Second Avenue

ROCHESTER, NY – Second Avenue Software has produced AstroTours, an educational software product for college textbook publisher W. W. Norton and Company. This product consists of a series of animations depicting astronomy and physics concepts, such as the Greenhouse Effect, Galaxy Interactions, and Dark Matter. These animations combine narration with high end 3D realistic art and activities that test the student’s understanding of science concepts. The AstroTours are available to students on Norton’s StudySpace for Astronomy student website, and to instructors who adopt Norton’s 21st Century Astronomy textbook on CD-ROM.

Second Avenue has partnered with WW Norton since 2007 to produce high quality interactives and educational new media. “Working with the development team at Second Avenue was a pleasure,” says Rob Bellinger, Science Media Editor at W. W. Norton. “Their attention to detail and deadlines, their willingness to revise to meet evolving design specs, and their ability to integrate AstroTour content into Norton’s SmartWork homework system helped make the project a success. Most importantly, the new AstroTour tutorial animations have garnered very positive reactions from adopting instructors, who will use them with their students starting this summer.”

The AstroTours were produced by Rochester-area talent, including programmers, artists, animators, subject matter experts, and recording engineers. The product was completed in March, and will be provided with the physical and online versions of W. W. Norton’s college textbook, 21st Century Astronomy, by Jeff Hester, Brad Smith, George Blumenthal, Laura Kay and Howard Voss. A link to the book can be found at: http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=17420.

Second Avenue Software is a certified women-owned new media company in Pittsford, NY that provides content authoring, training services, managed services for learning management systems, custom software development for interactive modules and serious games. Second Avenue offers products and services to clients in publishing, government and Fortune 500 companies including W.W. Norton, Pearson, K¹², and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. To learn more, visit http://secondavenuelearning.com.

ROCHESTER, NY – Second Avenue Software, a Pittsford-based software development and services company specializing in interactive software and media production, has been named as a finalist in the Digital Media and Learning Competition, a competition designed to promote innovative uses of new media for educational purposes.

The Digital Media and Learning Competition is supported by the MacArthur Foundation as part of its Digital Media and Learning initiative, and the winners will be given grants to develop their projects. Finalists are required to submit a three-minute video demonstrating the proposed game concept, and Second Avenue’s video is available online at http://dmlcompetition.net/pligg/story.php?title=1007 for public comment until April 22nd, 2010.

Second Avenue’s proposal is an educational Wii game for teaching physics concepts to middle-school girls. The intent behind the game is to reduce the gender gap in science performance and interest that begins in 4th grade, and to increase female participation in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) careers. The proposed game, tentatively titled “Martha Madison’s Marvelous Machines,” requires players to develop an understanding of simple machines – such as pulleys and inclined planes – in order to solve problems and achieve social goals.