TRIO Quest Chart of Key Elements
| Activity | Media Quest | PhotoEssay | ThinkQuest TRIO |
| Concept | Audio or Video production of 3 minutes or less | Digital image plus writing | Educational Web site |
| # of Students | 1 to 6 | 1 student | 3 to 6 |
| Student Age | All age groups | All age groups | Under 19 |
| Deadlines | 8/12/09 | Early: 4/10/09 Summer: 8/10/09 | 8/7/09 |
| Minimum hardware needs | PC or Mac with 512MB RAM and Internet Access | PC or Mac with 512MB RAM and Internet Access | PC or Mac with 512MB RAM and Internet Access |
| Minimum software needs | IE 6.0+ or Firefox 2.0+, audio and/or video editor (see resource sheet) | IE 6.0+ or Firefox 2.0+, photo/image editor (see resource sheet) | IE 6.0+ or Firefox 2.0+, HTML editor (see resource sheet) |
| Estimated time for students | If highly structured and planned by staff, minimum time: 4 hours Recommended time: 12 hours | If highly structured and planned by staff, minimum time: 2 hours Recommended time: 5-6 hours | Minimum time if highly structured and if goal is to complete a simple website: 6 - 10 hours Recommended time: 30 -40 hours |
| Staff skill sets | Writing instruction and planning for scripting (storyboard), familiar with basic audio/video editors | Writing instruction and photo manipulation | Web design, research, writing, media manipulation |