Quest Alliance Basic Hackathon Kit Sutdent Handbook

Quest Alliance Basic Hackathon Kit Sutdent Handbook

The Quest Alliance Basic Hackathon Kit is a thoughtfully designed toolkit that empowers educators, facilitators, and youth to organize impactful hackathons focused on 21st-century skills, problem-solving, and innovation. Rooted in the values of self-learning, collaboration, and technology integration, the kit supports a structured yet flexible framework for running ideathons and hackathons at schools, colleges, and youth development centers.

At its core, the Hackathon Kit encourages young learners to become solution creators rather than just consumers of knowledge. It provides a step-by-step guide to facilitate a real-world challenge-solving experience that integrates technology, design thinking, and teamwork. This is especially useful for learners from underserved communities, helping them bridge the gap between education and future-ready skills.

What’s Inside the Kit?

Facilitator Guidebook
A comprehensive manual to guide mentors or facilitators in setting up, managing, and evaluating a hackathon. It includes timelines, daily plans, team-building exercises, and mentoring strategies.
Learner Handbook
A youth-friendly workbook that takes participants through each stage of the hackathon process – from identifying local problems to brainstorming, prototyping, and pitching their solutions. It is aligned with Quest’s 5C framework: Critical Thinking, Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, and Computational Thinking.
Challenge Cards
The kit provides sample challenge cards in domains like education, environment, gender equity, health, and livelihoods to spark ideas. These cards help participants anchor their projects in community-based, real-life issues.
Templates and Tools
Includes ready-to-use templates for ideation (such as Problem Trees, Empathy Maps), project planning, storyboarding, coding basics (Scratch or Web Development), and pitch presentation.
Technology Resources
Recommendations and links to open-source digital tools like Scratch, Tinkercad, Canva, MIT App Inventor, and Python tutorials, encouraging inclusive tech use. Minimal infrastructure is needed—just basic computers and internet access.
Assessment Rubrics
Easy-to-use rubrics for evaluating student outcomes based on creativity, impact, feasibility, teamwork, and communication.

Why Use the Quest Hackathon Kit?

Inclusivity: Designed for diverse learners, especially those with limited access to high-tech environments.
Skill Development: Promotes digital literacy, design thinking, communication, and leadership.
Hands-On Learning: Encourages experiential learning through problem-solving and prototyping.
Community Impact: Focus on identifying local challenges encourages social consciousness and grassroots innovation.
Educator Support: Step-by-step facilitation makes it easy for teachers or youth workers to implement.

Ideal For

Schools under the STEM for Girls or Secondary School Transformation Program by Quest Alliance
ITI and vocational institutions
Youth innovation clubs, Atal Tinkering Labs, and community learning centers

In summary, the Quest Alliance Basic Hackathon Kit is more than just a set of materials—it is a catalyst for transformation. By equipping young minds with the tools, mindset, and confidence to innovate, it fosters a generation of learners who are self-driven, socially aware, and future-ready.

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