U.S. patent application number 10/611064 was filed with the patent office on 2005-01-06 for interactive virtual classroom.
Invention is credited to Asgarinejad, Mehdi, Corgan, Michael A..
Application Number | 20050003330 10/611064 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 33552332 |
Filed Date | 2005-01-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050003330 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Asgarinejad, Mehdi ; et
al. |
January 6, 2005 |
Interactive virtual classroom
Abstract
A system for allowing interactivity between an instructor
provided with an instructor's workstation and a plurality of
student's monitoring student workstations all of which are remote
with respect to each other. A video and audio presentation would be
transmitted in real time from the instructor's workstation to each
of the student's workstation. Each of the student's workstation
would include a monitor for displaying a video portion of the
instructor's presentation as well as including response buttons for
answering various questions posed by the instructor. The
instructor's workstation would include a monitor for displaying the
student's responses to the instructor's questions.
Inventors: |
Asgarinejad, Mehdi; (Irvine,
CA) ; Corgan, Michael A.; (Moreno Valley,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Mitchell B. Wasson, Esq.
HOFFMAN, WASSON & GITLER, PC
Suite 522
2361 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington
VA
22202
US
|
Family ID: |
33552332 |
Appl. No.: |
10/611064 |
Filed: |
July 2, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
434/20 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09B 7/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
434/020 |
International
Class: |
F41G 003/26 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A virtual classroom for allowing an instructor to instruct a
plurality of students, each student located at a remote location
from all the other students, each student receiving instructional
material over a communications network, comprising: a teaching
workstation provided at a location remote from each of the
students, said teaching workstation including a first monitor
provided with an input device allowing for the projection and
manipulation of images on said first monitor; a plurality of
student workstations, each student workstation provided at a remote
location from all the other student workstations and the teaching
workstation, each student workstation provided with a student
monitor for displaying images thereon and an input device for
manipulating images displayed on said student monitor as well as
for manipulating images projected upon said first monitor; a camera
and microphone provided proximate to said teaching workstation for
receiving video and audio material created at said teaching
workstation and transmitting said video and audio material over the
communications network to each of said student workstations, said
video material projected upon each respective student monitor; and
a server connected to said teaching workstation and said camera and
said microphone as well as the communications network for
controlling the operation of the virtual classroom including
managing the flow of signals between said teaching workstation and
each of said student workstations over the communications
network.
2. The virtual classroom in accordance with claim 1, wherein each
of said student workstations receives a video stream of the
instructor's presentation to be displayed on a first section of
said student monitor and further wherein each of said student
workstations receive a video stream of said first monitor to be
displayed on a second section of said student monitor.
3. The virtual classroom in accordance with claim 1, said teaching
workstation further including a second monitor for projecting
information sent from each student to said teaching workstation
over the communications network, said information including
responses to questions asked by the instructor as well as questions
asked by each of the students.
4. The virtual classroom in accordance with claim 2, said teaching
workstation further including a second monitor for projecting
information sent from each student to said teaching workstation
over the communications network, said information including
responses to questions asked by the instructor as well as questions
asked by each of the students.
5. The virtual classroom in accordance with claim 3, wherein said
second monitor includes a status box for indicating time that a
question was sent to said teaching workstation from the
student.
6. The virtual classroom in accordance with claim 4, wherein said
second monitor includes a status box for indicating time that a
question was sent to said teaching workstation from the
student.
7. The virtual classroom in accordance with claim 3, wherein said
server includes a memory for storing information sent to said
teacher workstation from each of said student workstations.
8. The virtual classroom in accordance with claim 4, wherein said
server includes a memory for storing information sent to said
teacher workstation from each of said student workstations.
9. The virtual classroom in accordance with claim 1, wherein said
server contains information for customizing each of said student
workstations.
10. The virtual classroom in accordance with claim 3, further
including a camera provided at each of said student workstations
for transmitting video information from said student workstation to
be projected upon said second monitor.
11. The virtual classroom in accordance with claim 1, further
including a microphone provided at each of said student
workstations for transmitting audio information from said student
workstation to said teaching workstation.
12. The virtual classroom in accordance with claim 11, further
including a speaker provided and said teaching workstation for
broadcasting said audio information.
13. A virtual classroom for allowing an instructor to instruct a
plurality of students, each student located at a remote location
from all other students, each student receiving instructional
material over a communications network, comprising: a teaching
workstation provided at a location remote from each of the
students, said teaching workstation provided with a first monitor
for projecting information sent from each student to the teaching
workstation; a plurality of student workstations, each student
workstation provided at a remote location from all the other
student workstations, each student workstation provided with a
student monitor for displaying images thereon and an input device
for manipulating images displayed on said student monitor as well
as sending information to said teaching workstation over the
communications network to be displayed on said first monitor; a
camera and microphone provided proximate to said teaching
workstation for receiving video and audio material created at said
teaching workstation and transmitting said video and audio material
over the communications network to each of said student
workstations, said video material projected upon each respective
student monitor; and a server connected to said teaching
workstation and said camera and said microphone as well as the
communications network for controlling the operation of the virtual
classroom including managing the flow of signals between said
teaching workstation and each of said student workstations over the
communications network.
14. The virtual classroom in accordance with claim 13, wherein said
server includes a memory for storing information sent to said
teaching workstation from each of said student workstation.
15. The virtual classroom in accordance with claim 13, wherein said
server contains information for customizing each of said student
workstations.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention is directed to an interactive teaching
system in which a lecturer is located at a remote location from the
students.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Conventional brick and mortar have, by their very nature, a
limited capacity to accommodate students due to space
considerations. Once all available classroom space is filled, no
other students can attend that class, thereby limiting the
availability of educational opportunities for certain segments of
the potential student body. This would also limit tuition paid to
these institutions due to lack of facility space. An instructor in
a conventional classroom can only teach those students who are
physically present in that classroom. Transportation availability,
distance and cost may all conspire to limit or even to preclude
student attendance. Furthermore, an institution of higher learning
may not have an instructor on staff that is qualified to teach a
certain subject, or the classroom sessions for a particular
instructor who is versed in that subject matter may be filled to
capacity. Short of the expensive proposition of building new or
expanding old facilities, the conventional classroom based
institution is not capable of the rapid expansion needed to meet
the educational demands of our burgeoning information age. Even if
classroom space was available, the lack of qualified instructors
(particularly since shortages of teachers are forecast for the next
decade) would greatly limit the opportunity for students to be
instructed in various courses of study.
[0003] At the present time, a fortuitous combination of technology
used to provide information in a nearly real-time time frame,
coupled with the communications industry, has allowed for the
creation of remote learning capabilities in which a lecturer is at
a remote location with respect to the students. This type of
technology has been detailed in a number of U.S. patents.
[0004] For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,555, issued to Ziv-El,
describes a remote teaching system wherein one or more groups of
students located at one or more remote learning centers is taught
by a teacher located at an instruction center. Each student at the
learning center is provided with a terminal, including an
alphanumeric keyboard, a multi-line LCD, visual reinforcement
devices, an audio reinforcement device, a terminal identification
device, a local controller and an audio-visual output port. A
student's response generated by a teacher's question would be
stored in respective response buffers. Information from these
buffers is transmitted to the teacher's terminal and are displayed
thereon. A social mode means is provided for coordinating each of
the participant terminals within a learning center to collectively
respond to a particular question indicated by a teacher. However,
it is important to note that the patent. to Ziv-El operates in an
environment in which a plurality of students are located at the
same learning center. Each of the students is supplied with their
own computer and the learning center is provided with an extra
computer for coordinating the responses generated by the students
based upon a question posed by the teacher. Additionally, the
patent to Ziv-El does not provide a system in which a student at
the student's own console would be able to control the operation of
the teacher's console.
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 6,282,404, issued to Linton, describes a
method and system for accessing multi-media data in an interactive
format having reporting capabilities. The system includes a means
for streaming an instructional segment to a user, as well as
evaluating the user's comprehension of the instructional segment
and reporting the results of the instructional segment to an
administrator. A means is also included for granting the user
access to the instructional segment via a user handle and a private
password that are corroborated by a database system when the user
accesses the instructional segment. However, this patent is
directed to a system in which prerecorded data in the form of the
instructional segment, is transmitted to the ultimate user.
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,216, issued to Cueto, describes a system
for providing an interactive education process. Individual students
are at remote sites and are provided with computer terminals having
computer network connections to an interactivity engine which
receives inquiries and comments from the students through the
network connections. The computer network connection to the
interactivity engine provides the capability of feedback allowing
the instruction to be structured around this feedback. The
interactivity engine categorizes the student inquiries and comments
and presents them in an ordered fashion to personnel in a studio
represented by a stage manager. The stage manager then relays this
information to an instructor for broadcast response. It is clear
that the patent to Cueto does not describe a system in which
students' responses to an instructor's questions are not directly
displayed on the instructor's monitor in a real-time manner.
[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,717, issued to Larochelle et al,
discusses a teaching system employing a teacher controller device
which is serially connected with a plurality of computer stations
in a closed loop circuit. Each of the computer stations is designed
to be utilized by students that would include a computer device, as
well as a video monitor interconnected to one another through an
interface unit. A control signal is generated to condition each of
the computer stations to operate in either an individual mode, a
source mode or a target mode. In the individual mode, the video
signals issued from each individual computer are displayed on its
associated video monitor. In the source mode, a video output screen
connection and a computer input are connected directly to the
closed loop network cable through buffers. In the target mode,
video output cannot be displayed on the video monitor. The
Larochelle et al system does not allow for responses to a teacher's
inquiry to be displayed on the teacher's monitor. Additionally,
this patent does not relate to a system in which students can
control the teacher's desktop display area.
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,818, issued to Shapiro et al, details a
computer training system including an instructor workstation and a
plurality of student workstations. The instructor workstation
includes a personal-type computer, a computer video monitor and a
video switching system for selectively connecting each of the
student workstation computers and their respective video monitors
to the instructor's workstation video monitor. There is no
recitation in this patent allowing a student to operate the
instructor's workstation or showing student responses to the
instructor's inquiries to be displayed on the instructor's video
monitor.
[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,993, issued to Krumholz, describes a
computer teaching system including a teacher station having a
computer and a teacher's display, as well as a plurality of student
computers connected a teacher switching console. The teacher
switching console has the capability of selectively connecting any
computer display signal output to any student display screen.
Similar to the Shapiro et al patent, the patent to Krumholz
illustrates a scheme allowing various of the student computers to
be connected to the teacher's display.
[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,444, issued to Aggarwal et al shows a
system for implementing virtual class and distance education in
which lesson material is sent in advance to student entities when
network usage is low. Although this patent does contemplate a
situation in which a live presentation from an instructor is
transmitted to the student entities and the student is allowed to
query the instructor during various portions of the lessons, this
patent does not describe a system in which student responses to
instructor's questions are displayed on the instructor's monitor,
as well as stored for further examination. Additionally, this
patent does not contemplate a situation in which the student can
control the instructor's computer desktop in real-time.
[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,240, issued to Wackym, shows an
interactive training system for training students to use a
computer. This system includes an instructor's station, as well as
a plurality of student stations. Each of the student's stations
includes a control means comprising a two-position switch for
connecting each of the student's monitors to the instructor's
computer, as well as connecting the student's monitor to the
student's computer. Although this patent gives the instructor the
ability to dynamically demonstrate every input being displayed on
the instructor's monitor, there is no direct interaction between
each of the students and the instructor.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] The deficiencies of the prior art are addressed by the
present invention which relates to a virtual classroom or learning
system providing interactivity between a lecturer and one or more
students, each remotely located with respect to the lecturer. This
virtual classroom is designed to allow the remote students at any
location to synchronously attend a live class and participate
during the class session, and create and submit class work
assignments for instructor review. The virtual classroom provides a
conduit for connectivity, overcoming the barriers of geographic
location and the physical limitation of the brick and mortar
institution, thereby bringing the student and the instruction into
a learning space without physical barriers. The virtual classroom
is not an educational system. It is rather the tool to extend the
reach of classroom instruction to students who would otherwise be
unable to attend classes.
[0013] The virtual classroom includes, at the instructor's
location, an instructional workstation for the presentation of
educational materials and a student interactivity monitor/control
workstation, as well as a plurality of student workstations at a
remote location. Although it is possible that several of the
student workstations can all be located in a single central area
remote from the instructor's workstation, in a preferred embodiment
each of the students' workstations are not only remote with respect
to the instructor's location, but are also remote with respect to
each other's workstation.
[0014] The instructional workstation would include a desktop
computer provided with all of the standard tools utilized with a
computer, such as a keyboard, a mouse and a video monitor. One or
more camera stations are provided adjacent to the instructor's
location allowing video and audio of the instructor's presentation
to be encoded and transmitted in real-time to the students'
workstations. One of the cameras would be trained on the instructor
during the instructor's presentation and a second camera would be
trained upon the instructor's desktop, allowing display of printed
materials or three-dimensional objects. Obviously, it might be
possible to utilize only a single camera to transmit and perhaps
record both of the aforementioned functions by allowing the camera
to be rotated to view different areas, either remotely, or with the
benefit of a technician. A microphone would be associated with one
or more cameras or would be placed in proximity of the instructor's
workstation to allow an audio broadcast of the instructor's
presentation, either in concert with the video presentation, or
without the benefit of the video presentation. Certainly, other
instructional implements, such as a blackboard or slides, could
also be included in the instructor's workstation.
[0015] Each of the student's workstations would include a computer
provided with a video display area allowing the students to see the
instructor's presentation. A speaker would also be included in the
student's workstation to also allow the students to hear the
instructor's presentation. The monitor would also include a second
video display area in which the instructor's desktop display area
is projected upon each of the students' monitors.
[0016] A keyboard and mouse would be associated with each of the
computers allowing each student to separately interact with the
instructor in an intuitive, rapid manner. A standard keyboard could
be utilized or a specialized keyboard would be implemented having
specific response buttons.
[0017] The instructor's monitor/control workstation would also
include a video monitor upon which would be viewed each of the
students interactivity with respect to various questions posed by
the instructor in the instructor's presentation. The
monitor/control workstation would also allow the instructor to
select different optional configurations for student
interactivity.
[0018] Each of the students' monitors would include a status line
section giving positive confirmation that a student's response has
been received by the instructor. Furthermore, a question box would
provided on the video monitor allowing the student to type a
question or comment and send this question or comment to the
instructor.
[0019] Each of the students' monitors and/or keyboards would
include a variety of buttons or icons to allow the student to
respond to and interact with the instructor. Typical responses
might include a yes or no answer, a multiple choice quiz response,
or a raised hand indicator showing the instructor's questions or
questions and comments generated by whether the student desires
interactivity.
[0020] Each of the students' workstations would include a camera
and appropriate video capture hardware and software to allow a real
time image of the student to be transmitted to the instructor's
monitor/control workstation upon selection by the instructor. This
image would also be capable of retransmission to all of the
connected students at the discretion of the instructor.
[0021] Each of the students' workstations would include a
microphone and appropriate audio hardware and software to allow the
student, upon selection by the instructor, to verbally interact
with the instructor, in real time, either in concert with video
from the student workstation, or without the benefit of the video
image. The audio from the student workstation, either in concern
with video or image of the student transmitted to the instructor's
monitor/control workstation, upon selection by the instructor would
also be capable of retransmission to all of the connected students
at the discretion of the instructor.
[0022] Communication between the instructor's workstation and each
of the students' workstations would be accomplished in any known
communication means, such as utilizing the Internet, employing a
standard telephone line or a dedicated line, or any other type of
communication such as a wireless communication. Although it is
contemplated that there would be no direct communication between a
first student's workstation to a second student's workstation, it
is conceivable that such a connection would be utilized,
particularly if this communication utilized the instructor's
workstation as an intermediary.
[0023] A server system would be provided to control the operation
of the entire system. This server system would contain one or more
microprocessor based servers provided with the appropriate programs
to run the system, as well as the appropriate memory to store the
various responses to the instructor's questions or questions and
comments generated by each of the students.
[0024] A testing system utilizing encrypted communications and
accessed via a web browser utilizing secure login provides for
evaluation of student progress. Text, video, audio, graphics, and
images may be used to either ask or answer questions. Questions may
be of a yes or no, multiple choice, or essay type. A subset of a
large question pool may be automatically selected by the testing
server software for presentation to the student. All questions may
be selected for randomization to present a unique test to each
student. Yes or no and multiple choice questions may be
automatically graded by the server software, and, at the discretion
of the test administrator, the results may be presented to the
student upon completion of the test via dynamic web page or e-mail.
Proctored testing is secured by means of a dual login requirement
that verifies the presence of an authorized testing monitor at each
student location.
[0025] Students may access a database containing hyperlinks to
text, photos, graphics, audio, and video for inclusion with
assigned class projects. This database would contain fully
searchable text transcripts of each audio or video segment linked
by time code to the appropriate media segment, and would also
contain metadata relating to a generic classification system
describing the classification of each media item as to subject,
location, principal participant, date of creation, copyright
ownership, and other data as appropriate to allow fully indexed
searching of the available materials. Type of media, location, and
a fixed length thumbnail preview of the media matching the search
criteria would be returned to the student for review. The student
may then, in the case of audio or video materials, adjust the
starting point and ending point of the media chosen for inclusion
with the class assignment. For materials not in the Public Domain,
a per use fee determined by the copyright holder for the selected
portion of the media would then be determined and charged to the
student for the materials used.
[0026] The student class assignments, in the form of HTML
documents, and including any materials accessed by hyperlinks,
would be transmitted to the instructor for review and grade
assignment via e-mail attachment or FTP to a web server.
[0027] These and other objects and advantages of the present
invention will no doubt become obvious to one of ordinary skill in
the art after having read the following detailed description of the
preferred embodiments which are illustrated in the various drawing
figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0028] FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an instructor and
the instructor's workstation;
[0029] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a possible configuration
of the system according to the present invention;
[0030] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing one possible configuration
of the instructor's monitor;
[0031] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a typical student's
workstation;
[0032] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a possible configuration of the
instructor's desktop; and
[0033] FIG. 6 is a drawing showing the log-on procedure according
to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0034] FIG. 1 illustrates the instructor's workstation area 8.
Although the instructor 10 is shown in a studio setting, it can be
appreciated that, although the present invention is directed to
instructing students at a remote location, this can be accompanied
by the instructor's presentation made to students in the
instructor's classroom, as well as transmitting the presentation to
students located at remote terminals. The instructor's workstation
would include a desktop 12 provided with a monitor 13 and other
devices such as a keyboard 17 and a mouse 15 and a processor to
manipulate screens or other software applications which will be
transmitted to each of the remote students' workstation. A second
monitor 14 is also included for providing a display allowing
interactivity between the instructor 10 and each of the remote
students. This particular monitor will be described in more detail
herein below. Since the main purpose of the present invention is to
allow a live presentation of the instructor's lesson to the
students situated at a remote location, one or more cameras 16, 18
must be employed. One of the cameras would be pointed in the
direction of the instructor, allowing the instructor's presentation
to be properly transmitted. Since the instructional computer
desktop display is also transmitted to each of the remote students,
camera 18 is directed at the instructor's physical desktop,
allowing the transmission of objects displayed to the camera by the
instructor. Furthermore, the instructor's workstation could also
include other instructional aids, such as a blackboard 20.
Therefore, one or more of the cameras could also be directed at the
blackboard 20. Each of the cameras would be operated by a
technician or would be rotated under the control by the instructor
to insure that the cameras are pointed in the proper direction. One
or more microphones 19, 21 would be included. These microphones
could be associated with one or more of the cameras or be
independent therefrom. A server system 24 is provided to control
the transmission of any and all information from the instructor's
workstation to the students' workstations, as well as receive
responses from each of the students' workstations to be viewed on
monitor 14. Therefore, appropriate communication lines 26, 28 and
30 are provided between equipment located at the instructor's
workstation and the server 30. Similarly, one or more communication
lines 32 would be included to provide communication between each of
the students' workstations and the instructor's workstation.
Various hardware and software components would be provided to allow
for this communication of information between the instructor's
workstation and the remote student workstations, as well as for
processing and displaying the students' responses to various
questions posed by the instructor onto the monitor 14.
[0035] A block diagram of the entire system is shown in FIG. 2.
This diagram includes the configuration of the instructor's
workstation 8, as well as showing a plurality of remote student
workstations. As shown in FIG. 1, an instructor's desktop console
12, including various input devices such as a keyboard, mouse or
other type of cursor would be provided. This desktop console could
also include a monitor. A second monitor 14 is provided, allowing
interactivity between the instructor and one or more of the
remotely located students. A speaker 15 is associated with the
instructor's monitor 14. Information from the desktop console 12,
the monitor 14, as well as cameras 16, 18 including a microphones
19, 21, are transmitted to the server 24. Video, audio, as well as
other types of information, are sent from the server 24 to be
received by each of the students' workstations. This type of
communication can easily be accomplished through the use of the
Internet 34.
[0036] Each of the students' workstations would include respective
monitors 36, 38 and 40, as well as respective personal computers or
other types of processors 42, 44, 46. Furthermore, each of the
student workstations would include input means, such as respective
keyboards 48, 50 and 52, as well as respective mouse inputs 54, 56,
58. A particular student workstation will be described in more
detail herein below. Although FIG. 2 appears to show all of the
student workstations at a central location, albeit remote from the
instructor's workstation 8, this is generally not going to be the
case. More preferably, each of the students' workstations would be
remote, not only the instructor's workstation 8, but also each of
the other students' workstations. Each student monitor can be
provided with a camera or other video device 35, 37, 39 to allow
the instructor to view each respective student on the instructor's
monitor 14. Microphones 41, 43, 45 are associated with one of the
student's monitors to allow each student to provide an audio input
transmitted to the instructor's speaker 15.
[0037] FIG. 3 illustrates the monitor 14 provided at the
instructor's workstation 8. The purpose of this monitor is to allow
the instructor to view responses to various questions posed by the
instructor during the instructor's presentation. This display 14
should not be confused with the desktop monitor utilized by the
instructor during the class presentation. As shown in FIG. 1, the
monitor 14 is connected to the server 24 which in turn is connected
to the communications network allowing information to be
transmitted to the instructor's workstation 8 from each of the
remote students' computers. This monitor 14 is the instructor's
link to the students' interactivity. The monitor displays the name
of each student 60, 62, 64 participating in the class session and
informs the instructor in a variety of ways of the students'
interactivity with the class session. For example, each of the
students would have a plurality of response buttons A, B, C and D,
66, 68, 70, 72 associated with each of the students. These response
buttons would indicate a response generated from each student based
upon a question posed by the instructor. Alternatively, response
buttons 74, 76 referring to "yes" or "no" responses could also be
provided. Icons 78, 80 and 82 might indicate that a particular
student has a question which would be subsequently posed to the
instructor. Color indicators, text color, pop-up text display boxes
and other icons could be used to facilitate communication and
interactivity with the instructor.
[0038] A question box 90 is provided to allow a student to type a
question or comment directed to the instructor. Although the
present hardware contemplated to be used in this system would allow
up to 1024 characters to be included in the question box 90, the
exact number of characters is not crucial to the present invention.
A status line 92 will reflect the time that the questions was
received by the software included in the classroom server 24. The
instructor's classroom monitor displays notification, by student
name, that a question or comment has been received. The question or
comment can only be seen by the instructor and serves to enhance
student response by not embarrassing the student who has a question
that might not otherwise be asked in front of a classroom full of
other students. All questions or comments are logged by the
software to allow instructor review at a later time, to determine
class participation or to compare a "FAQ" for e-mail to the
students.
[0039] The students' workstation is illustrated in FIG. 4. This
workstation represents one of the workstations shown in FIG. 3. A
monitor 36 is included connected to a processor 42 which in turn is
connected to control devices, such as a keyboard 48 and a mouse 54.
The monitor 36 can be divided into several sections although the
exact configuration of this monitor 36 is not crucial to the
present invention. For example, one section of the monitor 94 would
consist of a live picture of the instructor. A speaker 106 provided
directly on the monitor or associated therewith, is used to hear
the instructor's presentation. A camera 35 would also be provided
to all the students' workstations allowing video information
generated proximate to the student workstation 36 to be displayed
on the instructor's monitor 14. Additionally, a microphone 41 is
also included to allow each student to provide a audio output to be
received by the instructor's speaker 15. Different streaming video
compression standards and display area sizes are used primarily
dependent upon the user's available communication bandwidth,
hardware and software configuration. MPEG-2 (a data rate from 2 MB
to 12 MB per second) is used where the size of the bandwidth (10
baseT or greater) is not an issue. This is also true where the
user's platform can support either software decoding (CPU
intensive) or a custom decoder card. MPEG-1 (a data rate from 64 KB
to 2 MB) can be used if ADSL or cable modem bandwidth is available
to the end user. MPEG-4 is used for 56K or lower (to about 33.6K)
bandwidth applications. Proprietary streaming systems, such as
QuickTime or RealVideo, may also be used in the lower-bandwidth
situations, but ISO standards-based systems are preferred.
Transcoding latency is an issue that requires careful attention to
synchronize the display video and audio with all of the other
virtual classroom components.
[0040] A portion of the monitor 96 would be used to display the
instructor's desktop. The instructor's desktop, as viewed in
section 96, would include control devices such as a mouse or
keyboard, as well as a display screen to be operated by the
instructor or, in certain situations, by one of the remotely
located students. This area shows to the student an exact duplicate
of the instructor's computer desktop in real-time. The instructor's
desktop can be used to display static images or real-time moving
images thus allowing the instructor to demonstrate software
applications, window manipulation, cursor positioning, text entry,
and more. At the discretion of the instructor, a student may be
able to take control of the instructor's desktop and remotely
manipulate the software. However, the default setting would not be
shared. Peer-to-peer communication or sharing of the manipulation
of the instructor's desktop by more than one student at one time,
while possible, it is not a preferred embodiment since this would
increase class disruption.
[0041] As described with respect to the instructor's monitor
illustrated in FIG. 3, the student's monitor 36 would be provided
with a question box 98 allowing the student to question the
instructor or provide the instructor with a comment. A status line
100 would give the student positive confirmation that the virtual
classroom server 24 had received the student's response. Generated
by the server software, the status line 100 would display the
response and the time that it was received by the server. It is
important to note that this does not necessarily mean that the
instructor has yet noted the student's response.
[0042] Each of the student workstations would be provided with an
input means such as a keyboard 48 as well as a mouse 54. The
keyboard 48 can be provided into two sections 102 and 104. Section
102 would include a standard typewriter keyboard allowing each
student to type in the aforementioned questions or comments
directed to the instructor. Section 104 would include a number of
response buttons allowing the student to interact with the
instructor in an intuitive, rapid manner. As depicted in the
monitor of FIG. 3, these response buttons or icons could include
"yes" or "no" buttons as well as numerical or, as shown in FIG. 3,
letter buttons (ABCD) allowing the user to answer "yes" or "no" as
well as to respond to multiple choice questions. These response
buttons can be configured to allow almost any action such as raised
hand, fast, slower or help. These responses are displayed by the
student name on the instructor's classroom monitor as previously
discussed. All responses to "yes" or "no" questions as well as
multiple choice questions are logged by the software included in
the server 24 to allow grading of quiz questions. Formal testing of
the student could also be done using this system but due to
security reasons, does not form one of the preferred embodiments.
Additionally, these buttons or icons can be displayed on the
student's monitor 36.
[0043] FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of the instructor's
desktop unit which is communicated to each student and displayed on
their monitor as indicated by section 96. This desktop unit would
include a monitor 106, a processor 112, a keyboard 108 as well as a
mouse 110. The mouse 110 and the keyboard 108 would be connected to
the processor 112 which is in turn connected to the server 24. The
monitor 106 would be used to display static images or real time
moving images as well as allowing the instructor to demonstrate
software applications, cursor positioning, text entry, window
manipulation and the like. When used to allow a student to take
control of the instructor's desktop, a signal would be communicated
to the student at which time by use of one or more keys of the
student's keyboard 48 or manipulation of the mouse 54, the
instructor's display would then be remotely manipulated by the
student.
[0044] The configuration of the virtual classroom is designed to
facilitate live student space in a low bandwidth (56K) dial-up
environment. Auto sensing software can be implemented to test the
user's hardware, software and network conditions and adjust
communication speed as required for all portions of the virtual
classroom, and allow improvement of the user's experience. The
present system would utilize various types of software among one or
a plurality of different servers to allow optimization for specific
purposes and to enhance throughput and load balancing. UNIX, LINX
and WINDOWS platforms with standards-based software (customized or
off the shelf) are networked and not clustered to provide maximum
performance.
[0045] FIG. 6 illustrates the process in which a student would gain
access to a particular virtual classroom. The user would begin the
log in process by entering a particular user name and password. The
system would then verify that the student is using the appropriate
hardware, software and connectivity bandwidth to participate in the
virtual classroom. This step is totally transparent to the student
unless errors are detected. If certain errors are detected, an
appropriate diagnostic message or error screen would be displayed
on the student's monitor to allow the student to take appropriate
corrective action to enable classroom participation.
[0046] Additionally, when the system verifies that a valid log in
has been accomplished, it would also insure that the student is in
the proper virtual classroom and has fulfilled all of the
prerequisites required by the educational institution for
attendance. This step would also serve to insure that the student
is, in fact, the student authorized to participate in the virtual
classroom. Secure socket layer (SSL) encryption is used with
public/private keys where possible to insure information security.
The information submitted when the user logs on is received and
processed by an access authorization software provided on the
server 24. No client-side processing is used for security purposes.
User information is compared against an access control list
generated from an external database. Multiple concurrent log ins
with the same user information are prohibited and, if attempted, a
security lock out denies access to the virtual classroom. If this
occurs, the log in is aborted and a security violation notification
is issued to the user's attempting concurrent log ins and a report
is generated for investigation by the school administration.
[0047] If the log in is successful, the user would be allowed
access to a particular virtual classroom. Previously submitted or
concurrently submitted information would allow the student's
virtual classroom workstation to be customized. An example of this
would be a large-font scrolling speech-to-text conversion for the
hearing impaired or for different forms of interactivity may be
incorporated as required. These different forms of inactivity would
change the function of the various response buttons as well as the
configuration of the various information displayed upon the
student's monitor as well as allowing directional audio
conferencing. For lecture-only situations, it may be desirable to
minimize or even eliminate the student interactivity portions of
the virtual classroom to prevent interruptions. Once the user has
logged in and the student's workstation has been appropriately
customized, the instructor can begin his or her lecture.
[0048] The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of
the present invention have been presented for the purposes of
illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive
or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many
modifications and variations are possible in light of the above
teachings.
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