Dream Makers: AI × Creative Design × Entrepreneurship — Zhongli’s Three-Day Summer Camp
On July 21, 22 and 23, 2025, the Office of Practical Training at Taoyuan Municipal Zhong Li Home Economics and Commercial Senior High School partnered with Jing-Yeu International to hold a three-day summer camp, “Dream Makers: AI × Creative Design × Entrepreneurship.” In an era where information technology and cultural creativity intersect, learning goes beyond textbook knowledge to become an adventure combining history, technology and creative practice. During the camp, instructors guided participants through the histories of Matsu New Village and Zhongzhen New Village, then used AI tools to teach them how to develop imaginative, historically inspired cultural products unique to Taiwan. Marketing concepts helped students understand how to turn their designs into income. More than a learning journey, the camp showed how products that bring history back to life can become the basis of a business.
The Historical Background of Matsu New Village and Zhongzhen New Village 🧱
Built in 1957 to house the families of military personnel who came to Taiwan, Matsu New Village is a typical postwar military dependents’ settlement. Its predominantly red-brick, tiled-roof homes recall residents’ efforts to build lives amid difficult circumstances. The village represents military family culture and bears witness to a distinctive chapter of social history. Today, restoration has transformed it into a park combining creative industries and heritage preservation, allowing later generations to connect with these stories.
Zhongzhen New Village dates to the 1950s, gradually taking shape as people arrived in Taiwan from mainland China after the Chinese Civil War. Many residents came from Yunnan and the Yunnan–Myanmar border region, giving the settlement a distinctive cultural character. Alongside a rich food culture rooted in distant homelands, it preserves memories of war and migration, making it one of Taiwan’s few settlements associated with this heritage. Entering Zhongzhen New Village feels like stepping into another cultural time and place: traditional snacks, religious practices and everyday routines all reflect the movement of history.
These two villages represent both national and family histories, as well as the blending of Taiwan’s diverse cultures. Through the summer camp, students did more than visit the settlements: they drew on personal experiences and creative work to understand and reinterpret their stories.
Day One: Where History Meets Creativity 🖼️
On the first day, we introduced students to the stories of Matsu New Village and Zhongzhen New Village. Guided by their teachers, they listened to accounts of war, migration and everyday life, gradually forming their own impressions. They began looking for traces of the villages’ history and considering how to transform them into cultural products.
Next, we used Canva AI as a tool for putting creativity into practice. Using carefully structured prompts, students transformed historical fragments in their imagination into visual assets. These images were more than design drafts: they combined a sense of history with contemporary aesthetics. Students began developing product names and background stories, translating historical narratives into prototypes that could resonate with people. The process strengthened their ability to use digital tools and turn emotion into concrete designs. With professional guidance, they also learned to consider both aesthetics and the commercial potential of their work, developing more competitive cultural products.
Day Two: Field Visits and Digital Practice 🎎
On the second day, we took students to the cultural parks at Matsu New Village and Zhongzhen New Village. Exploring the sites helped them connect texts and images with real places. Many were surprised by the preserved architectural details and everyday objects. Comparing these with their AI-generated work gave them opportunities to revise and deepen their designs.
Each group then discussed its design theme and which features of the villages would shape its products. With the instructor’s tips on AI image generation, even junior high school students were able to produce impressive designs.
After completing their designs, students practiced transferring them onto leather coasters, alcohol spray bottles and keychain card holders, creating tangible product samples. The instructor then guided each group through listing products on an e-commerce website and writing marketing copy. Drawing on years of practical experience, the instructor explained in accessible terms how to quickly build an appealing, competitive webpage and develop a mindset that connects design with commercial marketing.
In just three hours, each group followed the instructor’s guidance to build a well-developed website featuring the villages’ cultural heritage. They added e-commerce functions and used photography and AI-generated images to list their products, making the webpages and products available for the public to browse. Students could think through pricing, cost calculations and inventory settings for themselves.
This arrangement let students experience the complete process: developing designs from the villages’ distinctive features, photographing products, listing them online and considering how to earn income from their creations. Along the way, they practiced image processing, layout design, website building and digital marketing, applying interdisciplinary learning step by step.
Day Three: Presentations and Self-Expression 🎥
The third day brought the much-anticipated final presentations. In the morning, the instructor scheduled practice and recording time for each group’s promotional video. Zhongli also provided an AI auto-tracking gimbal tripod, a dual-transmitter wireless microphone system and a professional 18-inch ring light. The AI tracking gimbal followed the presenter’s movements precisely, keeping the shot stable and focused even as students moved around the stage, for professional-quality recordings. The wireless microphones captured students’ voices clearly. The ring light compensated for insufficient classroom lighting, providing soft, even illumination that reduced shadows and kept facial expressions and product details visible on camera.
To create the atmosphere of selling products on a hot summer day, Zhongli also selected two different backdrops for students to borrow. One of their biggest takeaways was learning to make effective marketing videos without complicated equipment, software or hardware.
The afternoon presentations were equally engaging. Each group took the stage in turn, using slides, websites and physical products to present three days of learning. Their creations demonstrated aesthetic skills while allowing teachers to sense the historical meaning and creative thinking behind the work. Seeing students explain their design concepts and websites with confidence, after an initially hesitant start, was undoubtedly one of the camp’s most valuable outcomes.
Connections with Today’s Information Technology Curriculum 🔎
The camp was designed with a particular emphasis on integrating digital skills across subjects. Students used AI tools (Canva AI) to experience image generation and editing, directly connecting with multimedia design and digital illustration taught in class. They then used the Wix platform to build e-commerce websites, applying web design and online business lessons while linking their learning to the marketplace. Filming and editing also gave them opportunities to apply image-processing and new-media marketing knowledge, all essential skills in contemporary information technology education.
Dream Makers: AI × Creative Design × Entrepreneurship — Three Days at Zhongli’s Summer Camp
The three-day camp was more than a cultural walking tour: it was an experiment in interdisciplinary learning. Students rediscovered the stories of Matsu New Village and Zhongzhen New Village, with AI as a creative assistant and e-commerce platforms as a stage for presenting their work. Beyond a memorable learning experience, the camp offered a new insight: history is more than stories from the past. Through creativity and technology, it can become a living force that inspires young people again.
At Zhongli’s summer camp, students gained knowledge while learning to create, express themselves and bring their learning into everyday life. At the end of the activity, each participant received NT$2,000 in play money to purchase other groups’ products. This helped build confidence and gave students a sense of what it feels like to sell their own ideas and handmade creations. Educational practice of this kind develops more than skills: it nurtures young people who can carry cultural heritage forward and create the future.
#Dream Makers: AI × Creative Design × Entrepreneurship — Three Days at Zhongli’s Summer Camp
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