About Future Quest Island:

Future Quest Island (FQI) is an accessible game-based college and career readiness tool that aligns 21st century technology skills with college and career readiness goals to promote self-awareness, self-knowledge, self-advocacy, and organization for middle school youth with and without disabilities.

FQI is aimed at middle school general and special education teachers as well as technology professionals, counselors, administrators, and transition professionals who are interested in advancing engagement and transition plans of youth with and without disabilities in middle school in college and career activities.

Project Outcomes:

  • Recognize and identify academic strengths and desires
  • Explore and prioritize college and career options
  • Develop increased social skills
  • Access digital educational resources
  • Collect and organize digital materials to construct an electronic portfolio (ePortfolio), including an ILP and/or IEP

Key Topic Areas:

  • College & Career Exploration
  • Online Safety
  • Social, Emotional & Ethical Skills
  • Organizational Skills
  • Self-Determination
  • Self-Advocacy
  • Transition Planning
  • ePortfolio & Individualized Learning Plans

Universally Designed and Accessible:

The island uses the principles of universal design for learning and motivation strategies to engage all users in developing a portfolio for individualized learning plans and transition plans for IEPs.
  • FQI works on all types of hardware and software to eliminate technology access barriers for SWD.
  • FQI activities presented in different formats so students can construct and demonstrate knowledge through multiple preferred methods, optimizing individual choice.
  • FQI accommodates assistive technology (AT) devices (i.e. switches) and software (Jaws).
  • FQI activities are available in accessible online and printable formats.
  • FQI uses voice over animation, text-to-speech and speech-to-text functionality.

Student Activities:

Students choose an avatar and set sail to one of the island locations (About Me Mountain, College Coast, Career Cove, & Social Sanctuary) to complete activities, build their portfolios, and earn coins to build their huts.

Student Feedback:

First I wanted to go to community college, but now I want to be a lawyer or something. I wanted to go to a regular high school but now I want to go to one  that will help me become a lawyer.”
I talked to my mom more and more about it. I’ve been doing a lot more research about being a doctor or a nurse and I talked to my mom about what colleges I have to go to."
I am just focused on sport so I just want to go to NBA. But I have a second choice. So, FQI has taught me more about my second choice. Being a teacher, at gym. I want to be a phys-ed teacher. well my teacher told me about it earlier, but it (FQI)  helped me to understand more about what kind of degree you have to get and stuff like that.”
I started opening up to more colleges and how to take in new skills like recording and photography and learning about cameras and editing.”

Teaching Toolkit:

Teachers are empowered with access to an easy-to-use student management system that includes a toolkit of teaching units & activities aligned with ELA standards, ISTE technology standards, Massachusetts Career Development Education standards and college and career readiness standards.

Teacher Feedback:

The work in it is aligned with the Department of Ed, as a counselor it makes me feel confident working with the program and knowing we’re giving the students the best opportunities that we can.”​
"Teacher toolkit materials provide enough detail to jump right in."
The Teacher Toolkit was helpful in understanding the goals of activities on FQI.”

Family Feedback:

He’s mentioned a lot about colleges to me which I thought was funny
that he knew about specific colleges for specific things... He already told
me he’s going to go to get a career in music and engineering and which
schools he’s going to go to for specific things, so I guess that is part of it.
It’s a big thing that he knows all that. I have two older sons and they
never mentioned college in the 6th grade.”
He talks about different career options with his class and his academic
success. He talks about different things like being a fireman and out of
the blue will talk about specific colleges...Maybe that’s [FQI] where my
son got the idea of being a firefighter from because it’s not a career we
ever talked about."

Brought to you By:

The contents of this website were developed under a grant from the US Department of Education, #H327510012 However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer, Terry L. Jackson, Ed.D.