QUEST Projects

QUEST along with its alliance partners is piloting some innovative projects to improve quality education and provide skills training using ET tools. QUEST play an important role in demystifying the usage of technology by exploring and advocating for effective usages of various existing educational technology tools which are easily accessible and adaptable in the constrained environment. Some of these innovations are:

Udaan Life Skill Program

The GE Life Skills for Employability curriculum has been developed by Youthreach India and GE Foundation particularly for youth that have suffered many of the setbacks common in newly industrialized societies. The program offers young people between the ages of 14 - 18 an opportunity to learn a range of skills that will help them stay in school and in vocational training programs. These in turn would enable them to acquire the education, professional skills, and confidence they need to succeed in life. The pilot program in India produced significant data on success factors which indicates the potential to institutionalize and scale up the GE Foundation Life skills for Employability which is now branded as the Udaan Life Skills Program. For more ..

Lifeline Education Project

The Lifeline for Education Project uses mobile technology and an interactive voice response system to provide much-needed academic support and instructional training to rural elementary school teachers in West Bengal. In partnership with One World South Asia, Vikramshila Educational Society and British Telecom and CISCO, this innovative project equips teachers with mobile phones and links them to an information database and an expert panel where they can access answers to specific queries. QUEST conducted preliminary needs assessment and provided financial and technical support in program design and implementation. For  more..

Videoshala: Education Community Video Unit

Videoshala is an innovative program working with Drishti, Udaan and Video Volunteers in Gujarat, to produce educational videos that are contextual and rooted in the child’s reality, while also integrating the values of Citizenship, Diversity and Democracy. The content development is being implemented in four video units, where people from the local community are trained as Community Video Producers. QUEST provided technical and financial support in the design and implementation of the project, including capacity building in the critical area of instructional designs (ID). For  more..

Digital Life Skill Toolkit Program

Life skills are thoseyouth are well prepared to lead healthy and productive lives. However due to prohibitive costs, the face-to-face approach is limited in its ability to reach out to at-risk youth living in very remote and rural areas, with life skills training. In an effort to benefit a greater  number of at-risk youth and to take advantage of the power of educational technology, the digital toolkit will allow facilitators to conduct life skills training and workplace readiness modules in remote sites, thus improving access to quality training. The QUEST Alliance provided financial and technical assistance in the areas of Instructional Design and life skills content development to support the joint effort of CAP Foundation and Microsoft. For more

Developing Digital Instructional Content and Piloting New Technologies:

Led by the Azim Premji Foundation (APF), this program has four components: 1) piloting low-cost PCs with low power consumption LED projectors in government elementary schools, 2) conducting a national instructional design workshop to enhance the quality of instructional design in India, 3) developing teacher-centric content to pilot on the laptops, and 4) replicating and distributing CAL CDs to various states.

Computer Aided Learning Programme

QUEST Alliance partners – Azim Premji Foundation, Pratham, and the CAP Foundation have collaborated to implement the Alcatel-Lucent funded program entitled “Improving Learning and Employability through Computer-Assisted Instruction for Underprivileged Children and Youth.” This large program aims to improve the quality of elementary education for Government school children aged 6-14 years and the life skills education, career exploration and employability skills vulnerable out of school youth between 12-21 yeas of age, using computer assisted learning models. For more..