Retiree Mr Pang Onn Seong, 68, had always wanted to learn more about using the computer, so when the community club sent him an SMS about the Intergenerational IT Bootcamp, he quickly registered for it. He said, “Technology keeps on advancing, and if we do not keep pace with it, we would be left behind.”

One of the programmes under the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore’s (IDA) Silver Infocomm Initiative, the Intergenerational IT Bootcamp was introduced in early 2010 to promote continued training and infocomm usage among senior citizens. By placing the seniors in a comfortable environment guided by students, it aimed to remove barriers they faced in picking up IT skills and at the same time spur their interest in learning IT and promote generational bonding.

This year’s event was the biggest IT bootcamp of its kind, involving 15 schools within the Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency (AMK GRC). It was organised in collaboration with the People’s Association (PA) Active Ageing Council and Active Ageing Committees.

Visiting bootcamps at three of the schools on 1 June, Guest of Honour Mr Seng Han Thong, Grassroots Adviser and Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC, noted that the seniors were actively participating in group learning, aided by their young buddies.

“The seniors are back in school to learn while the youths are back in school to share. Both groups enjoyed the process,” he said. “The community will support this programme as this is definitely aligned with our continuous efforts to promote active ageing and lifelong learning among our seniors.”

In all, 17 IT sessions were held from 1-8 June 2013. About 300 active seniors were guided by some 300 students aged between 10 and 18 years during the hands-on IT workshops. The sessions, which were conducted in English and Mandarin, focused on topics such as introductory computer and Internet skills; online entertainment services such as music stations, YouTube and games; online health tools and information on traditional Chinese medicine; and social networking sites such as Facebook.

For example, a student buddy from Anderson Junior College guided Mr Pang on the use of the Internet and helped him search for YouTube videos and news articles and to play online games. “The student cyberguide was very patient in showing me, step by step, how to access different websites,” he said. With this knowledge, he hopes to get updates of local and world news at the click of the mouse.

Another participant at the bootcamp was Madam Julian Lim, 72. “I have a computer, but I didn’t know how to switch it off after switching it on and had to get my neighbour to help me.”

Guided by Fenella Leong, a second-year student at Anderson Junior College, Madam Lim took notes and said the workshop gave her more confidence in controlling the computer. A regular punter in the stock market, she also hoped to be able to make use of information available on the Internet to help her with her buying and selling decisions.

Fenella felt that the Intergenerational IT Bootcamp was a meaningful and enriching experience for both the senior citizens and herself. “For us youngsters, we find it very easy to use the computer, but when we teach these elderly people, we realised that there were a lot of things that they did not know, like turning the computer on or off. We had to break the process down into simple steps for them to follow.”

She felt that the programme was also very meaningful for the elderly. For instance, if they knew how to use the Internet, they could go online and research on the topics they were interested in, for example, learning new recipes, as many of the seniors cooked at home.

Sharing the same sentiment, Chang Chee Siang, 16, a first-year student at Anderson Junior College, “This is meaningful for us. The senior citizens get opportunities to catch up with society and we have a fresh new experience of being a teacher to the seniors.”