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USM COLLABORATES WITH INDUSTRY IN ELEVATING DIGITAL SKILLS OF SENIOR CITIZENS

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CYBERJAYA, 2 July 2019 – The Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Centre for Instructional Technology and Multimedia (PTPM) is continuing its efforts in disseminating technology literacy among senior citizens.

PTPM USM recently collaborated with Multimedia University (MMU) and Amanz Media Sdn Bhd to introduce “Bengkel Teknologi Senior” – a three-year project comprising a series of workshops that are specifically developed for the target group of those over the age of 55.

The structure of the project includes two full-day workshop sessions, using ‘Bahasa Melayu’ as the main medium of instruction, and which are scheduled to be held in four regions of Malaysia from 2019 to 2021.

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The workshop sessions are designed to aid senior citizens in acquiring technological knowledge and skills, and in overcoming the barriers to use digital services.

The first pilot workshop was conducted at the Faculty of Creative Multimedia (FCM), MMU Cyberjaya from 29 June to 30 June 2019 with participants aged from 56 to 73 years old, covering five course modules namely Creative Writing, Digital Graphics, Digital Photography, Cyber Security and Mobile Applications.

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Director of PTPM, Associate Professor Dr. Wan Ahmad Jaafar Wan Yahaya officiated the opening ceremony. In his opening speech, he highlighted that Malaysian senior citizens should explore the use of technology for active aging and independent living.

USM has also inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MMU to further strengthen the collaboration in championing lifelong learning rights of senior citizens.

Also present at the ceremony were Deputy Deans of FCM, MMU, Dr. Lim Kok Yoong and Sri Kusumawati, and also Chief Executive Officer of Amanz Media Sdn Bhd, Ikhwan Nazri.

Wan Ahmad Jaafar added, “the project emphasises face-to-face learning settings and addresses the importance of social interaction in enhancing mental health of seniors. In this project, senior citizens are able to communicate and learn from the younger generation as they interact during the activities.”

Meanwhile, project leader, Dr. Tan Yun Yi who is also a lecturer at PTPM said, besides elevating the technological capacity of the senior citizens, this project also aims to improve the inter-generational dialogue between community elders and youth.

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“We are extremely honoured to have received strong industry support from companies such as Samsung Malaysia in providing mobile devices to be used in the workshop classes, and participation of volunteer facilitators from Astro Radio Digital,” she added.

One of the participants, Zainal Abidin, 73, commented that the workshop is very beneficial to the seniors especially when they are often forgotten and left out in the advancement of new technologies.

“Although we, the senior citizens are able to own a smartphone and download applications, we still lack certain knowledge. I realised that there are a lot of features that we have never used before until we have gone through this two-day programme. It really opens up our mind to explore the benefits of having access to technology devices,” he said.

The workshop ended with closing remarks from the Deputy Dean of FCM, Dr. Lim Kok Yoong and certificates were presented to participants who have successfully completed all five course modules.

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Original text: Dr. Tan Yun Yi (PTPM)/Editing: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin

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