NATI Comer Finds Educational Niche By Jennifer Bishop
The Newfoundland and Labrador Alliance of Technical Industries (NATI) represents approximately 110 member companies working in many different sectors, including advanced engineering and health technologies: information technology; including one of the fastest growing fields, multimedia and educational courseware development: geomatics: education and training: financial, legal, management and marketing services: and research agencies and government. NATI’s strength lies in its members in their many talents and their active participation in the association. One such member is Joe Wiseman, president of INNOVA Multimedia. Wiseman is currently a member of NATI’s board of directors and multimedia working group, and also a member of the board of Operation ONLINE, a public/private partnership intended to promote growth in the interactive technologies sector by providing strategic investment and leadership. As well as participating in these groups, Wiseman has built a company that was recognized in the 1996 Branham Supplement to The Financial Post as one of 25 up and coming Canadian software companies. Incorporated in 1994, INNOVA has created an international market niche as a developer of high-quality, interactive, curriculum-specific educational software. INNOVA specializes in the design, content development, scripting, narration, detailed storyboarding and digital content-gathering stages of multimedia development. The digital authoring, marketing and distribution of INNOVA’s multimedia software products are currently done through partnerships with other firms. INNOVA designs and develops program’s content general enough to be used anywhere in the English-speaking world. INNOVA’s Poetry in a Nutshell, part of a series being marketed and distributed by Irwin Publishing of Concord, Ontario, is a CD-ROM set that includes well-known poems by Canadian, British, and American authors. This CD, which is useful both to teachers and students, allows the user to hear and read each poem by using the handy navigation and indexing system. Poetry in a Nutshell encourages users to explore, discover and enjoy this new approach to poetry. Of INNOVA’s latest project, A Whale of a Tale: Dive into Math, Brian O’Donnell, president of Irwin Publishing, comments, "We have had an opportunity to look at Whales and are suitably impressed. The material is clearly presented, attractive to look at and fun to browse. Our overall impressions are very good and if priced right, I hope we can sell this one very well." A CD-ROM being developed by Seneca College will include an INNOVA product as an example of how to develop educational multimedia. One of INNOVA’s Internet projects is the Stepping Stones to School publication on the Web site of STEM-Net, a computer network for professional educators teaching in kindergarten to grade 12 and in rural public colleges in Newfoundland and Labrador. For parents, Stepping Stones to School offers practical tips and activities designed to develop skills children will use when they go the school. The future direction of INNOVA includes plans to develop additional in-house expertise, particularly in the graphics, animation and digital-authoring aspects of multimedia production; develop partnering and subcontractual arrangements with content providers; further explore online development and delivery of multimedia; develop additional international marketing and distribution links; expand operations to include contract work in the educational curriculum market; and continue to develop two major product lines, the "in a Nutshell" series and a cartoon animated series for primary students. Jennifer Bishop is NATI's administrator and information officer. She can be reached via email at nati@nfld.com . NATI's Web site is at www.netfx-inc.com/nati or www.netfx.iom.net/nati .
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