ITE YOUTH USE TECHNOLOGY TO BUILD BONDS WITH PIONEER GENERATION AT CAMPUS GAME FEST 2015

ITE YOUTH USE TECHNOLOGY TO BUILD BONDS WITH PIONEER GENERATION AT CAMPUS GAME FEST 2015

[Left] Mr Desmond Lee, Minister of State for National Development, interacting with a Pioneer Generation elderly and youth at Campus GAME Fest 2015

[Right] A Pioneer Generation elderly from the Thye Hua Kwan Senior Activity Centre challenging a youth volunteer from ITE College Central to a game of Fruit Ninja

SINGAPORE, 1 July 2015 – Over the weekend at Campus GAME Fest 2015, 60 Pioneer Generation elderly engaged with 60 youth volunteers from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College Central, through mobile games and apps such as Fruit Ninja, in a new initiative by youth to use technology to strengthen bonds with the Pioneer Generation in a fun and engaging manner.

“Events like Campus GAME Fest help to foster innovation and creativity, and promote cyber-wellness among our young,” said Mr. Desmond Lee, Minister of State, Ministry of National Development, in a speech at the Launch Ceremony of Campus GAME Fest 2015 on Friday, 26th June. “More importantly, you can use the mobile and online platforms to build communities. For instance, our ITE Central friends have used a mobile app to build inter-generational bonds with seniors.”

Over the past months, student volunteers from ITE College Central have been connecting with Pioneer Generation elderly at Lion Befrienders and Thye Hua Kwan senior activity centres, through technology, in an effort to better understand how technology can help make a difference and better bridge the generational gap. The students specifically selected games and applications based on their ease of use, level of interaction and edutainment potential in not only building skills among the Pioneer Generation elderly but also giving a technology platform for interaction.

The insight was born through research that has shown that games and technology not only helps in active aging, but has also been used in therapy to help stroke patients in their recovery.

Campus GAME Fest is spearheaded by the Singapore Cybersports and Online Gaming Association (SCOGA) and ITE. The event aims to promote creativity, innovation, digital entertainment and cultivating cyber wellness via an educative and fun lifestyle approach for the youth, focusing on their areas of interest – Games, Arts, Media and Edutainment. The entire event is organised and executed by around 200 youth volunteers, who developed a host of innovations and exciting activities over the three day event for some 12,000 youth, making it one of the biggest local youth-led events in Singapore.

More information on Campus GAME Fest can be found at http://campusgamefest.org.