Nemosina

Authoring Tool: We have developed an authoring tool for one of our London based clients who delivers financial training. The client sources learning material from a variety of sources and the authoring tool provides the authors with a standardized format for writing and structuring the course material.

The authoring tool is a java-based application that requires no plug-in except JRE (Java runtime environment). The front-end screens have been built using JFC (Swing) technology.

The advantages of using Java/ JFC are:

Java is one of most widely accepted application development languages. It has various advantages that will naturally be inherited by any application developed on it. Some of the advantages are given below:

	Open source - Running any application developed in java does not incur any extra costs. JRE, which is required to run Java based applications, is available online for free. This not only reduces the development cost but also its implementation cost.
	Platform independent - Applications written in java are platform independent i.e. the same code can run on a Windows platform as well as on Linux/Unix. This also saves the development cost.
	JFC's are lightweight components and thus screens designed using Swing can be ported to any Operating System without significant change in the visual look and feel.
	Java API extends various features that help to create user-friendly applications.
	Applications developed in Java are extensible and require low maintenance.

Important features of the authoring tool are:
	User-friendly screens.
	Easy navigation: Any non-technical person can navigate through the screens and understand it's functionality.
	Strictly follows the client's standards for content development and thus authors writing the content are bound to follow it.
	Inbuilt Data Archiving: Any user can create the content and store it by zipping all the files. This helps to manage the different versions of the content written by the author as well as save the system's memory.
	Inbuilt Mailing support: Archived courses can be mailed to any of the recipients using the POP/SMTP supported mail server.
	Courseware Importing: Importing new content received via mails (archived files).
	Content can be written in other software applications like Word, Excel, Images, Flash, etc. and can be included in the courseware being designed. Users also have the facility to preview the files attached (limited to the support given by the OS).
	The entire authoring tool is packaged in an installer along with the JRE and thus the users are not required to download any additional features to run the tool.

Web enabled Training Management Tool: The Training management tool is a web-enabled application developed to cater to the specific needs of the client who is one of the pioneers in software education world. This application is divided into various tiers under a predefined hierarchy where a lower tier updates data onto a higher tier.
The general hierarchy is as follows:
At the lowest level is a local training center. Each training center is functionally complete with respect to operations. At the second level is a central territory level training center. All the training centers in a particular state are attached to the state training center and the information of each local training center is maintained in accordance with the information at the state center level. There is only one state training center per state. At the top of hierarchy is a single national training center that serves as the central headquarters for all the state centers. The state centers are attached to this national center, which is the centralized repository of all data and information. Local and territory level training centers are Intranet based whereas the national headquarter is Internet based. Database is updated from the local training centers to territory level centers and from there to the national centers. This facilitates generating summarized reports of all modules for the national Head at the topmost level.
The application takes care of creating new training centers, new classroom at training centers, new faculty/student enrollment and batch scheduling, daily attendance, student test and their assessments, student/faculty/training center assessment form, reports etc.


	We work closely with you to transform soft-copy content into web-ready content. We have processes in place to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the content. Based on the requirements of the learning material, typically the final content would fall into the following categories:

		HTML: (static): Content is converted into HTML files. These files are created through a pre-defined template that enhances the look and feel of the content and increase readability of the text. The pre-defined templates allow us to create a visual uniformity to the content and also allow a faster creation process.
		Multimedia: Using the internet as a distribution medium allows a range of features that can be incorporate into the learning content that can vastly increase the visual and functional appeal of the final content. We can create media rich content using Flash and scripting to transform the soft copy content into a highly visual and interactive learning experience.
		Interactive: There may be circumstances where a high level of interactivity is desired in the learning content, but Flash may not be a viable option due to size of the file or restrictions in terms of firewalls etc. We can create interactivity into the content using components created in JavaScript. We can provide examples of some solutions that we have created using JavaScript.
		Other Supportive Components: We can also develop content that incorporates components such as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. This is typically useful in learning content where the user would apply the concepts learnt in an Excel environment. Incorporating Excel files requires that any firewall present not restrict the use of Active-X controls; in the event that there are such restrictions, we have developed solutions using JavaScript that simulate the look and feel of an Excel file.