internet café for a local

school for special needs students. Their article discusses the processes they went

through in researching the topics involved, developing the lessons and programs to

teach the youth how to conduct and sustain the café at their school, and the valuable

lessons they and their students learned in the process. Their story provides a good

model for school-based service-learning programs that seek to use research as a format

for developing exemplary service-learning programs.

Introduction: Developing An Internet Café With Special Needs Students

Learning Objectives

Through this project, our group wanted to experience service-learning for ourselves and

understand the true meaning of making a difference. For too long, the few of us have

been doing school projects of competitive value. However, we have not applied the

skills we have learnt in project work by serving the community and making a difference

to the local society.

By engaging in this service-learning project, we wanted to learn and understand the

lives of special needs children and be able to empathize with their life experience. By

interacting with people who are different, we set out to widen our own perspectives of

society and its people so we could leave behind our narrow visions of the Singaporean

society and start taking in the big picture. We wanted to learn how to best appreciate

society for what it is, embrace it with open arms, and do our best to make our world a

better place.

Service Objectives

Through this project our group hoped to achieve a few goals and outcomes. First, we

had goals to achieve in terms of setting up the new Internet Café. Since the Internet

Café was actually converted from an old classroom, there was a need to redesign the

place to create a café atmosphere for the kids at Chaoyang School.


INFORMATION FOR ACTION: A JOURNAL FOR SERVICE-LEARNING RESEARCH WITH CHILDREN AND YOUTH 2

Thus, we wanted to assist in designing and coming up with a concept for the Internet

Café together with Chaoyang School. To do so, we strived to help in scouting for good

designs and play a part in choosing furniture and equipment, and the best way to do so

was to conduct our own background research in this area. The most important objective

of this aspect was to make sure that the café is operationally ready by the end of the

year, and that it can be successfully launched.

Secondly, we had goals to achieve in terms of the programmes to be conducted in the

new Internet Café. The main purpose of setting up such an Internet Café was to achieve

two purposes on Chaoyang School’s part: to train some pupils in managing and

operating food outlets, which might prove to be advantageous for their future careers,

and to inculcate basic cafe etiquette in students so they could conduct themselves

properly in social settings like cafés, using this as a training ground.

Thus, through our programmes to address both these purposes on Chaoyang Schools’

part, we wanted to improve the students’ learning capacity, and to a small extent, build

upon their learning capacities by using fun and engaging activities to conduct our

lessons. We also wanted to inculcate in them some hospitality skills and basic etiquettes

of service. Furthermore, we expected student to do simple accounting and money

exchange as a result of this project.

However, our group hoped to provide instruction in some of the intangible areas of

learning, such as students developing confidence in themselves. We wanted them to

recognize themselves as individuals who are unique and special in their own way, and

that they know they can make a contribution as, are the intangibles of this project. We

hoped that through this experience together, the students would learn to have even

more impact on others’ lives, and see themselves as having a desire to serve, and

develop initiative to be an outstanding person.

Preparation for Service

Planning our programmes for the Internet Café took much longer than expected. To

give a good lesson to the Chaoyang kids, sufficient planning and research is required.

Our group therefore spent much time on planning for the lessons in two parts –

background research and needs analysis. On top of that, we were relentless in seeking

out information from print materials, such as books and newspaper articles, as well as

non-print materials, which included online journals, forums, and newspaper articles

about children with special needs and things to note when interacting with them.



The results of our literature review were very meaningful. They not only enlightened

us, but also helped us to better teach and help the special needs students in many ways.

Intellectually challenged children are often easily frustrated in many learning situations.

Thus, our group came up with a summary of learning points in terms of managing such

kids after the completion of our literature review.

• Students learn better through visual learning

• Students perform better if student-teachers lavish praise on them occasionally to

re-affirm that they are doing well

• Students should be encouraged to speak up instead of keep quiet (some of the

teachers at Chaoyang emphasized that students must keep quiet and be on “their

best behaviour” at all times).

• Student teachers should provide guidance and attention (but not too much) to

the students to encourage them to think about questions posed and to express

their opinions on them

Student-teachers have to establish a position of “being-in-charge” while being kind and

friendly at the same time to be effective. This is in opposition to being strict and fierce

with the purpose of ensuring discipline.

• Pairing up two students to two volunteers for a smaller group size makes

teaching easier and more flexible according to the needs of the students.

• Chaoyang students have great potential. As facilitators of their learning, we must

try to unlock the spark within them.

• Chaoyang students are rather IT illiterate. As student leaders, we can try to use

IT often in our lessons for more effective learning too (ties in with visual

learning). Also, we must work with the other RE group doing the website to

create one that boasts more interesting games and less repetitive content.

• Instructions used when communicating with the Chaoyang students have to be

phrased concisely using simple English.

Thus, after the literature review, we went to the Chaoyang School to observe their

lessons to learn more about how their normal instruction was conducted. In so doing,

we wanted to see the possible areas where we could learn about better teaching.

From the observations (a total of 5 lessons altogether), our group came up with some

tips and pointers to take note of when we were planning the lessons. We know we can



unlock the spark in them, for some of them are unresponsive due to feeling bored and

drifting off to a world of their own at times. Even in this class alone, there are many

students with different personalities, which require different ways of teaching. From

what we gathered from 1 of the students, they prefer to learn through visuals like

watching videos and do not like to write compositions such as the one they were

suppose to read in class.

From there, we came up with drafts for our lesson plans, which were to be approved by

the teachers at Chaoyang School. The lessons which we planned for the special team of

students who will operate and manage the Internet Café as waiters and waitresses,

included courtesy and behaviour in an Internet Café, money management, and

hospitality and service skills.

Concurrently, other students at the school also went through courses in computer skills,

which include the Internet, search engines, Microsoft Paint, online songs and games,

and MSN tools.

Evaluation of Service

When we conducted our lessons, we always had it recorded with a video camera left in

a corner of the Internet Café. This is used to review our lessons, to see what were some

of the things, which occurred, what were some of the things which we did wrongly, and

what should be improved in the coming lessons.

Furthermore, we maintained a group web-log (blog) which we updated weekly, where

each one of us would post our reflections. This served as a platform for us to review and

reflect upon what we did that week. Reading each others’ reflections also spurred some

new thoughts and ideas which one might not be able to come up with individually as

well. On our group’s part, this is how we evaluated our own service on a weekly basis.

Throughout the year, we constantly obtained feedback from the HOD of Pupil Well-

Being at Chaoyang School, Mrs. Anita Suwandi, whom we worked very closely with on

this project. Below is her final report of our contributions to Chaoyang School, which

was submitted to our school at the end of the school year.

Zhuo Yang, Chun Yin, Eugene, Keng Chee and Samson have been on the above

project with Chaoyang School since February this year. They first started with some

observations of the pupils in the school so as to have a better understanding and some

exposure to the special needs, especially pupils who are intellectually disabled.



During the initial stage of their project, the boys had contributed some ideas for the

physical structure in the Internet Café. They have done a detailed research on various

Internet Cafés in Singapore, which included some design, fixtures and furniture,

suitable for the setting of the pupils in Chaoyang. These had indeed, been helpful for

the school as it provided more ideas for the Internet Café, especially one that is

appealing to the young ones, which the pupils could relate to.

To ensure that the café was operationally ready, the boys had planned a systematic

program for the pupils. They conducted basic training skills such as interpersonal

skills, hospitality and service workshop as well as simple accounting (money skills)

for the pupils. Although only two groups of pupils were focused for the trainings,

these skills had helped developed some confidence in the pupils to manage an Internet

Café. Furthermore, the boys would be conducting computer application skills for all

pupils so as to strengthen their ability in exploring the various search engines as well

as surfing the Internet and emailing.

Along the way, the boys had established good rapport and interaction with the pupils.

One of their strengths was to write reflections of their interaction with the Chaoyang

pupils, which, in fact, had created avenues to further improve their trainings as well

as the learning styles of the pupils - catering to their needs.

Last but not least, the boys were resourceful in their ideas. They showed very good

sense of commitment in their project as well as working with the pupils of Chaoyang.

They showed great enthusiasm in carrying out their tasks and are respectful &

receptive to advice. It had been a great learning journey for the boys as well as the

pupils in Chaoyang these few months. It is a pleasure to work with them in setting-

up an Internet Café @ Chaoyang School.

Apart from Mrs. Anita Suwandi, we obtained feedback from our students as well. We

did so by designing survey forms with a smile or frown option for questions, and also

an open feedback column for them to express their feelings. The feedback received was

very positive, but one of the comments really touched us. A student wrote that he was

unhappy because he wanted to learn more. From those words we could see that he had

a determination to learn and live his life to the best, and that fueled our determination

to do our best for them.

Besides these avenues used to evaluate our service, our project was also featured in a

local tabloid, the TODAY newspaper (November 8-9, 2008). This is a strong indication

that our project is not only well-received by Chaoyang School, but our efforts together

with Chaoyang School have been affirmed at the national level as well.



Despite being in operation only for a year, we have accomplished much with the

Internet Café at Chaoyang School in this short period of time. The programmes we

came up with, which were run jointly by us during our weekly visits, and the teachers

at Chaoyang School on other school days, won recognition at the 2008 MOE-NCSS

Special Education Awards, organized by the Ministry of Education, Singapore. The

Internet Café clinched the Innovation Award for the ‘outstanding innovation to

promote student learning’. This is the best affirmation that we could get, knowing that

what we are doing is truly meaningful and beneficial to the students at Chaoyang

School, and also that we are well on track to fulfill both our learning, and service

objectives.



Accomplishment of Learning Objectives

The Service-Learning journey is one that cannot be defined by tangibles, one that

should not be restricted to accolades and fixed rewards or outcomes. It is a process in

which mutual learning takes place, and the building of a relationship between the

parties involved throughout this journey.

However, we did forge buddy-mentor relationships while making many friends in

Chaoyang School. All these are precious experiences, and are the best evidence on how

our objectives are met. Like they say, the first step is always the hardest; it was indeed

true for us too. However, we managed to overcome it and had more interactions with

the students gradually over time as we picked up more courage to be more open and

friendly.

While many of the kids were less intellectually and physically capable, they seemed

like ordinary kids to us, having some of the same desires and needs. We have learnt as

a group not to take things for granted, but to appreciate everything we have, including

the upbringing we received and the financial stability we enjoy. Most importantly, we

have learnt that it is our responsibility to give back to the community and help others.

Through these activities, five of us have fulfilled the objectives of Service-Learning –

service in helping the students and teaching them social skills while learning from the

whole experience to contribute back to our community.

Accomplishment of Service Objectives

As we started to set up the Internet Café, we knew that it was not

going to be easy. Hence, we visited other Internet Cafés around

Singapore in order to identify the main features that are present and

make the Internet Café attractive to customers. We drew up a floor plan detailing how

we wanted it to be designed. For example, the counter of the café was designed with

round edges also ensure that the safety of the students is not compromised, while

looking attractive. Through the use of bright colours, we hope that the students would

enjoy their time in the café. This was done so as to suit the learning styles of the

students, especially since these children require special help. Since the Internet Café

was built from a classroom, we decided that removing the wall and replacing it with a

glass panel would be more suitable as it simulates the structure of a real Internet Café.

Also, a small area is set aside outside the Internet Café for a possible Al Fresco to be

built in the future.



At the same time, we also planned our own lessons to teach these students some simple

life skills. Hence, we organized our content into 8 separate lessons, each with two parts.

These lessons include the following:

Hospitality and Service Workshop

In this lesson, we had to teach the students the basics of running an Internet Café as

waiters and waitresses. First, we got them to sit in a circle around us before we started

explaining to them why it is important to have such skills. In order to reaffirm that they

have understood what we taught, we quizzed them occasionally on what we have just

said. At the same time, we did a PowerPoint to try making things easier for visual

learners. Through the use of animation and pictures, the students got a clearer idea on

what we are trying to teach them. The sentences on what the waiter and customer

would say were taught one by one. After making sure the students were clear of the

sentences which we have taught, we did a live demonstration to show them how it is

done before letting them try it out first hand. Every student took turns to be customers

and waiters so as to encourage experiential learning.

Interpersonal Skills

This was a continuation from the previous lesson in

which the students learnt how to be polite to customers

and how they should obtain feedback from customers

about their service. We emphasized the importance of

courtesy and smiling so as to be more polite to

customers. Upon the teaching of the theory, we

proceeded with a short skit on courtesy. The

demonstration consisted of 2 parts, the polite way to

treat customers, and the impolite way of treating

customers. We did this to allow the students to differentiate between what is right and

what is wrong.

The students were then taught how they should receive feedback from customers

positively. We emphasized to them that no matter how negative the feedback is, they

should take it with a positive mindset and try to improve based on it as the customers

always come first.

Simple Accounting and Money Exchange



This lesson was extremely important as it involved

money skills, which will be needed in the future. We

started off the lesson by emphasizing to them the

importance of money and it is not something that they

should play around with. Money exchange is very

important in an Internet Café as one has to ensure that

the right amount of money was paid and returned as

change. Due to the difficulty of the lesson, we split the

class into 2 groups of 2 and 3 in order to give them

closer attention. Since the students were weaker in

mathematics, we started off by revising with them simple addition and subtraction.

Also, we only introduced them to counting in dollars as combining cents and dollars

together was hard for them. By adapting our teaching style to the pace of learning for

different students, we were able to teach the students and make them understand how

money exchange works. Real food and drinks was also used with a price given to them

so as to add realism to the lesson.

Use of Computers and Internet

This is the second part of our curriculum in the Internet

Café and it involved teaching the students how to use

the internet and other applications such as the Windows

Media Player and Microsoft Paint. This is very important

as these are the basic features in the Internet Café and

we believe that every student should understand how to

use the computer. We started off the teaching of the

Internet by explaining the uses of Google and how it can

be used to look for information easily. This was done 1

to 1 so as to ensure that every student knows exactly it works. In later lessons, we

introduced new sites to them such as YouTube and Hotmail to further increase their

knowledge on how to use the Internet effectively. Other applications such as Microsoft

Paint and Word were later taught in a similar way. After the 1 to 1 teaching, one of us

would do a demonstration to the whole class again using PowerPoint as we want each

and every one of the students to understand how to use the features properly.



Sponsorship

In order to run the Internet Café, a constant supply of

food needs to be served. As there was no budget set

aside at the beginning for food, we decided to start

looking for sponsorship for the Internet Café by

sending out sponsorship requests to 4 different local

companies: Polar, Old Chang Kee, Prima Deli and

Bread Talk. Although we faced many difficulties in

getting their support, Prima Deli finally showed

interest in the end. By liaising directly with Prima Deli, we were able to get a regular

sponsorship of 50 pastries per week for Chaoyang School. This was probably one of the

greatest turning points of our project because it gave us the encouragement that we

needed and showed us the value of perseverance in success. It brings us great joy to see

how much our sponsorship has helped to bring happiness to these student’s lives.

Sustainability of Project

Looking ahead, there are a few things left to be done to ensure the sustainability of this

project. For us, this journey of service is never ending.

First, we would need to secure an extension to the Prima Deli sponsorship, which only

runs until the end of this year. We did this so that future batches of students can enjoy

these great pastries, which are utilized for lessons, while using the Internet Café for

recreational learning themselves. To do this, we have collected photos and data to prove

that the Internet Café is worthy of Prima Deli’s investment, and this process will be

carried out towards the end of 2008.

Second, we hope to secure another sponsorship deal with a beverage company, such as

Milo which is well-liked by students, so that it can be supplied during lessons to make

things more interesting and realistic.

Third, we would have to compile our work in a collection such that school teachers can

build upon our project as well. Currently, teachers at Chaoyang School make use of the

worksheet, which we designed during their curriculum time. To make it more

convenient for the school, we would be putting everything, which we have done in the

past year together so that they can be used as reference by Chaoyang School in the

future.



Last, we will continue to serve at Chaoyang School’s Internet Café by helping to design

newer programmes, and dropping by when time permits, to carry out some of the

lessons which we have been doing the past year. Although school life in Junior College

would make this extremely difficult, we will continue to work on this given our strong

relationship and communication with our teacher-in-charge in Chaoyang School, Mrs.

Anita Suwandi.

Summary of Project

February 2008 • Contacting Chaoyang School

• Visiting the school for the first time and getting to know the needs of the

school

• Visit cafes all around Singapore to gain ideas and concepts for the interior

design of the Internet Café

March 2008 • Interaction sessions at Chaoyang School whereby we help teachers with

their conducting of normal lessons at Chaoyang School

• Sit-in to observe lessons at Chaoyang School

• Background research conducted on the methods to teach intellectually

disabled kids

• Background research into the American model of lesson planning

• Brainstorm sessions to identify the needs of the students which should be

addressed in our lessons

April 2008 • Drawing up and approval of lesson plans (multiple times)

• Sit-in to observe lessons at Chaoyang School

• Group decision made regarding our softer & friendlier approach towards the

students

• Conversion of Internet Café complete

May 2008 • Conducting of café management lessons start

• Initially we had communication & technical problems (e.g. projector faults),

had to be flexible and overcome these various challenges along the way, learn

to change plans on the spot

• Lessons conducted weekly from now on

June 2008 • School holidays: lessons stop for a month; more planning work

• Prepared letters appealing for sponsorships to be sent

• Drawing up lesson plans for computer lessons for other students in

Chaoyang School

July 2008 • Preparation for RI Research Education Congress

• Approval of new lesson plans (multiple times)



• Negotiations with Prima Deli to get the sponsorship going; persevered on

despite being referred from one department to another, and at one stage,

being rejected completely

• Sponsorship finally secured

August 2008 • First batch of sponsored pastries arrive; used in our lessons

• Conducting computer & café management lessons resume

• Less problems in controlling the class with more experience now

• Helping out at Chaoyang Family Day

• Lessons conducted weekly from now on

September 2008 • Lessons continue

• Preparations for RI Research Education Congress: poster, documents,

presentations, etc.

• Progressing all the way to the finals throughout the entire month

October 2008 • Presented at the RI Service-Learning Fair VIP Session as Gold Award

winner of the RI Research Education Congress; share our experiences &

convince more schoolmates to take up Service-Learning

November 2008 • Chaoyang School Internet Café awarded Innovation Award at the 2008

MOE-NCSS Special Education Awards

December 2008 • Securing sponsorships in the future

• Compiling our works this year for future reference

The Future • Continue to conduct lessons at the Internet Café

• Helping out with any planning of programmes for the school

Reflections

This was actually our first time undertaking a service-learning project. We will never

forget all the things we learnt. The project was very meaningful and eye-opening as we

got to make a positive difference to the Chaoyang students’ lives. The lessons we

conducted were most memorable as we had first-hand interaction with the kids, who

were cheerful and friendly. The children’s positive learning attitude was especially

commendable, and that served not only as a pillar of strength for us in doing this

project, but also as a motivation in our personal lives as well.



Some of us went into this project thinking of it very objectively and how to complete it.

In the end, we learned that the intangible benefits like sincerity and respect, which the

children learned, were actually the most important. The happiness that they

experienced while serving at the Internet Café made this project an experience we will

cherish forever.

During one of our lesson observations we could still remember very clearly was that

one of the children actually made a pink paper flower for Eugene. She had slight autism

and couldn’t pronounce properly, but she nudged him, and passed him the flower she

made. This was deeply touching, as we knew the gift was from the bottom of her heart.

Service-learning is more than planning and writing, it is about working from the heart,

for the heart. Service-learning seeks the intangibles, results not in the form of black and

white, but results measured by the joy on a person’s face. It was not about the task, but

more about the people involved.

We have learnt to be happier and more content with what we have. The kids might not

know it, but their innocent and carefree smiles have left such a great impact on us. The

Chaoyang kids may not lead extravagant lives like some of us do, but they have an

innocence and pure happiness that few people can undoubtedly claim to possess.

As the saying goes, “anyone can serve because we all have something to give”.

However, we believe that it should also be “anyone can serve, but let us all learn from

giving too”, as it is only by contributing our best to our community while learning and

growing ourselves, only by being leaves that will do its best for the tree, can we make it

as green as it can be. Life is just like a beach full of starfishes. Each starfish represents an

opportunity to make a difference and every starfish makes up a part of this story. Our

group has had the joy of scouring the glittering sands, releasing the starfish one by one,

who delight in returning to the ocean and experiencing life at the fullest. Looking back

at our journey, it was one so unforgettable, so meaningful.

Cesar Chavez, one of the greatest civil rights leaders that America saw in the 20th

century, once said “we cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress

for our community.” Similarly, we should, will, and must always remember about our

society and its needs.



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank the following people, without whom our project would not

have come to fruition:

• Mrs. Low Siew Ting, Principal of Chaoyang School, for approving the project

and providing all the support.

• Mrs. Anita Suwandi & Ms. May Chui, teachers at Chaoyang School, for their

guidance and commitment to helping us with this project.

• Ms. Dee Chia, Coordinator from Ministry of Education, for her help in our initial

liaison with Chaoyang School.

• Mrs. Cheryl Yap, HOD Research Education of Raffles Institution, for opening us

up to so many opportunities and guiding us all the way throughout this project.

• Mrs. Lim Yoke Tong, Programme Head Research Education of Raffles

Institution, for her guidance throughout the completion and submission of this

report.

• Our young friends at Chaoyang School, for without their unwavering

determination towards learning, we would never have had the motivation to

carry this project through

AUTHORS

Chew Keng Chee, Eugene Gan, Ng Zhuo Yang, Samson Cheung, Tam

Chun Yin, are 10th grade (Secondary 4) students at Raffles Institution.

This article was only minimally edited to keep the language and spirit of the students in

place. We hope, as readers, you will understand the need to keep the format as close to the

original as possible.

Internet cafe.vol2no1

Documents

servicelearning project

thenew internet caf

learning capacities

learning situations

service objectivesthrough

internet cafthus

caf atmosphere

summary of learning