A game app that aims to help toddlers and grade schoolers build their passion for learning bagged the grand prize in Power Mac Center’s recently concluded “emPOWER UP! Design a Better World: App Development Challenge” for kids. The winning app concept aims to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Quality Education by integrating valuable lessons during gameplay.
The app titled BrainVentures puts the player through a series of activities with the help of a digital sidekick. These activities let players explore and develop their skills and creativity along the way. The concept was developed by Derek Joshua Altuna, Alexandria Jillian Braga, and Aniela Jenina Lesaca, collectively known as “Team BrainVentures” from De La Salle Santiago Zobel.
According to the UN, more than 265 million children are currently out of school, 22 percent are of primary school age. Also, 617 million youth all over the world lack basic mathematics and literacy skills. By integrating lessons into something ubiquitous like smart devices, providing quality education doesn’t have to be confined at classrooms to reach more learners including those in far-flung areas.
Imagination
Games, in particular, help keep children’s minds active and their imagination going.
“Kids nowadays are woke. They understand what’s happening, they know what’s needed, and they help create simple but impactful solutions. And because they’re digital natives, they know how to leverage technology to their advantage,” said Joey Alvarez, director of product management and marketing at Power Mac Center.
Apart from the iPad units they received, the kids of Team BrainVentures also get to attend free workshops by Power Mac Center’s Apple Certified Trainers who will help create and upload their app in the App Store. It is expected to be up and running within the year.
First runner-up winner Team Earth Hero, composed of Cameron Sanz, Rebecca De Veyra, and Hannah Mallinllin, designed an app for Climate Action, which got them P45,000 worth of Power Mac Center Gift Certificates in prizes. Team Clean ‘Em All, composed of Kaia Mikayla Diola, Enrico Joaquin Abella, and Sofia Annika Ysabel Pagilagan, won P30,000 worth of Power Mac Center Gift Certificates for an app on Climate Action and caring for Life Below Water and Life on Land.
emPOWER UP! Design a Better World: App Development Challenge was staged in cooperation with KIDS CAN! Innovation Camp, Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST Asia), De La Salle College of Saint Benilde HiFi (Hub of Innovation for Inclusion), Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation, and I Am VR Panda.