•    First presentation of results from Creative Gaming workshops at Ida Ehre School
•    Corporate volunteering of Tipp24 SE staff making positive contribution to project

Developing the media skills of young people is becoming increasingly important, especially in the field of computers and the Internet. However, it is also important to recognize both the opportunities and risks involved. Creative Gaming workshops offer a constructive way of educating young people by enabling them to make modifications to well-known computer games. This was recently the case at the first workshops held at the Ida Ehre School in Hamburg, Germany.

The first 43 participants from the Ida Ehre School were encouraged to let their creativity run free and develop their knowledge and skills while playing games – often outside school at their home computers. On 8 September, the pupils presented the results to their schoolmates, parents and teachers.

The workshops were made possible by a cooperation between the Hamburg-based company Tipp24 SE, the charity “BürgerStiftung Hamburg” and the local media training association “jaf – Verein für medienpädagogische Praxis Hamburg e.V.”. Tipp24 took a conscious decision to not only provide financial support but to encourage as many employees as possible to get personally involved in the project as advisers. Their presence ensures the pupils get to know the tricks and short-cuts used by online professionals. The young participants are also exposed to real-life career models and get what may often be their first-ever positive insight into the working world.

The workshops last several days and focus on two main topics: in “Machinima”, pupils produce video clips from the family-based simulation “SIMS 2”; they develop the storyline, considere camera angles and action, and finally edit their own productions before adding sound. In the “Game Design” series, the challenge is for pupils to develop their own computer game; specially designed software enables them to quickly and professionally turn their creative ideas into working games. At the end of the course, the pupils – aged 14 to 17 – receive a certificate to document their participation.

The workshops form one of the education modules integrated into the “generation@” project. Another element is the school vacation workshop “Klickerkids”, which targets pupils aged 8 to 13. In five-day workshops, children are encouraged to research their favourite topics, create both text and images on the subject, and publish the result on their own website.
Barbara Buchsteiner, a member of the BürgerStiftung Hamburg board and a supporter and adviser of the cooperation from its very start, says: “generation@ has successfully tapped into the interests and realities of life for many children and adolescents with special support needs and given them important media and social skills by allowing them to be creative and try out their own ideas. The opportunity to interact with professionals from Tipp24 also gives them an insight into the world of employment and boosts their own career perspectives. That’s the outstanding benefit of generation@.”

The Ida Ehre School in Hamburg has been the main partner of generation@ since its launch in early 2008. In September, Tipp24 once again enabled the school to purchase laptops which will give pupils the opportunity to test and develop their newly gained skills and knowledge.

Helga Wendland, Head of the Ida Ehre School, states: “The creative use of new media is clearly benefiting student performance. The training and presentations strengthen self-confidence – a positive development which is being clearly observed by our teaching staff. As educational institutes, schools can gain a lot from such cooperation projects with private sector companies. And in this particular case, from the personal involvement of Tipp24’s employees.”

In September, generation@ will launch a new series of workshops at several schools and offer further school vacation programs in Hamburg.

Further results can be seen at: www.klickerkids.de, http://generationat.creative-gaming.eu/

About Tipp24 SE: Tipp24 SE (formerly Tipp24 AG) was founded in September 1999 and holds equity interests in a number of companies in Spain, Italy and the UK, which enable participation in lottery-based games via the Internet, especially via the websites www.ventura24.es, www.giochi24.it, www.mylotto24.co.uk and www.tipp24.com. In Germany, Tipp24 Entertainment GmbH operates the games platform www.tipp24games.de. From its foundation to the end of 2008, Tipp24 SE brokered tickets worth over 1.5 billion euros to the state lottery companies – in recent years over 330 million euros annually. Following its successful IPO in 2005 (Prime Standard), the company was admitted to the SDAX index in June 2009 and has been trading as a European public limited company since December 2009.

Press contact:
Tipp24 SE
Andrea Fratini
Head of Media and Public Relations
Phone: +49 40 32 55 33-660
Fax: +49 40 32 55 33-5600
E-Mail: presse@tipp24.de
Internet: www.tipp24-se.de/presse