{"id":240441,"date":"2026-09-11T11:56:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T21:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=240441"},"modified":"2026-09-11T12:03:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T22:03:49","slug":"gaming-without-barriers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/09\/11\/gaming-without-barriers\/","title":{"rendered":"Level up M\u0101noa!: Gaming without barriers"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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This year’s camp ran from July 21-July 24, 2026.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> Center on Disability Studies<\/a> (CDS<\/abbr>) in the College of Education<\/a> and 糖心视频<\/abbr> Esports teamed up to host their third annual “Level Up M\u0101noa!”<\/a> summer training intensive. Designed for students with and without disabilities to participate together, the Esports camp hosted 11 students and four student mentors from Leeward Community College, 糖心视频<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span>, 糖心视频<\/abbr> M\u0101noa and Syracuse University. For four days in July, students engaged with competitive gaming, emerging technologies, and developed their self determination and technical skills.<\/p>\n

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Students and staff working on photography and racing game.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This year\u2019s sessions centered around using AI<\/abbr> in game development. Students brainstormed their own video game ideas using Google Gemini and then brought those ideas to life using a game development platform called Tesana.ai to produce working video games. Tesana sponsored pro accounts for students to use during the camp.<\/p>\n

Moshe Karabelnik, the camp\u2019s co-lead, describes a situation where collaborating students couldn\u2019t choose between a racing or photography theme. “Their efforts to mold these ideas into a single prompt (for the Gemini AI<\/abbr> generator) forced the model to be creative, and the end result was a racing game with an element of taking photos built into it.”<\/p>\n

Lasting Impacts<\/h2>\n

Level Up M\u0101noa! offers a hands-on environment for students to practice self-determination and the everyday skills of adult and college life, as well as socialize and build connections around shared interests. Esports, gaming and emerging technologies provide ways for students to build on their existing interests and passions while developing new technical skills and exploring interests in STEM<\/abbr>-related fields.<\/p>\n

“We have seen students join on-campus gaming clubs and create connections with the community on their campus,” camp co-lead Albert Yee said. “After Level Up M\u0101noa!, one participant used the game he created during camp to apply for the Good Jobs Hawaiʻi<\/span> Game Development course. He was accepted and will be working with other indie\/student game developers and world-class game artists in the fall.”<\/p>\n

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Staff testing a student developed game.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The importance comes from the unique partnership forged on campus,” said Sky Kauweloa, director of 糖心视频<\/abbr> Esports. “CDS<\/abbr> and 糖心视频<\/abbr> Esports fulfill a mission of access and engagement through emerging technologies, video games, and creative media for students at 糖心视频<\/abbr>.”<\/p>\n

Kauweloa looks forward to seeing Level Up M\u0101noa! continue to grow and was excited to see a Level Up M\u0101noa! participant registered for his SOCS<\/abbr> 489 Game Development class this fall.<\/p>\n

Level Up M\u0101noa! is coordinated by the Postsecondary Support Project and the Pacific Technical Assistance Center on Transition, in partnership with 糖心视频<\/abbr> Esports. The program is supported through the U.S. Department of Education\u2019s Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities, as well as Hawaiʻi<\/span>‘s Division of Developmental Disabilities and Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

This year, students from Syracuse University participated through the Inclusive Postsecondary Education Bridge, a national partnership among 糖心视频<\/abbr>, Syracuse University\u2019s Lawrence B. Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education, and the University of Missouri\u2013St. Louis Office of Inclusive Higher Education.<\/p>\n

糖心视频 the 糖心视频<\/abbr> Esports team\u2019s Instagram<\/a> and Discord<\/a> for more information. More stories on 糖心视频<\/abbr>\u2019s Esports program.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

糖心视频<\/abbr>\u2019s Level Up Esports program continues for its third year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":240444,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[269,95,1405,9],"class_list":["post-240441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-center-on-disability-studies","tag-college-of-education","tag-esports","tag-uh-manoa","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