Edco HearSay CD’s

The Educational Company of Ireland (Edco) have been one of the premier publishers of textbooks in Ireland for almost one hundred years. Within that time, they have been the foremost publishers of exam papers for Junior and Leaving Certificate students. In 2003, Edco decided to add CD Rom’s to aid students in their study of certain subjects.

The Brief:

An integral part of the Irish, French, German and Spanish exams is the aural examinations, therefore it was decided that each year, the CD’s would be re-produced the latest six year’s recording. Set in the timings of the actual examinations, students have the ability to re-create the aural examinations using their Hear Say CD’s and Exam papers. The leaving certificate Irish and French CD’s also contain advice on the oral examinations. These CD’s can be played in a CD player or on a PC/ Mac.

The Hear Say Music CD tests students on their music of knowledge, familiarising themselves with listening and recognising musical pieces in conjunction with their music exam papers.

Edco also wanted to include Geography ‘Study Buddy’ CD for Junior and Leaving certificate Geography which tests students on various aspects of their course based on the examination papers. There is advice on the course, map reading, tests based on multiple choice or maps etc.

The Product:

Combined Media designed and developed an animated interface for disc compatibility with PC and Mac. When listening to the CD in a CD player (or uploading to your Mp3) the language CD’s produce the aural examinations as they would in an exam. However when using the CD , you are provided with an easy to follow transcript and translation of keywords.

Deploy and Grow:

The HearSay CD’s are a huge success, and have recently been made compatible with interactive whiteboards to expand the reach within classrooms.

Using the same design interface and animated characters to guide the user through the CD, each year Combined Media update the CD Rom’s with the latest year’s information and exam questions or aural transcripts.