Multimedia based High School Science Education Interactive CD-ROMs

Introduction
S. Chand is one of the leading publication firms of India, offering mainstream educational products based on the syllabi prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (under the Government of India).

CyberMedia India Ltd. is South Asia's first and largest speciality media house, with 9 publications (including Dataquest and PCQuest) in the infotech, telecom, consumer electronics and biotech areas; and a media value chain including the internet, events and television. The group's media services include market research (IDC India), content outsourcing, multimedia, gaming and media education.

CyberMedia forwarded the prestigious S.Chand project for development to the team at Base77.

Project Description
Based on the course of study for the All India Secondary School (Class X), by the Central Board of Secondary Education (C.B.S.E.), Base77 developed three CD-ROM subject titles (Physics, Chemistry, and Biology) for S. Chand Publications, India. The project comprised of planning and conceptualization, interface development, content development and, packaging and bundling of content. The content was formatted with illustrations and animations with Voice Over (VO). The multimedia products include the following attributes:

Content
The course material is organized into chapters and topics enabling users to browse according to individual requirements. The questions and exercises at the end of each chapter are divided according to length and contain an interactive quiz. Users can also print the chapter contents and questions while viewing the CD. Furthermore, the CD-ROM includes previous examination and test papers set by the C.B.S.E. which enables students to get a good grasp of the examination pattern and prepare accordingly. The CD also contains a glossary section.

Aesthetics and Voice Integration
The product begins with a 2D introductory animation. The voice over is also integrated with each chapter. In addition, the product has a rich graphic user interface and a user-friendly navigation.

Principal Attributes of the CD-ROMs:
• User friendly navigation of course material
• Graphically rich user interface
• Start up animation
• The software also features voice over integration for
each chapter
• Content Search feature
• Model Test Papers and samples of previous question
papers
• Random Test Generator based on user requirements
(such as duration, particular topics or select chapters)
• Glossary
• Print feature

The database driven site, with automatic link management, provides context related information in the form of rich and customized template-driven articles. An easy-to-use back office software was also provided to enable the Webmaster to manage the articles on the website. The software facilitates the user in creating new pages with the help of highly customizable templates. This software comprises of modules similar to a Yahoo type advisory messenger, banner management, user tracking, financial accounting for associates and customers for paid advisory, traffic routing, e-commerce and commission settlement etc. In addition, a site administration software was developed to facilitate the gowealthy.com administrators to dynamically change the look and feel of the website content. Furthermore, this also allows users to create new articles based on a vast template library, manage banner rotation on the site, create new information sections and, remove (authorized) articles.

Environment
VB 6.0, SQL Server 2000, IIS, ASP, Active Skin, Javascript