The New Media team at Laserwords has been creating media products since 2000. We work on Assessment, web related products, and Flash animation and programming for the leading K-12, Higher Education, and Professional and Trade publishers.

We are familiar with all the major Learning and Course Management systems as well as the proprietary systems used by our customers. Our media and software teams work closely together to devise efficient translations between these varied platforms. Over the years, we have also accumulated a suite of programs to output multiple formats from a single source, allowing us to create course cartridges and import-ready files for a range of online systems.

Media requirements and workflows are constantly evolving as technologies advance and new and alternative distribution channels become available. The R&D team within our media department stays informed of the latest developments in media technology, allowing us to advise our customers on ways to make use of these advances in their products and workflow.

Media used to be an optional add-on to the print product. But the trends are moving to media being as important as print. Laserwords always views media in the context of the rest of the components in a title or program, and we are constantly searching for ways to refine media production to eliminate or reduce re-work when repurposing content. In a publishing environment in which media production is likely to precede print production, we are ready with a toolset and researched and tested workflows to offer the most intelligent and cost-effective solution.

At Laserwords, media production and print production are closely integrated. Our media, print, and software teams collaborate at a pre-production stage to ensure that we are mining the potential of XML-first workflows to drive both print and media. Controlling the process from as early in the workflow as authoring allows us to work within existing tagging systems to prime the files for mulitple streams with minimal effort. Coupled with our authoring tools, media production at Laserwords is a highly automated and tightly controlled process as a result of one of the most powerful overall publishing workflows in the industry.

Our publishing partners typically approach us for media production and conversions in the following areas: Assessment, Flash animations, Online learning.

Assessment
We have extensive experience in developing content for TestGen, ExamView, EDU, Diploma, EZTest, and MyLab. With this experience, our production teams are very quick to familiarize themselves with customized implementations of these systems or other assessment engines. We have a large pool of in-house and freelance subject matter experts (SMEs) to check rendered content and to develop algorithmic test items for a wide variety of subjects. As with everything we do, we have developed specialized tools to help with question authoring and algorithm design. QA is handled by independent in-house teams to ensure that content is delivered to the strictest quality standards.

Flash
Flash is rapidly becoming the most popular choice for enriching content with animation and online rendering. Our Flash team includes instructional designers, developers, and programmers to offer a complete solution for any of your instructional animation needs. We can take content from a wide variety of sources, including application files, PDFs, and PowerPoints, and convert them into rich, Flash-based products. We can connect the resulting Flash products to databases to extend their functionality.

Online Learning Systems
We work with all the major online learning management suites, including Blackboard, WebCT, and Angel. We can input your content directly into these systems, or work outside them and provide cartridges that can be imported into them. We know the strengths and limitations of these online systems, and can advise you on how to handle your content so that it renders and works correctly in every system. Whether you need someone to clean up an automated import or to work from scratch to organize your assets and create a complete course, our media team can take care of all your requirements.