At the third edition of ‘My Digital Bootcamp,’ 1,500 students from low-income families in the Central Singapore District will learn new digital skills. The districtwide programme will help to level the playing field for children from low-income families who may not have access to extracurricular activities.
This is part of the Central Singapore Community Development Council’s (CDC) SkillsFuture Junior programme, which seeks to support its young residents with digital and soft skills to prepare them for a better future.
Students will go through four modular skills-based workshops at each two-day Bootcamp held from March to December 2023 to learn advanced digital-making skills in a fun and engaging manner such as programming, robotics, mobile app development, and game design.
A time traveller visiting ancient civilisations or an Earth hero resolving a climate crisis are the two new immersive narratives that participants can select from. They will also be exposed to complementary soft skills such as logical reasoning, pattern recognition, algorithm design, relationship management, and communication skills, among others, during the Bootcamp.
‘My Digital Bootcamp’ will provide structured learning support to the young participants in order to encourage learning beyond the workshops. Each child will receive a special home-based learning (HBL) digital-making kit, which includes a micro: bit pocket-sized computer, a KittenBot expansion board, an ultrasonic sensor, and other resource materials, as well as a learning management system, to allow them to continue learning and practising what they have learned at the Bootcamp.
At the end of this season, a brand-new Hackathon component will be held in which young learners will be empowered to solve real-life scenario-based challenges in friendly competitions that will underpin holistic learning. There will be 300 people at the Hackathon. Some will be students from the Bootcamps, and some will be new students.
Participants in the two-day Hackathon challenge will participate in digital-making skill workshops or refreshers, preparatory workshops, competitions, and presentations. They will investigate skillsets and develop competencies in soft skills other than those taught in the Bootcamp, such as idea pitching, design thinking, and ideation, which will help them build a strong foundation for the future economy.
The long-standing partnership between Central Singapore CDC and a multinational banking corporation made ‘My Digital Bootcamp’ possible. Since its inception in September 2019, the programme has benefited over 2,000 children from 34 schools and community organisations in Central Singapore. Over 30 employee volunteers also befriended the students, distributed participation kits and meals, and assisted in guiding the students’ learning.
In addition, the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) Digital for Life (DfL) Movement has been named Champion Project at the prestigious World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Prize Ceremony 2023, which is organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) under the auspices of the United Nations (UN).
The DfL movement was named a WSIS Prizes 2023 Champion in the category “the role of governments and all stakeholders in promoting ICTs for development.” This award came after WSIS received nominations for 900 projects from around the world in 18 categories, reviewed them with experts, and received over 1.5 million online votes.
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes recognise projects that use information and communication technologies (ICT) to advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
To date, the DfL movement has more than 130 partners and 140 projects, benefiting over 270,000 Singaporeans from various segments such as youths, seniors, low-income families, women, and people with disabilities.
