Stephenville company looks to market software around world By Chisholm Pothier, The Georgian Business Forecast Supplement to Robinson-Blackmore Newspapers Week of March 18,1996, page 23
Can a tiny firm in western Newfoundland produce and supply educational software to be used in classrooms around the world? John Maddock and Joe Wiseman think so. They are the co-founders of INNOVA Multimedia Ltd., which develops multimedia, interactive computer software programs to be used by students. The company has already completed a poetry program, Poetry in a Nutshell, that will be marketed across Canada by Irwin Publishing and could be sold by publishing companies in Great Britain, the United States and Australia. Since then they've been working on several new software packages including ones in chemistry, math, geometry and early childhood education. But perhaps the biggest project is a partnership with McGraw Hill Ryerson publishing house, NewTel Information Solutions and several other partners to bid on producing the high school math curriculum for all four Atlantic provinces. The Partner’s bid is one of three being considered. "Our goal is to become a recognized leader worldwide in the niche of curriculum-specific, interactive, educational software," said Mr. Wiseman, referring to computer programs that can be used by students in conjunction with what is being taught in the classroom by the teacher. The company seems well on its way to achieving its goal. It was listed as one of the 25 up and coming Canadian software companies in the 1996 Branham Supplement to the Financial Post. It might seem a little mind boggling for a couple of potential entrepreneurs to decide they’re going to create a product and market it internationally from Stephenville. But a combination of circumstance and interests came together to plant the seed of INNOVA. Mr. Maddock was retiring after 30 years as a teacher and curriculum superintendent and was thinking about creating a curriculum book on poetry. He and Mr. Wiseman had discussed forming an educational consulting business together, as Mr. Wiseman also has an education background. But Mr. Maddock’s brother works in computers at Newtel Information Solutions and he suggested they put their efforts into creating multimedia educational curriculum. "We talked about it for three or four months," said Mr. Maddock. " The more we talked about it, the more intriguing it became." The two did some research and found out that the area of curriculum specific interactive software was weak. There were basically three types of educational software on the market, print material with pictures and voiceovers, reference type material like encyclopedias on CD-ROM and what Mr. Wiseman calls ‘entertainment,’ fun programs with lots of stuff happening on the computer screen but not directly related to any school curriculum. The educational software market was lacking in computer programs designed to supplement exactly what was being taught in the school curriculum. The educational software market was lacking in computer programs designed to supplement exactly what was being taught in the school curriculum. So they created ‘Poetry in a Nutshell.’ The program will supplement the teaching of poetry in the literature or English curriculum of a class. It takes the student on a computer journey through the different literary forms of poems, verse, narrative, haiku, for example, as well as literary techniques used by poets, alliteration, onomatopoeia, etc., the use of rhythm and rhyme in writing poetry, and other aspects that would help a student understand and appreciate poetry. It is a true multimedia program, as it combines the printed word with narrative voiceovers and reading of the poems used as examples with appropriate images, often photos or paintings, that work well with the poem being read. Poetry in a Nutshell is completed and in the hands of the publishing house to be marketed throughout Canada and the English speaking world. Now INNOVA is busy working on computer programs in chemistry, geometry, mathematics, early childhood and a primary program on whales. While something like poetry is limited to the English speaking world, many of the other programs could be used internationally, says Mr. Wiseman. "It’s phenomenal to be able to live in Stephenville and have access to the international market," Mr. Wiseman says, with an almost disbelieving shake of his head. "The intriguing thing about computer software products is that if it catches on, it catches on in a big way because the world is your market." With the increase in activity, INNOVA has hired on three additional employees, two computer programmers, Travis Doucette and Beth Harding, and one artist to design the graphics for the various programs, Sheldon Parsons. Apart from its in-house talent, INNOVA brings in specialists to help with certain aspects , such as a chemistry specialist to help with the chemistry program or computer specialists from NewTel.
Copyright (c) 2004 INNOVA Multimedia Ltd. All Rights reserved
Where Learning Comes First!