Introduction
The COOLXmas competition was run by us in partnership with some of the leading nationally-oriented country of origin product sites. Students in schools and colleges around the world had the chance to participate and contribute product data to the site.
The aim was to make students more aware of country of origin as an issue, and to help open up many topical educational issues for classes to explore, from CO2 emissions by country, or by shipping, to outsourcing and balanced economies. The focus for the 'made in' data was simply on the place of final assembly of the product, not the supply chain breakdown of where individual components were made.
The data wasn't difficult to find as it comes from most products directly or their packaging, but it had to be accurate and refer to products currently on sale, or that were bought in 2009 or January of 2010. For example, a complete entry would have been: DSLR (product category), Canon (brand), 500d (product code), Japan (country of origin). It's that simple!
For more general info, please visit the competition site at
COOLXmas.org. We may run a similar competition in the Spring.
For Teachers
This is how we introduced the competition:
This competition is run on a not-for-profit basis, and there are no fees for entering and no hidden catches. We will not sell on your school or college contact details, for example.
All entries must fit our categories and therefore you must have a nominated teacher who signs up with this site as a contributor. This allows you to access the Add A Product Menu in the user interface. Average product entry time is just 20 seconds or less. You may need to have a responsible team of students who can assist you. This would make for an ideal IT, Geography or Media project in class, for example. A running total of products added keeps you up to date.
Most products have clear model numbers. If these are just grouped together, you can add them in the 'product code' section, and leave the 'product name' section blank. If they have a name and a code, use both sections appropriately, eg Casio Exilim EXZ33, China (digital camera).
When you sign up and choose a user name, please use the letters 'CX' along with your school name, eg 'CXSuttonHighSchool.' You also need to send an official e-mail confirming your school details, contact name and e-mail, and user name chosen. This is essential to notify winners or in case of queries. Please title your e-mail 'CX Confirmation.' Sending this e-mail is also confirmation that you agree to and accept the rules of the competition as outlined on the COOLXmas site on the Terms and Rules page.
For your total confidence in using the site with students in class, we have suspended the Forums for the time being and re-located them to Facebook, ensuring there is zero chance of you encountering inappropriate postings or material on our site no matter what your time zone. Made In Nations is run by ex-teachers and educators, and we take our responsibilites very seriously, in terms of providing you with both a safe classroom resource and one you can recommend as safe for home use by students. Feel free to contact us for any further information, using the contact page.
