{"id":201345,"date":"2024-08-02T11:34:11","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T21:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=201345"},"modified":"2024-08-02T11:34:11","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T21:34:11","slug":"uh-esports-disability-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2024\/08\/02\/uh-esports-disability-camp\/","title":{"rendered":"Inclusive gaming: UH<\/abbr> pioneers Hawai\u02bbi’s first esports disability camp"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"people
Group photo with participants, mentors and organizers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa esports program launched a groundbreaking camp aimed to engage students with disabilities through video games and esports.<\/p>\n

The four-day program in July featured nine students from Leeward Community College, Windward CC<\/abbr>, UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa and UH<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span>. Participants learned to build PC<\/abbr>s, create in-game avatars and practice online gaming safety.<\/p>\n

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Bathey Fong, a Leeward Community College student, playing on Microsoft’s adaptive controller on the Nintendo Switch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sky Kauweloa, director of UH<\/abbr> Esports, partnered with the UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Center on Disability Studies<\/a> to create the camp. Kauweloa\u2019s goal has been to provide opportunities for marginalized students and communities, starting with supporting women and LGBTQ+<\/abbr> players through the Women of UH<\/abbr> Esports program<\/a>, and forming the first varsity mobile esports team in North America via the game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang<\/em>.<\/p>\n

“Now, we have extended the core mission of UH<\/abbr> Esports to become a venue for students with disabilities to find a home across our system campuses,” Kauweloa said. “The esports disability camp is possibly one of the first in North America, which reinforces the core mission of UH<\/abbr> Esports to be inclusive of marginalized student populations on our campus when it comes to access to video games and gaming and digital technologies. I believe this camp could be a catalyst for collaborations with other universities interested in supporting their own students with disabilities.”<\/p>\n

A key feature was the introduction of Microsoft\u2019s adaptive controllers, which assisted individuals with physical limitations. Leeward CC<\/abbr> is planning to purchase these controllers for their esports initiative.<\/p>\n

Social impacts<\/h2>\n
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Building a PC<\/abbr>: M\u0101noa Academy of Gamers President Albert Yee showing participants where to put the graphics card into the PC<\/abbr>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Moshe Karabelnike, the main camp organizer and UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa communication and information sciences<\/a> PhD<\/abbr> alum, highlighted the social impact.<\/p>\n

“Many of the students we work with struggle to make friends, and it was beautiful to watch how a shared interest immediately brought the students together,” Karabelnike said. “My proudest moment in camp was seeing a student with no previous gaming experience use an adaptive controller to participate in competitive gaming, cooperate with teammates, and score for her team.”<\/p>\n

The camp employed coaches from UH<\/abbr> Esports, UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa and Leeward CC<\/abbr>. Kauweloa hopes the camp will continue to be offered every summer.<\/p>\n

UH<\/abbr> Esports receives funding from the Academy for Creative Media System<\/a>. Visit the UH<\/abbr> Esports team\u2019s X<\/a> and Discord<\/a>. More stories on UH<\/abbr>\u2019s esports program<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Participants learned to build PC<\/abbr>s, create in-game avatars and practice online gaming safety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[269,1405,65,1466,9,59,66],"class_list":["post-201345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-center-on-disability-studies","tag-esports","tag-leeward-community-college","tag-manoa-enhancing-student-success","tag-uh-manoa","tag-uh-west-oahu","tag-windward-community-college","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t