An Irish Educational company needed a product which would empower their students and help them to master Math, the subject that many people find difficult. The Math Master Browser developed by Itransition is a Swing-based client-side application, which serves as a learning platform for math educators and students. The client application processes and stores created tasks and other educational content on a web-based server. The GUI is as close as possible to a standard Microsoft Internet Explorer interface with familiar, user-friendly and comfortable views.
Two main user groups of the application are teachers and students. Teachers can create math-related interactive content (i.e. math journals, text books and exam sheets). They can also follow their tasks with hints, diagrams, graphs, charts and hints. Being prompted and guided by reminders, pictures, diagrams and suggestions, the students go through each step of tasks solving. Every user of the application (students or instructors) could share any of his knowledge and tasks with other registered users via global Internet storage.
The system features the following modules:
- Math Master Browser – enables teachers to create and check tasks for their students using a wide range of tools and features:
- Math Code & Variables;
- Math Diagram;
- Math Question & Hints;
- Math Tasks Advanced Trees;
- Math Skins;
- Math Community;
- Math Viewer;
- Math Shopping Cart.
- Math Licensing & Help – implements secured licensing and help sections for the typical Windows-based software product.
- Math Install Wizard – enables the user to install and configure purchased Maths Master licensed copy easily.
- Math Server – used for global storage and management of tasks and their properties. Every user can be registered on server database and get access to any of published task via Math Master Browser interface.
- Math Demos – these are Flash-based movies that describe the main features and benefits of the Math’s Master product.
The system is based on sophisticated, scalable JAVA Swing and Servlet API based architecture. It's easy to install, train and use product with interactive components for an immersive user experience. The licensing solution is highly secured and hard-to-break.
Online Courses is a web-based application that supports different browsers. It is based on a three-layer framework, which uses customizable JSP Tag Libraries as the presentation layer, JAVA and Servlet API classes for business logic, file system and MySQL for content and data storage. The implemented framework is already re-used in other web-based JAVA which proves it scalability and lower cost of integration.
The software has gone through all stages of product development: from the requirements gathering and formulating, through development, to the end-product implementation and quality assurance. In addition, Itransition has developed a new corporate website and all supplementary materials, e.g. presentations, demos, manual, leaflets, brochures and etc.
Technologies:
JDK 1.4; Java Swing API, Java Servlet API, JSP, JavaMail API, JDBC, Flash 5.0, Install Shield 4.0, Java, C++, JavaScript, HTML, SQL, Flash, MySQL 4.1, Apache Tomcat 4.x, RUP, MS Project, IBM Clear Case, IBM Rational Clear Quest.
Efforts: 24 man-months.
Request for the full case study Back