P R E S S   R E L E A S E

OPIC Funding Gets Multimedia Product to Market

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, May 27, 2009

UOIT's Dr. Hannah Scott and her multimedia interactive tutorial films made the trip from idea to market in 2 short years.  Attracting a licensing deal from publishing house Wiley and Sons Canada, Dr. Scott's product was embraced as one of the new pedagogical tools coming on stream to help students master difficult subjects.  Funding from OPIC* and UOIT's Teaching Innovation Fund, along with expert assistance from UOIT's Office of Technology Transfer and Commercialization (OTTC), resulted in a licensed product in record time.  WileyPLUS, the online business of Wiley and Sons, will supply the multimedia tutorials via the web.

Dr. Scott's product has the potential to help thousands of undergraduate and gradutate students in such social sciences as: psychology, sociology, education, criminology, nursing and business programs.  Dr. Scott's approach taps the promise of multimedia and is designed to help students master the established standard - Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).  SPSS's ability to analyze data on people's opinions, attitudes and behaviours makes it a key tool for social scientists and mastery of SPSS is often a requirement for graduation.

Dr. Scott's films will provide students with comprehensive, self-directed tutorials.  Offering students an alternative to the classroom can result in better comprehension of the subject matter in less time.

"OTTC is dedicated to generating economic and social benefits by applying UOIT research and scholarship toward solutions for real-world problems," said Mike Szarka, manager, OTTC. "Statistics is one of the most challenging university courses and UOIT is excited to provide students with an opportunity to meet this academic challenge and find success."

*The Ontario Partnership for Innovation and Commercializaton is a network of 7 Ontario universities: Brock, Lakehead, Laurentian, Nipissing, Ryerson, Trent and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, working together to increase technology transfer, commercialization and entrepreneurial culture.

For more information re OPIC please contact: Karen Zavitz, Managing Director,OPIC

For more information re Dr. Scott's multimedia tutorials please contact: Mike Szarka, Office of Technology Transfer and Commercialization, UOIT

Presented by Ontario Partnership for Innovation and Commercialization
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