U.S. patent application number 13/571292 was filed with the patent office on 2013-08-08 for system, method and apparatus for managing education and training workflows.
This patent application is currently assigned to LearningMate Solutions Private Limited. The applicant listed for this patent is Prasanna Mohit BHARGAVA, Mailarangam Ramani Ganesh KUMAR, Deepak NADAR, Shreyasi ROY, Samudra SEN. Invention is credited to Prasanna Mohit BHARGAVA, Mailarangam Ramani Ganesh KUMAR, Deepak NADAR, Shreyasi ROY, Samudra SEN.
Application Number | 20130203038 13/571292 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47667828 |
Filed Date | 2013-08-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130203038 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
KUMAR; Mailarangam Ramani Ganesh ;
et al. |
August 8, 2013 |
SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING EDUCATION AND TRAINING
WORKFLOWS
Abstract
A method of managing an interaction of a student with a class
about a subject, the subject having at least one lesson having at
least one topic, the topic having at least one of exposition
content, demonstration content and test content, the test content
having a query and a scheme for mapping a response to a result,
comprising: presenting content to the student and storing the
interaction of the student with the content presented.
Inventors: |
KUMAR; Mailarangam Ramani
Ganesh; (Mumbai, IN) ; ROY; Shreyasi; (Mumbai,
IN) ; NADAR; Deepak; (Mumbai, IN) ; SEN;
Samudra; (Mumbai, IN) ; BHARGAVA; Prasanna Mohit;
(Vancouver, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
KUMAR; Mailarangam Ramani Ganesh
ROY; Shreyasi
NADAR; Deepak
SEN; Samudra
BHARGAVA; Prasanna Mohit |
Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai
Vancouver |
|
IN
IN
IN
IN
CA |
|
|
Assignee: |
LearningMate Solutions Private
Limited
Mumbai
IN
|
Family ID: |
47667828 |
Appl. No.: |
13/571292 |
Filed: |
August 9, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
434/362 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09B 7/00 20130101; G09B
5/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
434/362 |
International
Class: |
G09B 7/00 20060101
G09B007/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 10, 2011 |
CA |
2748698 |
Claims
1. A method of managing an interaction of a student with a class
about a subject, the subject having at least one lesson having at
least one topic, the topic having at least one of exposition
content, demonstration content and test content, the test content
having a query and a scheme for mapping a response to a result,
comprising: a) presenting content to the student, and b) storing
the interaction of the student with the content presented.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein presenting content
further includes at least one of projecting and broadcasting the
exposition content.
3. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein presenting content
further includes at least one of projecting, broadcasting and
distributing the demonstration content.
4. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein presenting content
further includes at least one of projecting, broadcasting and for a
predetermined time distributing the test content.
5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein storing the interaction
includes storing a metric.
6. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein storing the metric
includes storing at least one of a usage and a result.
7. A method as claimed in claim 6, wherein storing a result
includes at least one of storing a response and a mark.
8. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein storing a mark includes
applying a scheme to map a response to a mark.
9. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein storing the interaction
includes storing a history.
10. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein storing a history
includes storing at least one of a transcript and a
personalization.
11. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein storing a transcript
includes storing at least one of a transcript of real interactions
and a transcript of virtual interactions.
12. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein storing a
personalization includes storing at least one of an annotation and
a collaboration.
13. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising reviewing
the interaction.
14. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising supervising
the interaction.
15. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising auditing the
interaction.
16. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein auditing includes at
least one of auditing the performance of the interaction and
auditing the propriety of the interaction.
17. A manufacture such as a storage medium, a signal, a processing
apparatus or a processing system, encoded with processor-readable
instructions for directing a processor to perform a method of
managing an interaction of a student with a class about a subject,
the subject having at least one lesson having at least one topic,
the topic having at least one of exposition content, demonstration
content and test content, the test content having a query and a
scheme for mapping a response to a result, comprising: a)
presenting content to the student, and b) storing the interaction
of the student with the content presented.
18. A manufacture as claimed in claim 17, wherein presenting
content further includes at least one of projecting and
broadcasting the exposition content.
19. A manufacture as claimed in claim 18, wherein presenting
content further includes at least one of projecting, broadcasting
and distributing the demonstration content.
20. A manufacture as claimed in claim 19, wherein presenting
content further includes at least one of projecting, broadcasting
and for a predetermined time distributing the test content.
21. A manufacture as claimed in claim 17, wherein storing the
interaction includes storing a metric.
22. A manufacture as claimed in claim 21, wherein storing the
metric includes storing at least one of a usage and a result.
23. A manufacture as claimed in claim 22, wherein storing a result
includes at least one of storing a response and a mark.
24. A manufacture as claimed in claim 23, wherein storing a mark
includes applying a scheme to map a response to a mark.
25. A manufacture as claimed in claim 17, wherein storing the
interaction includes storing a history.
26. A manufacture as claimed in claim 25, wherein storing a history
includes storing at least one of a transcript and a
personalization.
27. A manufacture as claimed in claim 26, wherein storing a
transcript includes storing at least one of a transcript of real
interactions and a transcript of virtual interactions.
28. A manufacture as claimed in claim 26, wherein storing a
personalization includes storing at least one of an annotation and
a collaboration.
29. A manufacture as claimed in claim 17, further comprising
reviewing the interaction.
30. A manufacture as claimed in claim 17, further comprising
supervising the interaction.
31. A manufacture as claimed in claim 17, further comprising
auditing the interaction.
32. A manufacture as claimed in claim 31, wherein auditing includes
at least one of auditing the performance of the interaction and
auditing the propriety of the interaction.
33. A method of managing an interaction of a student with a class
about a subject, the subject having at least one lesson having at
least one topic, the topic having at least one of exposition
content, demonstration content and test content, the test content
having a query and a scheme for mapping a response to a result,
comprising presenting content to the student by: a) projecting and
broadcasting the exposition content, b) projecting, broadcasting
and distributing the demonstration content, and c) projecting,
broadcasting and for a predetermined time distributing the test
content.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority from Canadian patent
application CA2,748,698 filed on Aug. 10, 2011, entitled "System,
Method and Apparatus for Managing Education and Training
Workflows". In jurisdictions that permit incorporation by
reference. Canadian patent application CA2,748,698 is expressly
incorporated herein by reference, to the fullest extent
permitted.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field
[0003] The present invention relates to systems, methods and
apparatuses for managing education and training workflows.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] In education, including training, as in other fields of
human endeavour, digital computing and communication technology is
increasingly intermediating interactions, both between participants
and with resources. This intermediation presents both benefits and
challenges.
[0006] Beneficially, participants can be less constrained by space
and time, having the opportunity to interact otherwise than
face-to-face. Digitization provides participants with the
opportunity to interact with a vastly wider variety of learning
resources--wider in terms of subject matter, authorship and
media-richness for example.
[0007] However, there are challenges as well. The typically open
nature of these technologies can encourage unfocussed and chaotic
interactions; whereas, education benefits from a carefully
controlled environment, where students concentrate on lessons under
the direction and guidance of teachers.
[0008] A further challenge is that digital interactions can be
ephemeral, or at least difficult to record in a way that preserves
their richness yet enables efficient and effective subsequent
retrieval. However, in education, subsequent retrieval can be
critical to allow students to review, teachers to grade, guardians
to supervise and auditors to audit, so that students can learn
under the guidance of teachers and guardians and so that that
learning can be documented and if needed audited.
[0009] Accordingly, what is needed is a better way to obtain these
benefits while overcoming these challenges.
SUMMARY
[0010] The present invention is directed to this need.
[0011] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a method of managing an interaction of a student with a
class about a subject, the subject having at least one lesson
having at least one topic, the topic having at least one of
exposition content, demonstration content and test content, the
test content having a query and a scheme for mapping a response to
a result, comprising: presenting content to the student and storing
the interaction of the student with the content presented.
[0012] In this regard, presenting content might further include: at
least one of projecting and broadcasting the exposition content, at
least one of projecting, broadcasting and distributing the
demonstration content, or at least one of projecting, broadcasting
and for a predetermined time distributing the test content.
[0013] Storing the interaction might include storing a metric, for
example storing at least one of a usage and a result, which result
might include at least one of a response and a mark. Storing a mark
could include applying a scheme to map a response to a mark.
[0014] Storing the interaction might include storing a history, for
example storing at least one of a transcript and a personalization.
In this regard, storing a transcript could include storing at least
one of a transcript of real interactions and a transcript of
virtual interactions. Storing a personalization might include
storing at least one of an annotation and a collaboration.
[0015] The method might further include any or all of reviewing the
interaction, supervising the interaction, and auditing the
interaction, such auditing including auditing the performance of
the interaction and auditing the propriety of the interaction.
[0016] According to another aspect of the invention, there is
provided a manufacture, for example a storage medium, a signal, a
processing apparatus or a processing system, the manufacture being
encoded with processor-readable instructions for directing a
processor to perform a method of managing an interaction of a
student with a class about a subject, the subject having at least
one lesson having at least one topic, the topic having at least one
of exposition content, demonstration content and test content, the
test content having a query and a scheme for mapping a response to
a result, comprising: presenting content to the student and storing
the interaction of the student with the content presented.
[0017] In this regard, presenting content might further include: at
least one of projecting and broadcasting the exposition content, at
least one of projecting, broadcasting and distributing the
demonstration content, or at least one of projecting, broadcasting
and for a predetermined time distributing the test content.
[0018] Storing the interaction might include storing a metric, for
example storing at least one of a usage and a result, which result
might include at least one of a response and a mark. Storing a mark
could include applying a scheme to map a response to a mark.
[0019] Storing the interaction might include storing a history, for
example storing at least one of a transcript and a personalization.
In this regard, storing a transcript could include storing at least
one of a transcript of real interactions and a transcript of
virtual interactions. Storing a personalization might include
storing at least one of an annotation and a collaboration.
[0020] The method might further include any or all of reviewing the
interaction, supervising the interaction, and auditing the
interaction, such auditing including auditing the performance of
the interaction and auditing the propriety of the interaction.
[0021] According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is
provided a method of managing an interaction of a student with a
class about a subject, the subject having at least one lesson
having at least one topic, the topic having at least one of
exposition content, demonstration content and test content the test
content having a query and a scheme for mapping a response to a
result, comprising presenting content to the student by: projecting
and broadcasting the exposition content; projecting, broadcasting
and distributing the demonstration content; and projecting,
broadcasting and for a predetermined time distributing the test
content.
[0022] Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent upon considering the following drawings,
description, and claims.
DESCRIPTION
[0023] The invention will be more fully illustrated by the
following detailed description of non-limiting specific embodiments
in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures.
[0024] The drawing figures are, in general, presented in the
Unified Modeling Language (UML). Those skilled in the art will
recognize that the UML is a very expressive language and that its
expressions can easily become so dense as to become difficult to
comprehend. For this reason, many of the following figures
highlight certain aspects of the invention while deemphasizing or
omitting others, so that a reader will be able to better comprehend
the highlighted aspects, while being able to appreciate the
deemphasized or omitted aspects with reference to other of the
figures and ordinary skill in the art.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0025] FIG. 1 is an exemplary UML 2 use case diagram depicting how
an embodiment of an Education and Training Workflow Management
System according to the present invention could be used by a
Regulator, a Publisher, a Teacher, a Student, a Guardian and an
Auditor.
[0026] FIG. 2 is an exemplary UML 2 deployment diagram depicting an
internetwork of communication and computing devices configured as
the embodiment of the Education and Training Workflow Management
System of FIG. 1, the communication and computing devices including
a Learning Management Server, a Regulator Server, a School Server
and a Publisher Server, and further including a Teacher Client, a
Lectern Client, a Student Mobile Client, a Student Home Client, an
AV System Client and an Auditor Client.
[0027] FIG. 3 is an exemplary abstraction layer diagram of a
communication and computing device of FIG. 2, illustrating a
hardware layer, operating system layers and an application program
layer.
[0028] FIG. 4 is a UML 2 class diagram depicting exemplary domain
classes representing the education and training workflows embodied
in the Education and Training Workflow Management System of FIG. 1
and exemplary associations between the domain classes.
[0029] FIG. 5 is a UML 2 package diagram depicting exemplary domain
packages packaging the domain classes of FIG. 4.
[0030] FIG. 6 is a UML 2 class diagram detailing some of the domain
classes of FIG. 4.
[0031] FIG. 7 is a UML 2 class diagram detailing domain classes
related to grading students.
[0032] FIG. 8 is a UML 2 deployment diagram depicting an exemplary
configuration of the Learning Management Server of FIG. 2.
[0033] FIG. 9 is a UML 2 deployment diagram depicting an exemplary
configuration of the Publisher Server of FIG. 2.
[0034] FIG. 10 is a UML 2 deployment diagram depicting an exemplary
configuration of the School Server of FIG. 2.
[0035] FIG. 11 is a UML 2 deployment diagram depicting an exemplary
configuration of the Regulator Server of FIG. 2.
[0036] FIG. 12 is a UML 2 deployment diagram depicting an exemplary
configuration of the Lectern Client of FIG. 2.
[0037] FIG. 13 is a UML 2 deployment diagram depicting an exemplary
configuration of the AV System Client of FIG. 2.
[0038] FIG. 14 is a UML 2 deployment diagram depicting an exemplary
configuration of the Student Mobile Client of FIG. 2.
[0039] FIG. 15 is a UML 2 deployment diagram depicting an exemplary
configuration of the Teacher Client of FIG. 2.
[0040] FIG. 16 is a UML 2 deployment diagram depicting an exemplary
configuration of the Student Home Client of FIG. 2.
[0041] FIG. 17 is a UML 2 deployment diagram depicting an exemplary
configuration of the Auditor Client of FIG. 2.
[0042] FIG. 18 is a UML 2 package diagram depicting exemplary
framework packages for implementing the Education and Training
Workflow Management System of FIG. 1, the packages including a
Renderer package and a Controller package.
[0043] FIG. 19 is a UML 2 class diagram of exemplary framework
classes belonging to the Renderer package of FIG. 18, including an
Icons class, a Preview class, a Project class, a Broadcast class, a
Distribute class and a Mobile class.
[0044] FIG. 20 is a UML 2 class diagram of exemplary framework
classes belonging to the Controller package of FIG. 18, including a
Presentation Control class, an Explanation Control class, a
Demonstration Control class and Test Control class.
[0045] FIG. 21 is a UML 2 user interface diagram of an exemplary
user interface for enabling a Teacher at a Lectern Client to
interact with objects of the Presentation Control class of FIG.
20.
[0046] FIG. 22 is a UML 2 an exemplary state machine diagram of the
Presentation Control class of FIG. 20.
[0047] FIG. 23 is a UML 2 user interface diagram of an exemplary
user interface for enabling a Teacher at a Lectern Client to
interact with objects in of the Explanation Control class of FIG.
20.
[0048] FIG. 24 Is a UML 2 an exemplary state machine diagram of the
Explanation Control class of FIG. 20.
[0049] FIG. 25 is a UML 2 user interface diagram of an exemplary
user interface for enabling a Teacher at a Lectern Client to
interact with objects of the Demonstration Control class of FIG.
20.
[0050] FIG. 26 Is a UML 2 an exemplary state machine diagram of the
Demonstration Control class of FIG. 20.
[0051] FIG. 27 is a UML 2 user interface diagram of an exemplary
user interface for enabling a Teacher at a Lectern Client to
interact with objects of the Test Control class of FIG. 20.
[0052] FIG. 28 is a UML 2 an exemplary state machine diagram of the
Test Control class of FIG. 20.
[0053] FIG. 29 is a UML 2 user interface diagram of an exemplary
user interface for a Personalize Curriculum operation for enabling
a Student at a Student Mobile Client to access educational or
training Content under the control of the Presentation Control
object of FIG. 22.
[0054] FIG. 30 is a UML 2 an exemplary state machine diagram of the
Personalize Curriculum operation of FIG. 29.
[0055] FIG. 31 is a UML 2 user interface diagram of an exemplary
user interface for a Review Curriculum operation for enabling a
Student at a Student Home Client to review his Interaction with the
Lessons taught in a Class.
[0056] FIG. 32 is a UML 2 user interface diagram of an exemplary
user interface for a Supervise Experience operation for enabling a
Guardian of a Student at a Student Home Client to review Student's
Interaction with the Lessons taught in a Class.
[0057] FIG. 33 is a UML 2 user interface diagram of an exemplary
user interface for a Performance Audit operation for enabling an
Auditor at an Auditor Client to audit the performance of a Student
in a Class against corresponding Requirements of a Curriculum.
[0058] FIG. 34 is a UML 2 user interface diagram of an exemplary
user interface of a Propriety Audit operation for enabling an
Auditor at an Auditor Client to audit the propriety of Interactions
between a Student and other Participants in a Class.
[0059] FIG. 35 is a UML 2 activity diagram of an exemplary method
for a Regulate Program operation enabling a Regulator at a
Regulator Server to regulate a Program in a Curriculum.
[0060] FIG. 36 is a UML 2 activity diagram of an exemplary method
for a Regulate Subject operation enabling a Regulator at a
Regulator Server to regulate a Subject in a Curriculum.
[0061] FIG. 37 is a UML 2 activity diagram of an exemplary method
of a Prepare Lesson operation for enabling a Teacher at a Teacher
Client or a Lectern Client to prepare a Lesson in a Curriculum.
[0062] FIG. 38 is a UML 2 an exemplary activity diagram detailing a
Specify Content activity in the method of the Prepare Lesson
operation of FIG. 35.
[0063] FIG. 39 is a UML 2 activity diagram of an exemplary Publish
Subject method of a Publish Curriculum operation for enabling a
Publisher at a Publisher Server to publish a Subject in a
Curriculum.
[0064] FIG. 40 is a UML 2 activity diagram of an exemplary Publish
Lesson method of a Publish Curriculum operation for enabling a
Publisher at a Publisher Server to publish a Lesson in a
Curriculum.
[0065] FIG. 41 is a UML 2 activity diagram of an exemplary Publish
Subject Template method of a Publish Curriculum operation for
enabling a Publisher at a Publisher Server to publish a Subject
Template in a Curriculum.
[0066] FIG. 42 is a UML 2 activity diagram of an exemplary Publish
Lesson method of a Publish Curriculum operation for enabling a
Publisher at a Publisher Server to publish a Lesson Template in a
Curriculum.
[0067] FIG. 43 is a UML 2 activity diagram of an exemplary Publish
Subject Collection method of a Publish Curriculum operation for
enabling a Publisher at a Publisher Server to publish a Subject
Collection in a Curriculum.
[0068] FIG. 44 is a UML 2 activity diagram of an exemplary Publish
Lesson Collection method of a Publish Curriculum operation for
enabling a Publisher at a Publisher Server to publish a Lesson
Collection in a Curriculum.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS
[0069] Aspects of the present invention will now be illustrated by
explanation of specific, non-limiting, exemplary embodiments shown
in the drawing figures and described in greater detail herein.
1. Use Cases
[0070] FIG. 1 shows how a variety of exemplary users might interact
with an Education and Training Workflow Management System that
embodies aspects of the present invention.
[0071] A Regulator might use the System to regulate a curriculum,
including regulating requirements for programs (for example "grade
4", "high school" or "Bachelor of Science degree") and the subjects
that are taught in the program (for example "social studies",
"grade 10 math" or "quantum mechanics"). In this regard, a
Regulator might be a government Department, Ministry or Board of
Education or a government or private certification or funding body,
with authority to set requirements for curricula, programs, or
subjects, or requirements for certifying recognition of such, or
requirements for funding such, as in the case of a federal
Department of Education that provides funds to schools under the
jurisdiction of state Departments of Education when such schools
teach curricula, programs or subjects to Federal requirements.
[0072] A Publisher might use the System to publish publications,
including publications that support a curriculum or provide
extra-curricular content, for example collections of content or
testing materials for a whole subject or just a lesson, teaching
outline templates for a whole subject or just a lesson, or
comprehensive combinations of outlines, content and testing
materials for a whole subject or just a lesson. In this regard, a
Publisher might be any source or owner of content that might
usefully advance the broader education or training of Students.
[0073] A Teacher might use the System to teach a curriculum (or to
teach extra-curricular matters), including preparing a lesson and
presenting the lesson to a class. One advantage of the System is
that it helps Teachers to prepare lessons in compliance with
curriculum requirements. Another advantage of the System is that it
helps teachers to easily incorporate relevant Teacher-created and
third-party content into the lessons they prepare, including both
free and licensed content, including licensed content protected by
digital rights management techniques and technologies. Yet another
advantage of the System is that it helps a Teacher to discover what
aspect of a Lesson have been learned, to document that
accomplishment, and to focus on what aspects of a Lesson remain to
be learned.
[0074] A Student might use the System to experience a curriculum or
extra-curricular concepts, including personalizing aspects of the
curriculum (lessons) that are presented during a meeting of a class
of Students and Teachers and reviewing such aspects after a class
meeting. Such personalization might 2 include experiencing a lesson
virtually subsequently to a physical meeting of the class, which
the Student may have missed attending, including experiencing a
lesson virtually and asynchronously with other students. A Student
might also use the System to be tested on his learning of the
lessons and to document that testing, both to prove his
accomplishments and to help him focus on aspects of the curriculum
that remain to be learned.
[0075] Another manner in which the System may be used is in
training a set of users in skills, behavior or other capabilities.
In this case, there may or may not be an alignment of content to
any standard curriculum. Further, the goal in this situation would
be to help the Student learn, practice and be tested in a skill,
thought process or behavioural manner. The judgment of quality of
outcome, in this case, does not come from standards set by a state
or a district, but may be independently defined by the content
creators or content teachers or some other regulatory body
[0076] In general, a group of Students can collectively interact
with the System as a unified entity--as a Student Group. In this
way, the information made available to, the actions made possible
by, the experiences made available to and the judgment applied to a
Student Group is tracked both for the group as a unified entity and
associated with each member Student as an individual. A Teacher
might moderate a Student Group either by association with the
Student Group or as a member of the Student Group, depending on
implementation preferences.
[0077] A Guardian of a Student (for example a parent) might use the
System to supervise the Student's experience with the lessons in a
curriculum, to make sure that the Student is making appropriate
progress in his studies and that the learning environment for the
student is appropriate.
[0078] Finally, an Auditor might use the System to audit experience
with the curriculum or content, either for an individual Student
(to audit that Student's experience) or for a set of Students (to
audit the collective experience of the Students in a class, in a
school or in a jurisdiction for example) or to audit the experience
(for example teaching outcome) of a Teacher. The Auditor might for
example audit for performance or propriety as evidenced by a record
of experiences.
[0079] While the System has clear application for public and
private education, including at the preschool, kindergarten,
elementary school, middle school, junior-high and high school
(generically secondary), college and university (generically
post-secondary) levels for example, it also has wider application,
for example in compliance training, continuing education and
professional education. For example, the System can be used for
vocational training or corporate training or executive training
without being limited by the need to adhere to any standard
curriculum, for example classic academic curriculum.
[0080] Each of these uses will be described in greater detail
below.
2. System Network Overview
[0081] FIG. 2 shows an internetwork of communication and computing
devices connected together to provide the System.
[0082] The hub of the System is a Learning Management Server that
routes data between the other nodes on the internetwork and
provides application services, for example using a Web Services
framework.
[0083] The Regulator and Publisher might for example connect to the
System through a Regulator Server and a Publisher Server
respectively. In some embodiments, the System might further include
a School Server located in a particular school to serve teachers,
students, guardians and audiovisual (AV) systems associated with a
particular school.
[0084] The particular existence and configuration of servers will
depend on the specific needs of a System being deployed. For
example, legal requirements (for example privacy laws) regarding
data (for example Student or Teacher data) or business practices
(for example protection and control of Publisher content using
digital rights management technologies and techniques) may dictate
that specific data or services reside on distinct servers.
Furthermore, internetwork transport requirements may dictate
whether Teachers and Students data and application needs can be met
by a remote server (for example a Learning Management Server) or
whether a local server (for example School Server) is needed. These
constraints aside, it will often be preferable to provision most
services and data on a well-scalable, and even virtualized and
distributed, Learning Management Server so that others, for example
Schools, need not acquire, maintain, update and scale their own
infrastructure or at least infrastructure with the capacity to
handle the loads and requirements of the System.
[0085] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the network
topology depicted in FIG. 2 has been simplified for clarity. For
example, the network could be scaled to include multiple Regulator
Servers, Publisher Servers and School Servers so that multiple
Regulators, Publishers and Schools could be served by the Learning
Management Server Furthermore, a particular Server might be spread
across multiple physical locations (or jurisdictions), which might
increase, decrease or change over time, including on-the-fly,
depending on resource demands. In the same regard, those skilled in
the art will recognize that not only servers, but also services
provided by the System can be similarly deployed across distributed
networks and scaled as need dictates.
[0086] The Teacher might connect to the System through either a
Teacher Client, for example a personal computer used at home, at
school, in-transit or elsewhere for class administration and lesson
planning, or a Lectern Client, for example a mobile device such as
a tablet or a smart phone used for preparing and presenting a
lesson in class. In some embodiments, the Lectern Client might be a
device mounted at a physical lectern in a classroom, but it need
not be in general, and is instead likely to be a Teacher's own
mobile device for example, provisioned with the appropriate System
components as will be described further below. The distinction
between a Lectern Client and a Teacher Client is made only because
there may be circumstances where the tasks of presenting a lesson
on one hand and preparing a lesson or administering a class on the
other hand argue for different device characteristics. For example,
a Lectern Client might beneficially be portable (with small input
and output devices) and have a limited but optimized feature set
(such as presenting content smoothly in real-time). In contrast, a
Teacher Client might have a more conventional full-size keyboard
and screen and connect to Servers using a less optimized general
purpose browser for performing a wider assortment of less
performance dependent tasks.
[0087] The Student might connect to the System through either a
Student Mobile Client, for example a mobile device such as a tablet
or a smart phone used for experiencing a lesson in class, or a
Student Home Client for reviewing a lesson after class. The
distinction between Student Mobile Client and Student Home Client
is analogous to the distinction between Lectern Client and Teacher
Client. It also bears mentioning that the System capabilities
offered by the Teacher Client and Lectern Client may be different,
albeit related and designed to function as a complementary whole.
Likewise, the Student Home Client and the Student Mobile Client may
offer different functionality to the Student.
[0088] Those skilled in the art will recognize that either the
Teacher or a Student may thus use the System to participate in a
class without being in a classroom, and may even participate while
in transit between physical locations by connecting to the System
wirelessly.
[0089] It is important to note that the concept of a class session
(a meeting of a Class) is bounded not by the geographical
co-location of its participants, but by the temporal co-location of
its participants. Put simply, the participants don't have to be in
the same place, but can gather together from different locations at
the same time. Having said that, it is important to recognize that
the System also enables participants to experience a class session
after the original class session has completed, almost entirely as
experienced by the temporally co-located participants (i.e. those
who were present, even if virtually, in the class session
originally, when the class session was occurring).
[0090] An AV System Client can also form part of the System. The AV
System Client may be simply a television or projector directly or
wirelessly connected to Client devices (for example the Lectern
Client or a Student Mobile Client) to provide an enlarged display
of the connected Client's screen. Alternatively, the AV System
Client can be a complex system of playback and recording devices
connected to a media server, to play A/V content at one or more
locations within a classroom and beyond and to record A/V content
of class participation within a classroom and beyond.
[0091] Those skilled in the art will understand that in an
internetworked system an action is often the result of coordinated
activities occurring at multiple nodes in the system. In the case
of a system built on the Internet, these nodes are often
distributed ad hoc and unpredictably across multiple jurisdictions.
The actions as described and claimed herein are intended to
encompass at least: (a) actions performed directly and completely
within the jurisdiction of the patent, (b) actions coordinated
within the jurisdiction but with at least some activities performed
outside the jurisdiction, (c) actions coordinated outside the
jurisdiction but with at least some activities performed within the
jurisdiction, and (d) actions performed for the benefit of a node
within the jurisdiction or a person using that node. An example of
such coordination would be serving a layout for a web page from one
node and serving content for insertion into the layout from one or
more other nodes, including through the use of server-side
scripting, client-side scripting, and AJAX techniques. Another
example of such coordination would be to serve some of the Lesson
content from within the System's jurisdiction, but some other parts
of the Lesson content (such as media) from a completely different,
even securely protected jurisdiction (such as an external publisher
network) or an open resource center like an internet site.
[0092] In general, each of the Clients might be a duly configured
general purpose programmable computer or a more purpose-specific
device, such as a tablet, a smartphone, a microbrowser, or portable
media viewer with a wireless modem. Each Server might similarly be
a duly configured general purpose programmable computer, but might
also be a farm of such computers or one or more virtualized
computers embodied as processes operating on a physical general
purpose programmable computer. Such farmed or virtualized computers
might themselves be distributed over their own local or wide area
network, not shown.
[0093] In essence, the Servers and the Clients are roles or
functions performed in the System by properly configured devices.
Multiple roles or functions could be performed by one device and
one role or function could be distributed over multiple devices.
The specific character of a device (and more generally the
hardware) and the network topology is important to the extent that
it supports the performance of the assigned roles or functions.
What is also important is that the Clients in the System
communicate with the Servers in the System's jurisdiction, which in
turn may marshal and provide resources from within itself and from
outside of itself, provided these Servers have the proper
permission and authenticity to do so.
[0094] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary architecture for the communication
and computing devices of FIG. 2 These devices have a bottom
hardware layer generally illustrated at 310, a middle operating
system layer generally illustrated at 312 and a top application
program layer 314 Those skilled in the art will recognize the
aspects in which like virtualized hardware and devices depart from
like physical ones.
[0095] The hardware layer 310 provides the device with computing
and communication hardware, including: (a) a processor 316 to
execute processes of instructions and compute data, (b) user-input
hardware 318 such as a keyboard 318a (real or virtual) and a
selection device 318b (for example a mouse or touchscreen,
voice-recognition or video-recognition) to receive input from a
user, (c) user-output hardware 320 such as a video display to
provide information to a user, (d) mass storage 322 such as
electromagnetic, optical or nonvolatile solid-state media to store
data and processing instructions, (e) memory 324 such as read only
memory 324a (ROM) and random access memory 324b (RAM) to store data
and processing instructions, and (f) a network interface 326 to
support communication with other devices in accordance with known
protocols such as TCP/IP, all interconnected by buses such as
address and data buses and control lines such as interrupt and
clock lines and such other connections and components as is
conventionally required and known in the art.
[0096] Stored in a portion of the read only memory 324a and the
mass storage 322 are the components of the operating system layer
312, for example LINUX.RTM. or Microsoft.RTM. Windows.RTM.
Server.RTM. or Mac.RTM. OS X Server.RTM. for a device such as
general purpose programmable computer configured as a Server or for
example LINUX.RTM. or Microsoft.RTM. Windows.RTM. or Mac.RTM. OS
X.RTM. for a general purpose programmable computer configured as a
Client or for example Microsoft.RTM. Windows Phone.RTM., Apple.RTM.
iOS.RTM., Google.RTM. Android.RTM., BlackBerry.RTM. QNX.RTM. or
Symbian.RTM., for a portable such Client device. The operating
system layer 312 provides the basic instructions to direct the
processor 316 how to interact with the other hardware described
above and more generally how to perform the functions of a
communication and computing device, including storing, accessing
and computing data, and communicating with other devices. In
particular, the operating system layer 312 has been configured or
extended to provide a web services framework, such as for
distributed computing, such as the Windows Communication Foundation
application programming interface in the .NET Framework.
[0097] The operating system layer 312 presents an application
program interface 328 to the application program layer 314, so the
processor 316 can execute more sophisticated combinations of
processes under the direction of higher level application programs
stored in mass storage 322 and loaded into random access memory
324b for execution, for example the processes that will be
elaborated below.
[0098] The structure of software aspects of the System will now be
described using an object-oriented paradigm. Those skilled in the
art will recognize that there are many programming paradigms and
analogous Systems can be programmed in accordance with such
paradigms without departing from the spirit of the present
invention. For example, other programming paradigms include:
Agent-oriented, Automata-based. Component-based (including
Flow-based and Pipelined), Concatenative, Concurrent computing
(including Relativistic programming). Data-driven, Declarative
(including Constraint, Functional, Dataflow (including
Cell-oriented and Reactive) and Logic (including Abductive logic,
Answer set, Constraint logic, Functional logic, Inductive logic,
and Uncertain inference (including Markov logic and Probabilistic
logic))), Event-driven (including Service-oriented and
Time-driven), Expression-oriented, Feature-oriented,
Function-level. Generic, Imperative (including Procedural),
Language-oriented (including Discipline-specific, Domain-specific,
Grammar-oriented (including Dialecting) and Intentional),
Metaprogramming (including Automatic, Reflective (including
Attribute-oriented) and Template (including Policy-based)),
Non-structured (including Array and Iterative), Nondeterministic,
Parallel computing (including Process-oriented), Programming in the
large/small. Semantic, non-object oriented Structured programming
paradigms (including Modular and Recursive) and Value-level.
3. Education and Training Domain
[0099] FIGS. 4 and 5 provide an overview of exemplary classes and
packages for representing the domain of the System.
[0100] A People package includes classes representing the people
and roles discussed above, namely a Regulator class, a Publisher
class, a Teacher class, Student class, a Guardian class and an
Auditor class. A School class is an aggregation of the Teacher
class. A Class class represents an association of at least one
Student and at least one Teacher interacting about a subject, as
will be described further below.
[0101] In general, a group of Students can collectively interact
with the System as a unified entity--as a Student Group--on an ad
hoc, project or more permanent basis. In this way, the information
made available to the actions made possible by, the experiences
made available to and the judgment applied to a Student Group could
be tracked both for the group as a unified entity and for each
member Student as an individual. This arrangement might be
implemented using attributes in the Student class. Those skilled in
the art will recognize that there are other ways to implement a
Student Group, for example by creating a new class--a Student Group
class (not shown)--for example intermediate the Student class and
the Class class.
[0102] A Curriculum package includes packages and classes
representing the curriculum in an education workflow, or the set of
goals and content required to meet the requirements of a program in
a training workflow, or the set of goals and content required to
meet the requirements of an extra-curricular endeavour in an
education workflow, including a Requirements package, a Pedagogy
package, an Information Package and an Assessment package. In order
to avoid confusion and awkward repetition, in this document,
Curriculum refers to the sum total of the learning outcomes
required to be achieved as part of a program--whether it be an
educational or training program. The content that is required to
enable such outcomes aggregate to become the realization of that
Curriculum.
[0103] The Requirements package includes a Program class, which is
an aggregation of Subjects. The Regulator regulates the Curriculum
by specifying requirements in the Program and Subject classes.
[0104] The Pedagogy package includes a Lesson class, which is an
aggregation of a Topic class. The Teacher teaches Lessons to a
Class as a sequence of Topics. A Subject is an aggregation of
Lessons.
[0105] While a Teacher may also choose to prepare Lessons, some may
prefer to focus on teaching, teaching Lessons that have been
published by a Publisher. The Teacher may prepare Lessons based on
her own personally created content, using Publisher published or
approved content, or free open content available on the Internet or
any combination of the above.
[0106] The Information package includes a Content class, which is
an aggregation of an Exposition class, a Demonstration class and a
Test class that help a Teacher to respectively explain, show and
ask about aspects of a Topic. A Content object might be associated
with zero or more Exposition objects, zero or more Demonstration
objects and zero or more Test objects, however normatively it can
be associated with one of each.
[0107] Broadly, the Teacher presents Content to the Class to
elucidate a Topic. By presenting Content through each of
Exposition, Demonstration and Testing, the Teacher teaches multiple
aspects of the Topic using multiple teaching modes. For further
clarity, an Exposition object would help a Teacher to explain a
Topic, and might take the form for example of a set of bullet
points explaining the Topic. A Demonstration object would help a
Teacher to demonstrate a Topic, and might include for example a
media clip, an interactive geographic map, an interactive virtual
model of an engine or an interactive simulation of a chemical
reaction.
[0108] The Test class, being different from the Exposition class
and Demonstration class, is included in an Assessment package. The
Test class is an aggregation of a Query class and a Scheme class,
where a Query represents a test question posed to Students and a
Scheme represents a mapping of Student responses to test marks and
subject grades, as will be discussed further below.
[0109] The Lesson. Topic and Content classes may include playback
control operations (for example. Play, Pause, Stop, Rewind,
Fast-forward, Cue-To-Mark. Slower, Faster, and the like) for
automated or semi-automated presentation in the case of Lesson and
Topic objects and for presentation of sequential Content such as
media clips.
[0110] An Experience package includes packages and classes
representing the outcome of People, in particular Students, engaged
in learning using the System. The Experience package includes an
Interaction class and an Audit package, a History package and a
Metrics package.
[0111] The Interaction class is the primary representation of the
engagement of a Class of Students and Teacher(s) interacting over a
Subject. Many Interactions objects will be associated with just one
Student object; some Interaction objects that represent
collaborative activities will be associated with multiple Student
objects.
[0112] Each Interaction object has an associated Audit object of an
Audit class. The Audit object may include both automatically
generated audit trail data and data generated manually by an
Auditor. The Audit class is included in the Audit package.
[0113] The Interaction class is a generalization of a Metrics class
included in the Metrics package and a History class included in a
History package. The Metrics class represents quantitative metrics
of a Student's Interaction with the Subject. The History class
represents more qualitative Interactions with the Subject and other
members of the Class, including Teachers.
[0114] The Metrics class is a generalization of a Usage class and a
Results class, which is in turn a generalization of a Response
class and a Mark class. The Usage class represents quantitatively a
Student's engagement with the Curriculum, documenting for example
which Lesson objects the Student has interacted with, when and for
how long. The Results class represents a Student's success with
Test Queries, in particular documenting each of his Responses and
the associated Mark awarded in accordance with the Test Scheme,
either automatically or manually by a Teacher Where Test Queries
are more in the nature of assignments than quizzes, Responses can
be relatively more rich, for example Student-generated content such
as text files (including heavily formatted documents), media clips
and virtual models and simulations.
[0115] The History class is a generalization of a Transcript class
and a Personalization class. The Transcript class represents a
sequential record of real world Interactions of the Class and of a
Student's virtual Interactions with Lessons. For this reason, the
Transcript class is a generalization of a Real class and a Virtual
class. The Personalization class represents Student personal
contributions to the Class, and is a generalization of, for
example, an Annotation class and a Collaboration class. The
Annotation class represents annotations that a Student overlays on
Lessons, much likes margin notes, bookmarks and highlighting that
students of another time placed in text books, but also including
Student-generated content such as text files (including heavily
formatted documents), media clips and virtual models and
simulations. The Collaboration class represents collaborative
activities, for example white boarding or discussion threads,
engaged in by multiple Students working on a Lesson, sometimes
joined by one or more Teachers.
[0116] Considering Personalization objects more broadly, those
skilled in the art will recognize that it is very helpful to a
Student studying in a virtual System to be able to (a) freely
overlay annotations (in the broadest sense) of his own choosing and
meaning on any Lesson object or other object directly or indirectly
associated with a Lesson or more broadly his learning experience,
but also to (b) have designated virtual spaces (modes of
communication) for creating his own communications and records of
such, whether a communication is with himself (for example notes,
whether text, markup text, audio or video or otherwise) or with
Teachers or other Students (or Student Groups) of his or the
Teacher's choosing (for example chats/discussion threads,
whiteboards, video chats, audio chats, podcasts). Those skilled in
the art will recognize that in some embodiments a Student might
overlay annotations on his own or another Student's communications
in the designated virtual space (communication mode).
[0117] In this regard, annotations and communications and more
generally Personalizations might include handwriting, typing,
drawings (freeform or otherwise) and general scribbles, for
example. In some embodiments and scenarios, it will be advantageous
for Students to be able to share such Personalizations with a
Teacher, other Students, Student Groups or a whole Class, whether
during a meeting of the Class or as reviewed afterward, whether on
a Student Mobile Client, a Lectern Client, a Teacher Client, a
Student Home Client, or the AV System Client, for example. In the
case of such shared Personalizations, they may be developed or
evolve collaboratively as Collaborations, contributed to by a
variety of People and associated with them in the System.
[0118] Those skilled in the art will also recognize that any of
these Personalizations might be desirably available for marking
(associated with a Test or a Mark), for example as or associated
with a Response.
[0119] Broadly, Personalizations such as scribbles and whiteboards
may allow both `free-hand` equivalent interactions, keyboard-typing
and touch-device interactions Personalizations may be recorded,
stored, retrieved, reported on, graded and shared.
[0120] The Interaction Class provides features that differentiate
it from a traditional `Clicker`-type interaction between Teacher
and Student in several ways, for example:
[0121] 1. The variety of responses possible--a clicker only allows
selection from a set of given choices. The Interaction classes
allow for a variety of interactions such as drag&drop,
matching, drawing, scribbling, clicking on image hot-spots,
pan&zoom, moving and may be providing textual narratives, or
even sophisticated audio and video responses.
[0122] 2. Clickers do not allow for collaborative interaction by
multiple participants over the same piece of content.
[0123] 3. Clickers do not allow for the Student to pose questions
to the Teacher, project their own responses to the Class or in any
other manner actively respond to the stimulus provided by the
Teacher in any method other than passive selection from
choices.
[0124] FIG. 6 provides further detail about some of the Domain
classes.
[0125] The Program and Subject classes each has a Requirements
attribute and a corresponding operation to enable a Regulator to
specify the attribute, respectively a Regulate Program operation
and a Regulate Subject operation.
[0126] The Lesson class has a DRM attribute for specifying digital
rights management and Publish Curriculum operation to enable a
Publisher to publish Lesson objects to the System for use by
Teachers and Students in accordance with the DRM attribute. The
Lesson class may also have other metadata (attributes) like
learning objectives and Curriculum mapping (government standards
code) that may be provided by the Publisher or entered by the
Teacher to place a specific Lesson within a Curriculum. The Lesson
class also has a Prepare Lesson operation to enable a Teacher to
create Lesson objects using the System and a Present Lesson
operation to enable a Teacher to present Lesson objects to Classes
via the System.
[0127] The Interaction class has Student, Teacher and Participants
attributes to represent the Student and Teacher at the center of an
Interaction and any other relevant Participants in the Interaction,
for example other Students in a collaboration. In the case of a
collaborative Interaction, each Student who was a Participant in
the Interaction might be associated with his own Interaction object
in which he was designated as the Student by the Student attribute
and the others were designated merely as participants by the
Participant attribute. The Interaction class also has a Permissions
attribute to set who (Teacher, Student, Guardian, Auditor) can
access the Interaction and in what manner. Depending on the type of
Interaction (Metric, History . . . ) there would be additional
attributes to record the nature of the Interaction.
[0128] The Interaction class also has a number of operations that
will be described further below. These operations include a
Personalize Curriculum operation and a Review Curriculum operation
that a Student can invoke respectively during a meeting of the
Class to engage a Lesson and after a meeting of the Class to review
the Lesson. Also included is a Supervise Experience operation that
a Guardian can invoke to review the Student's experience with the
Class through the Student's Interactions. Also included are it an
Audit Performance operation and an Audit Propriety operation that
an Auditor can invoke to examine respectively quantitative
Interactions (Metrics) and qualitative Interactions (History) to
audit respectively the performance of a Student (or Class, or
Teacher, or School) and the propriety of related Interactions, for
example to document that a Teacher dedicated quantitatively and
qualitatively excellent efforts to help Students meet the
Requirements of a Subject. The latter could be documented, for
example, by the Transcripts of Class meetings, by the record of
online Interactions between Teacher and Student(s), and by the
aggregate Metrics of success for a Class of Students.
[0129] FIG. 7 provides further detail about the domain classes
concerning testing and grading. FIG. 7 shows that the Scheme class
is associated with all of the Query, Results and Subject classes,
so as to map a Student's Response to a Query both to a Mark that
indicates how well the Student understood the Query and the Topic
that it supports and to the grading Requirements for the Subject,
wherein a Student must demonstrate a level of mastery of a Topic
(or more broadly the Lesson it conveys) to complete the Subject as
a whole.
[0130] This mapping can support a number of scenarios. In a first
scenario, the Student's Results do not contribute whatsoever to
meeting the Subject Requirements, and so the Query is posed for
purely pedagogical purposes--as a poll--to help a Class of Students
to test their knowledge of a Topic and to help a Teacher to
determine what portion of a Class (or who in a Class) has grasped
the Topic.
[0131] In a second scenario, the Student's Result contributes to
meeting the grading Requirements of a Subject in a pooled manner,
in which the Student is required to obtain a total grade above a
predetermined threshold and the total grade is calculated as the
sum of all grades mapped from all the Student's Responses.
[0132] In a third scenario, the Student's Result contributes to
meeting the grading Requirements of a Subject in a weighed manner,
in which the Student is required to obtain not only a total grade
above a predetermined threshold but also to obtain grades
corresponding to respective Lessons or Topics above respective
predetermined thresholds.
[0133] While the System can provide for automated marking and
grading as described above, a Teacher is often key to assessing a
Student's learning. The System therefore also supports more manual
arrangements and so a Result may derive its values from a Teacher's
subjective (or objective) grading of a Student's Interactions as
well! For example, the Student may take part in a group discussion
Collaboration, which the Teacher may monitor and use her discretion
to assign a mark. This mark may contribute to the final grade of
the Student for the Subject.
4. Server and Client Deployment
[0134] FIG. 8 provides further detail about the configuration of
the Learning Management Server.
[0135] The Learning Management Server includes a Database
Management System for maintaining, accessing, and updating objects
belonging to the Curriculum, People and Experience packages. More
specifically, the Database Management System maintains information
about where an object is maintained, whether at the Learning
Management Server itself or remotely, for example on the Publisher
Server, the Regulator Server or the School Server. The decision
about where objects should be maintained includes factors of System
operating characteristics, privacy rights and digital rights
management. Therefore, this particular distribution of the objects
among the Servers is merely exemplary.
[0136] The Learning Management Server also includes a Web Server to
provide Clients with access to data and services via their web
browsers. The Web Server might be an Apache Software Foundation
Apache HTTP Server.RTM. or a Microsoft Corporation Internet
Information Services.RTM. web server for example.
[0137] The Learning Management Server also includes an Application
Server to provide Lectern Clients with services related to a
Lectern App and Student Mobile Clients with services related to a
Student App, as will be described further below.
[0138] FIG. 9 provides further detail about the configuration of
the Publisher Server.
[0139] The Publisher Server includes a Database Management System
for maintaining, accessing, and updating objects belonging to the
Pedagogy, Information and Assessment packages.
[0140] More specifically, the Database Management System maintains
information about where an object is maintained, whether at the
Publisher Server itself or remotely, for example on the Learning
Management Server, the Regulator Server or the School Server. The
decision about where objects should be maintained considers such
factors as System performance and other operating characteristics,
privacy rights and digital rights management. Therefore, this
particular distribution of the objects among the Servers is merely
exemplary. For example, a Publisher might find it useful for the
Publisher Server to have access to objects belonging to the
Pedagogy and Assessment packages; however those objects might
actually be stored on the Learning Management Server with the
Curriculum package as a whole, and the Database Management System
on the Publisher Server may merely be enabled to access those
objects on the Learning Management Server through services exposed
by the Learning Management Server.
[0141] FIG. 10 provides further detail about the configuration of
the School Server.
[0142] The School Server includes a Database Management System for
maintaining, accessing, and updating objects belonging to the
Lesson, People and Results packages.
[0143] The School Server also includes a Media Streamer for
streaming Lessons to the AV System Client and Student Mobile
Clients under the direction of the Lectern Client.
[0144] In an alternative embodiment, where a Publisher is concerned
about digital rights management for its Content, or where market
forces dictate that the Publisher is the most efficient party to
assemble the infrastructure for streaming its Content, a or the
Media Streamer may be hosted at the Publisher Server.
[0145] FIG. 11 provides further detail about the configuration of
the Regulator Server.
[0146] The Regulator Server includes a Database Management System
for maintaining, accessing, and updating objects belonging to the
Requirements, Results and Audit packages.
[0147] FIG. 12 provides further detail about the configuration of
the Lectern Client. The Lectern Client includes a Lectern App
Client for exchanging data and services with the Application Server
on the Learning Management Server, as will be described further
below.
[0148] FIG. 13 provides further detail about the configuration of
the AV System Client. The AV System Client includes a conventional
AV application for playing AV media on AV output devices such as
projectors, display screens and speakers and for recording, playing
back or live-streaming AV media from AV input devices such as
cameras and microphones. For example, a Teacher might use the AV
System Client to capture a real-time video stream, perhaps
microscopic of a culture slide or crystal development.
[0149] FIG. 14 provides further detail about the configuration of
the Student Mobile Client. The Student Mobile Client includes a
Student App Client for exchanging data and services with the
Application Server on the Learning Management Server, as will be
described further below.
[0150] FIGS. 15, 16 and 17 provide further detail about the
configuration of the Teacher Client, the Student Home Client and
the Auditor Client, respectively. These Clients include a Browser
for exchanging data and services with the Web Server on the
Learning Management Server. The Browser might be
Microsoft.RTM.Internet Explorer.RTM., Firefox.RTM., Safari.RTM. or
Opera.RTM. for example.
5. Framework Classes
[0151] FIG. 18 shows two packages of exemplary framework classes
for implementing the System, a Renderer package and a Controller
package, as will be described further below. The Controller package
may also have classes that allow for multiple subscription models
that dictate how the System may be used and what kind of content is
available to the user and how it is used. It may also have classes
that allow for purchase of the System (upgrading to another
subscription level, for example) or free updates to the existing
System or its Contents. It may also have classes that allow for
integration with external systems. It is important to note that in
this System, the Clients will always interact with one of the
Servers/services provided by the System itself, which in turn will
marshal the required resources from outside or inside, as
appropriate to the context.
[0152] FIG. 19 shows the classes of the Renderer package, including
a Render abstract class, which is a generalization of an Icons
class, a Preview class, a Project class, a Broadcast class, a
Distribute class, all of which are accessible on the Lectern Client
through the Lectern App Client, and a Mobile class accessible on
the Student Mobile Clients through the Student App Client. These
classes include a Render(Content) operation that renders Content in
a predetermined way on a predetermined Client.
[0153] The Icons class renders at the Lectern Client an icon of the
Exposition object, Demonstration object and Query object associated
with a Topic object to help a Teacher to select between them or
between Topic objects for presentation to a Class.
[0154] The Preview class renders at the Lectern Client a full-size
interactive Content object to help a Teacher to prepare to present
Content to a Class.
[0155] The Project class renders to the AV System Client a
full-size interactive Content object under the control of the
Lectern Client to help a Teacher to present Content to the
Class.
[0156] The Broadcast class renders to all the Student Mobile
Clients associated with a Class a full-size interactive Content
object under the control of the Lectern Client to help a Teacher to
present Content to the Class. Furthermore, a Student App might
present Content to the Class, but only upon the Lectern Client
approving such an action, where the Student App takes control over
the Broadcast operation. It is conceivable that the Student App
still functions `via` the Lectern Client, with the master director
Lectern Client enabling the Student App to `take over` some of the
typical Lectern Client functionality for some time. In another
scenario, the Lectern Client can help a Teacher or a Student to
present Content to only a few, selected members of the Class--a
Multicast.
[0157] The Distribute class, renders to all the Student Mobile
Clients associated with a Class a full-sized interactive Content
object under the respective control of each Student Mobile Clients
(while enabled from the Lectern Client) to help each Student to
engage the Content.
[0158] The Mobile class cooperates with the Broadcast and
Distribute classes, to render at a Student Mobile Client a
full-sized interactive Content object with the interactivity set by
the originating Broadcast or Distribute class.
[0159] FIG. 20 shows the classes of the Controller package,
including a Presentation Control class, an Explanation Control
class, a Demonstration Control class and a Test Control class, all
of which are accessible on the Lectern Client through the Lectern
App Client. These classes help a Teacher to present Lessons to
Students in a Class using the System.
[0160] The Presentation Control class includes a Topic attribute
representing the Topic currently being presented and a Topic List
attribute representing a shortlist of related Topics as filtered by
the Teacher by Program, Subject and Lesson, as will be further
described below, The Presentation Control class also includes a
Teacher Input attribute representing a queue of commands input by
the Teacher.
[0161] The Presentation Control class includes a number of
operations, including a Select Topic operation, a Refresh Topic
List operation, a Render Icons operation, and Explain Show and Ask
operations.
[0162] The Select Topic operation enables a Teacher to select a
Topic for presentation. The Refresh Topic List operation refreshes
the Topic List in accordance with the filters currently set by the
Teacher. The Render Icons operation renders at the Lectern Client
icons of objects of each of the three classes of Content
(Exposition, Demonstration and Test) associated with the current
Topic object, doing so by instantiating an Icons object for each of
the Content objects. The Explain, Show and Ask operations
respectively instantiate an Explanation Control object, a
Demonstration Control object and a Test Control object for the
corresponding Content object (Exposition, Demonstration or Test)
associated with the current Topic object. The Teacher may invoke
the Explain, Show and Ask operations in any order and any number of
times, including not at all, as thought appropriate to teach the
Students.
[0163] The Presentation Control class is a composition of a Program
Filter class, a Subject Filter class and a Lesson Filter class.
[0164] The Program Filter class includes a Program attribute
representing the current Program and a Program List attribute
representing a list of available Programs. The Program Filter class
also includes a Select Program operation to enable a Teacher to
select the current Program.
[0165] The Subject Filter class includes a Subject attribute
representing the Subject currently being taught and a Subject List
attribute representing a shortlist of Subjects available in the
current Program. The Subject Filter class also includes a Select
Subject operation to enable a Teacher to select the current Subject
and a Refresh Subject List operation that refreshes the Subject
List in accordance with the filters currently set by the
Teacher.
[0166] The Lesson Filter class includes a Lesson attribute
representing the Lesson currently being taught and a Lesson List
attribute representing a shortlist of lessons available in the
current Subject. The Lesson Filter class also includes a Select
Lesson operation to enable a Teacher to select the current Lesson
and a Refresh Lesson List operation that refreshes the Lesson List
in accordance with the filters currently set by the Teacher.
[0167] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the filtering
arrangements taught immediately above and elsewhere throughout this
description are exemplary and neither mandatory nor exhaustive.
Other arrangements and other dimensions (attributes, metadata) of
filtration or sorting will occur to those skilled in the art that
still fall within the spirit of the present invention.
[0168] The Explanation Control class includes an Exposition
attribute representing the Exposition Content object associated
with the current Topic being presented, a Project class
representing a toggle whether or not the Content will be presented
to the AV System, a Broadcast class representing a toggle whether
or not the Content will be presented read-only to the Student
Mobile Clients associated with the Class, and a Return class
representing a toggle whether or not the Teacher has decided to
terminate an Explanation session. The Explanation Control class
also includes an Expose operation to invoke it.
[0169] The Demonstration Control class includes a Demonstration
attribute representing the Demonstration Content object associated
with the current Topic being presented, a Project class
representing a toggle whether or not the Content will be presented
to the AV System, a NBD class representing a toggle whether (a) the
Content will be presented read-only to the Student Mobile Clients
associated with the Class, (b) the Content will be presented
interactively to the Student Mobile Clients associated with the
Class or (c) neither, and a Return class representing a toggle
whether or not the Teacher has decided to terminate a Demonstration
session. The Demonstration Control class also includes a
Demonstrate operation to invoke it.
[0170] The Test Control class includes a Query attribute
representing the Test Content object associated with the current
Topic being presented, a Project class representing a toggle
whether or not the Content will be presented to the AV System, a
NBD class representing a toggle whether (a) the Content will be
presented read-only to the Student Mobile Clients associated with
the Class, (b) the Content will be presented interactively to the
Student Mobile Clients associated with the Class or (c) neither, a
Query or Results attribute representing a toggle whether to present
the Test Query or Student Results, a Timer attribute representing
the time remaining for Students to answer a Query, and a Return
class representing a toggle whether or not the Teacher has decided
to terminate a Test session. Depending on how the Test Control is
embodied, the Student Results might be presented to all members of
the Class as a Class-wide consolidation or might be presented
individually to each Student as the Student's own results. In some
embodiments, the Results might be presented simply as the correct
answer, or as the correct answer accompanied by the Teacher's
explanation of why it is correct.
[0171] The Test Control class also includes a Test operation to
invoke it as well as Start Timer, Stop Timer and Set Timer
operations. In some embodiments, the Test Control class might also
include Pause Timer and Resume Timer operations as well that a
Teacher can manually invoke during a Test.
[0172] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the payload of
a Content object to be Presented may be either the content itself
or a link to the content, including a link to a node outside the
System.
6. Teaching Operations
[0173] FIGS. 21 and 22 show how a Teacher would interact with a
Presentation Control object after invoking the Present Lesson
operation of a Lesson object.
[0174] The Presentation Control object would be instantiated in an
idle state, Awaiting Teacher Input. With Teacher Input Received,
the Presentation Control object would transition to another
state.
[0175] If the Teacher Input Received involved a Program Filter user
interface control, then the Presentation Control object would
transition to a Select Program state, in which the Select Program
operation was invoked to select the current Program and the Refresh
Subject List, Refresh Lesson List and Refresh Topic List operations
were invoked to refresh the respective Lists to accord with the
current Program. Thereafter, the Program Control object would
transition back to the idle state. Awaiting Teacher Input.
[0176] If the Teacher Input Received involved a Subject Filter user
interface control, then the Presentation Control object would
transition to a Select Subject state, in which the Select Subject
operation was invoked to select the current Subject and the Refresh
Lesson List and Refresh Topic List operations were invoked to
refresh the respective Lists to accord with the current Subject.
Thereafter, the Program Control object would transition back to the
idle state. Awaiting Teacher Input.
[0177] If the Teacher Input Received involved a Lesson Filter user
interface control, then the Presentation Control object would
transition to a Select Lesson to state, in which the Select Lesson
operation was invoked to select the current Lesson and the Refresh
Topic List operation was invoked to refresh the Topic List to
accord with the current Subject. Thereafter, the Program Control
object would transition back to the idle state, Awaiting Teacher
Input.
[0178] If the Teacher Input Received involved a user interface
control associated with either the Explain, Show or Ask operation,
then the respective operation would be invoke and respectively
instantiate an Explanation Control object, a Demonstration Control
object or a Test Control object. Depending on the implementation of
the Presentation Control class, the Presentation Control object
would transition back to the idle state, Awaiting Teacher Input,
either upon the instantiation or the destruction of the respective
Explanation Control object, a Demonstration Control object or a
Test Control object. The former approach would, for example, allow
a Teacher to interact with the Presentation Control object while
the Students were interacting with a Demonstration Control object.
The latter approach would ensure that the Teacher and Students were
interacting with the same object.
[0179] FIGS. 23 and 24 show how a Teacher would interact with an
Explanation Control object.
[0180] The Explanation Control object would be instantiated to
render the Exposition object associated with the current Topic to a
graphical user interface (GUI) and upon instantiation would enter a
Preview Only state in which the Exposition object is rendered only
as a Preview to the Lectern Client. So rendered, the Teacher would
be able to interact privately with the Exposition object through
the GUI, for example to focus his thoughts in preparation for
presenting the Exposition object to the Class or to format the
Exposition object for presentation to the class, such as by
pinch&zooming and centering an image before
projection/broadcast/distribution.
[0181] Depending on the toggle of Project and Broadcast attributes,
the Explanation Control object transitions between the Preview Only
state, and a Preview and Project state, a Preview and Broadcast
state, and a Preview and Broadcast and Project state.
[0182] In the Preview and Project state, the Exposition object is
rendered to both the Lectern Client and the AV System Client under
the control of the Teacher at the Lectern Client.
[0183] In the Preview and Broadcast state, the Exposition object is
rendered to both the Lectern Client and the Mobile Student Clients
under the control of the Teacher at the Lectern Client.
[0184] In the Preview and Broadcast and Project state, the
Exposition object is rendered to all of the Lectern Client, the AV
System Client and the Mobile Student Clients under the control of
the Teacher at the Lectern Client.
[0185] In any of these states, when the Return attribute is toggled
the Explanation Control object is destroyed.
[0186] Thus the Explanation Control object helps a Teacher to use
the System to present an Exposition object--for example bullet
points--to a Class in a centrally controlled manner, keeping
everyone focused on the same aspects of the Exposition object as
the Teacher explains the Topic.
[0187] When the Explanation Control object is in any state other
than the Preview Only state, the Teacher's interaction with the
Explanation object is recorded as a History object associated with
the Subject, Lesson, Topic, Class and Teacher, for example.
[0188] FIGS. 25 and 26 show how a Teacher would interact with a
Demonstration Control object. The Demonstration Control object
behaves similarly to the Explanation Control object, except that
(a) it controls the rendering of a Demonstration object instead of
an Exposition object and (b) it's inclusion of a tri-state NBD
attribute in place of the Broadcast attribute of the Explanation
Control object supports additional states for rendering targets,
namely a Preview and Distribute state and a Preview and Distribute
and Project state.
[0189] In the Preview and Distribute state, the Demonstration
object is rendered to the Lectern Client under the control of the
Teacher at the Lectern Client and to the Mobile Student Clients
under the independent control of each of the Students at his own
Mobile Student Client.
[0190] In the Preview and Distribute and Project state, the
Demonstration object is rendered to both the Lectern Client and the
AV System Client under the control of the Teacher at the Lectern
Client and to the Mobile Student Clients under the independent
control of each of the Students at his own Mobile Student
Client.
[0191] Thus the Demonstration Control object helps a Teacher to use
the System to present a Demonstration object--for example an
interactive map--to a Class in an interactive manner, providing
each Student simultaneously with the opportunity to interact in his
own way with the Demonstration object so as to learn in his own
particular way or to study those aspects of the Demonstration
object that most appeal to him. The Demonstration Control object
provides the Teacher with the option at anytime to reestablish
central control of the Demonstration object by toggling between a
Distribute state and a corresponding Broadcast state, such as
between the Preview and Distribute state and the Preview and
Broadcast state. Alternatively, the Demonstration Control object
provides the Teacher with a less intrusive option to provide
guidance to the Class without interrupting Student interaction by
demonstrating the desired aspect of the Demonstration object on the
AV System Client using one of the Project and Distribute states.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that this arrangement might
also be accomplished with less child classes of the Render class,
for example by combining the Broadcast and Distribute classes and
using an attribute to indicate whether input on Student Mobile
Devices was disabled (broadcast) or enabled (distribute). In a
similar regard, another attribute might be used in place of the
Project class to designate whether or not a Content object should
be projected using the AV System client.
[0192] When the Demonstration Control object is in any state other
than the Preview Only state, the Teacher's and Student's
interactions with the Demonstration object are recorded as History
objects, the History object for the Teacher's interaction being
associated with the Subject, Lesson, Topic, Class and Teacher, for
example, and the History object for each individual Student's
interaction being associated with the Subject, Lesson, Topic. Class
and that Student, for example. As described above with respect to
Student Groups and Collaborations, History objects for Interactions
among groups of Students would be associated with the Subject,
Lesson, Topic, Class, the Student Group and each Student who is a
member of the Student Group.
[0193] FIGS. 27 and 28 show how a Teacher would interact with a
Test Control object. The Test Control object behaves similarly to
the Demonstration Control object, except that (a) it controls the
rendering of a Test object instead of a Demonstration object, (b)
it's inclusion of a Query or Results attribute supports the
rendering of either a Query object or a Results object
corresponding to the current Test object, as toggled by the Query
and Results controls on the Test Control user interface and (c) its
inclusion of a countdown Timer attribute provides a time-based
trigger for a transition from the Preview and Distribute state and
the Preview and Distribute and Project state back to the Preview
Only state.
[0194] The Teacher can set the Timer attribute to a desired time
value using the Timer control on the Test Control user interface.
When either of the two Distribute states is entered, the Start
Timer operation is invoked to cause the Timer attribute to count
down. When either of the two Distribute states is exited, the Stop
Timer operation is invoked to cause the Timer attribute to stop
counting down. When the Timer attribute has counted down to a value
equal to 0, the Test Control object transitions from the current
Distribute state to the Preview Only state. Those skilled in the
art will recognized that a Timer attribute and attendant operations
might also be useful for other Content objects, for example a
Demonstration object, to keep Students focused on the learning
objectives for a Demonstration and not merely playing with an
interactive distraction.
[0195] While the Test Control object is in a Distribute state, each
of the Students can independently interact with the current Test
object (Query object) on his own Student Mobile Client. This
interaction is recorded as a History object associated with that
the Subject. Lesson, Topic, Class and that Student for example and
his particular responses to the Query object are recorded as
Response objects associated with that Subject, Lesson, Topic, Class
and Student for example.
[0196] FIGS. 29 and 30 how a Student would interact with any kind
of Content object during a meeting of a Class using the Student App
Client on the Student Mobile Client, invoking the Personalize
Curriculum operation for an interaction object.
[0197] The GUI object is instantiated at the Student Mobile Client
to accept renderings from the Lectern Client. In coordination with
the rendering states at the Lectern Client, the GUI object
transitions between a No Output and No Input state when the current
Lectern Client Controller object is in Preview Only state, an
Output and No Input state when the current Lectern Client
Controller object is in one of the Broadcast states, and an Output
and Input state when the Lectern Client Controller object is in one
of the Distribute states. In this way, under the control of the
Teacher at the Lectern Client, the Student Mobile Clients have
respectively blank screens, read-only screens and fully interactive
screens.
[0198] Those skilled in the art will recognize that there is middle
ground between fully deactivating and fully activating the input on
Student Mobile Clients. One useful middle ground instead of full
deactivation would be to accept at the Lectern Client a "Raised
Hand" signal originating from Student Mobile Clients. A
Notification of a Raised Hand signal would alert a Teacher that a
change of pace in the presentation of the Lesson may be warranted.
Should a Teacher accept the Raised Hand signal, that event might
pause the presentation or might transition the presentation to a
new state, for example a state that supports discussion thread/chat
or whiteboard recording of questions and answers.
[0199] Those skilled in the art will also recognize that, depending
on pedagogical preferences, it might be desirable to enable
Students to interact with any kind of Content objects (Exposition
objects, Demonstration objects or Test objects) and that it might
therefore be desirable in some embodiments for the Exposition
Control class to enable such, for example by including Distribute
states.
[0200] Those skilled in the art will further recognize that further
kinds of Interaction may sometimes be pedagogically desirable. For
example, a Teacher may wish to enable individual Students or
Student Groups to control the Teacher's screen (or the Student's or
Student Group's screen) for Projection on the AV System Client or
Broadcast to the Student Mobile Clients. Such Interactions would be
recorded to a History object.
[0201] Those skilled in the art will still further recognize that
the activation or deactivation of Student Mobile Client input may
also be triggered by System events, for example the expiration of a
countdown Timer object.
7. Reviewing Operations
[0202] FIG. 31 shows how a Student would interact with his
Interaction objects outside meetings of the Class, for example by
connecting the Browser on his Student Home Client to the Learning
Management Server and invoking the Review Curriculum operation. The
Review Curriculum operation includes filtering capabilities
analogous to those described above, such that the Student can
filter his universe of Interaction objects by associated Program,
Subject, Lesson, Topic, Teacher, or other Students who participated
in the Interaction. The Student can also filter by Interaction
Type, and by the Start Date and Time and End Date and Time of the
Interaction.
[0203] This filtration will yield a tabulated Interaction Subset
from which the Student can select one or more Interaction objects
to review. If the Student makes a single Interaction Selection from
the tabulated Interaction Subset, the corresponding Interaction
object could be rendered directly. If the Student makes multiple
simultaneous Interaction Selections, then a Consolidation might be
rendered instead, such that for example depending on implementation
if the Student selects multiple Test Results his aggregate Mark
might be consolidated for rendering.
[0204] Relevant Corresponding Requirements for the Program and/or
Subject might be presented as well so that the Student can
understand his Interactions in the context of what is expected for
successful completion of the Program and/or Subject.
[0205] Some types of Interaction object are dynamic in nature, for
example Transcript Interactions. To review them, the student can
opt to Playback (and Stop the Playback of) these Interaction
objects. The Student may also wish to review by interacting anew
with Content object previously presented during a meeting of a
Class. To do so, he could chose to Record New his new interaction
so that his universe of Interaction objects would thereafter
include both an object recording his original in-class Interaction
with the Content object in and an object recording his new review
Interaction with the Content object.
[0206] FIG. 32 shows how a Guardian would interact with his
Student's Interaction objects, for example by connecting the
Browser on his Student Home Client to the Learning Management
Server and invoking the Supervise Experience operation.
[0207] The Supervise Experience operation and its associated user
interface might be very similar to the Review Curriculum operation
and its associated user interface. As embodied here, the Supervise
Experience operation provides for additional filtering by Guardian,
School and Regulator to help a Guardian to conveniently Supervise
Experiences of a number of Students under his guardianship.
[0208] FIG. 33 shows how an Auditor would conduct a Performance
Audit on a Student's Interaction objects, for example by connecting
the Browser on his Auditor Client to the Learning Management Server
and invoking the Audit Performance operation.
[0209] The Audit Performance operation and its associated user
interface might be very similar to the Supervise Experience
operation and its associated user interface. As embodied here, the
Audit Performance operation provides for the creation and
modification of Audit objects through the Corresponding Audit Data
control in the user interface and focuses on only quantitative
Interaction objects by filtering for Metric classes of objects.
[0210] FIG. 34 shows how an Auditor would conduct a Propriety Audit
on a Student's Interaction objects, for example by connecting the
Browser on his Auditor Client to the Learning Management Server and
invoking the Audit Propriety operation.
[0211] The Audit Propriety operation and its associated user
interface might be very similar to the Audit Performance operation
and its associated user interface. As embodied here, the Audit
Propriety operation focuses on only qualitative Interaction objects
by filtering for History classes of objects.
8. Regulatory Operations
[0212] FIG. 35 shows one method for how a Regulator would set the
Requirements attribute for a Program object by invoking the
Regulate Program operation at the Regulator Server
[0213] In a Specify Program activity, the Regulator would specify
the Program, which might be as simple as setting the name of a new
Program object or selecting the name of an existing Program object.
This activity might include specifying other aspects of the Program
object as well, for example prerequisites.
[0214] In a Specify Requirements composite activity, the Regulator
would specify the Requirements for successful completion of the
Program. In the embodiment illustrated, this composite activity
would include a Specify Universe of Creditable Subjects activity, a
Specify Subject activity, and a Specify Program Standing as
Function of Subject Credits and Grades activity.
[0215] In the Specify Universe of Creditable Subjects activity, the
Regulator would specify those Subjects the completion of which
would advance a Student toward completion of the Program.
[0216] For each Subject in the Specified Universe of Creditable
Subjects, the Regulator would perform the Specify Subject activity,
in which the Regulator would Specify if the Subject is Required or
Optional and would Allocate Credits to the Subject.
[0217] Finally, the Regulator would perform the Specify Program
Standing as Function of Subject Credits and Grades activity to
define the criteria for successful completion of the Program, which
might for example include a minimum number of credits for required
Subjects, a minimum number of credits for optional Subjects, and a
minimum grade in specific Subjects and/or in aggregate. This
activity might be influenced by or performed in concert with
Publishers so that the weighting is not inconsistent with the
amount and kind of relevant Content available to Students.
[0218] Those skilled in the art will recognize that other
activities could be useful in regulating a Program and that once a
Program has been setup a Regulator might want to revise its
Requirements by performing only some of the foregoing
activities.
[0219] FIG. 36 shows one method for how a Regulator would set the
Requirements attribute for a Subject object by invoking the
Regulate Subject operation at the Regulator Server.
[0220] In a Specify Subject activity, the Regulator would specify
the Subject, which might be as simple as setting the name of a new
Subject object or selecting the name of an existing Subject object.
This activity might include specifying other aspects of the Subject
object as well, for example prerequisites.
[0221] In a Specify Requirements composite activity, the Regulator
would specify the Requirements for successful completion of the
Subject. In the embodiment illustrated, this composite activity
would include a Specify Universe of Core Lessons activity, a
Specify Lesson activity, and a Specify Subject Standing as Function
of Lesson Marks activity.
[0222] In the Specify Universe of Core Lessons activity, the
Regulator will specify those Lessons the completion of which would
advance a Student toward completion of the Subject.
[0223] For each Lesson in the Specified Universe of Core Lessons,
the Regulator would perform the Specify Lesson activity, in which
the Regulator would Specify if the Lesson is Required or
Recommended and would Allocate Grades to the Lesson.
[0224] Finally, the Regulator would perform the Specify Subject
Standing as Function of Lesson Grades activity to define the
criteria for successful completion of the Subject, which might for
example include a minimum Grade for specific required Lessons and a
minimum aggregate for all Lessons. This activity might be
influenced by or performed in concert with Publishers so that the
weighting is not inconsistent with the amount and kind of relevant
Content available to Students.
[0225] Those skilled in the art will recognize that other
activities could be useful in regulating a Subject and that once a
Subject has been setup a Regulator might want to revise its
Requirements by performing only some of the foregoing
activities.
9. Lesson Planning Operations
[0226] FIGS. 37 and 38 show one method of how a Teacher would
prepare or revise a Lesson object by invoking the Prepare Lesson
operation, for example by connecting the Browser on his Teacher
Client to the Learning Management Server or by activating the
Lectern App Client on the Lectern Client.
[0227] In Set Program and Set Subject activities, the Teacher would
identify existing Progam(s) and Subject(s) that the Lesson object
would support.
[0228] In a Specify Lesson activity, the Teacher would specify the
Lesson which might be as simple as setting the name of a new Lesson
object or selecting the name of an existing Lesson object. This
activity might include specifying other aspects of the Lesson
object as well, for example instructions for other Teachers who
might present this Lesson.
[0229] In a Specify Topic activity, the Teacher would specify one
or more Topic objects to support the Lesson. This activity might be
as simple as setting the name of a new Topic object or selecting
the name of an existing Topic object to reuse with the current
Lesson. This activity might include specifying other aspects of the
Topic object as well, for example notes on how past Students
responded to the Topic.
[0230] For each Topic object, there is a Specify Content activity,
in which the Teacher would specify Content objects to communicate
the Topic, for example an Exposition object, a Demonstration object
and/or a Test object. The Teacher might create these Content
objects or might simply associate freely available Content objects
or Content objects licensed from a Publisher to the Topic object.
For the Test objects, there are both Specify Test Query and Specify
Test Scheme activities, the former specifying the question(s) to be
posed to the Students and the former specifying (including for
automatic marking by the System) a mapping of Student Responses to
Student Marks and Subject grading Requirements
[0231] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that multiple
Teachers could invoke the Prepare Lesson operation concurrently or
consecutively to collaborate on the preparation of a particular
Lesson or to customize different versions of a particular
Lesson.
[0232] Those skilled in the art will also recognize that it may be
beneficial to provide for additional attributes for the Lesson,
Topic or Content classes. For example, it might be helpful to track
the time that each of these objects is expected to take, thus
providing a way for the Teacher to evaluate how much content should
go into one Lesson or one meeting of a Class. The actual meeting
may or may not mandate that this time specification be adhered to.
The time spent presenting each of these objects could be separately
recorded and subsequently, reports might be generated to identify
the actual time spent in comparison to the time anticipated by the
teacher. This data may be useful to an Auditor, Regulator or
Teacher, for example, to adjust the Lesson. Topic or Content for
maximum efficacy.
10. Publishing Operations
[0233] FIG. 39-FIG. 44 show a variety of methods for how a
Publisher would make publications available to the System by
invoking the Publish Curriculum operation at the Publisher
Server.
[0234] FIG. 39 shows a comprehensive method to Publish Curriculum,
in which the Publisher publishes a complete family of objects for a
particular Subject, including Lesson objects, Topic objects and
Content objects including Exposition, Demonstration and Test
objects. By taking this comprehensive approach and working closely
with a Regulator, the Publisher can provide Scheme objects (and the
Regulator can certify the Scheme objects) to enable fully automatic
marking of Test objects in that Scheme objects map Student Response
objects comprehensively to the grading Requirements for the Subject
as a whole. In a less automated embodiment, such correlations may
be provided informationally as attributes.
[0235] FIG. 40 shows a slightly more modest method to Publish
Curriculum, in which the Publisher publishes a complete family of
objects for a discrete Lesson. In this discrete Lesson approach,
the Scheme objects can automate marking at the Lesson level but may
not map to the grading Requirements for a Subject as a whole. In a
less automated embodiment, such correlations may be provided
informationally as attributes.
[0236] FIG. 41 shows another method to Publish Curriculum, in which
the Publisher publishes a Subject Template, being a logical
arrangement of Lessons (Regulator-required, Regulator-recommended
and Publisher-supplementary) and supporting Topics without Content
objects, such that a Teacher is provided with a detailed outline
for a Subject but follows his own pedagogy in creating or selecting
Content objects to elucidate the Topics.
[0237] FIG. 42 shows a more modest method to Publish Curriculum, in
which the Publisher publishes a Lesson Template, being a logical
arrangement of Topics without Content objects, such that a Teacher
is provided with a detailed outline for a Lesson but follows his
own pedagogy in creating or selecting Content objects to elucidate
the Topics.
[0238] FIG. 43 shows yet another method to Publish Curriculum, in
which the Publisher publishes a Subject Collection of Content
objects, being a Collection of Content objects specifically
selected by the Publisher for their ability to elucidate Lessons
and Topics in a particular Subject. In this method, no Subject,
Lesson or Topic objects are published, but the Content objects may
be provided in such a way as to easily sort, filter or otherwise
associate them (for example using metadata tags) with Lessons or
Topics that are commonly taught in a Subject or that have been
Required for a Subject by a Regulator. Those skilled in the art
will recognize that such Content objects might be Exposition
objects, Demonstration objects, Test objects or a combination.
[0239] FIG. 44 shows a more modest method to Publish Curriculum, in
which the Publisher publishes a Lesson Collection of Content
objects, being a Collection of Content objects specifically
selected by the Publisher for their ability to elucidate Topics in
a particular Lesson. In this method, no Lesson or Topic objects are
published, but the Content objects may be provided in such a way as
to easily sort, filter or otherwise associate them (for example
using metadata tags) with Topics that are commonly taught in a
Lesson. Those skilled in the art will recognize that such Content
objects might be Exposition objects, Demonstration objects. Test
objects or a combination.
[0240] Those skilled in the art will recognize from the above six
examples of methods to Publish Curriculum that there are many other
methods that can be implemented by modifying or combining the
methods of these examples.
[0241] Those skilled in the art will also recognize that a
Publisher may use the System to publish Content as unrelated to any
particular Program, Subject, Lesson or Topic--extra-curricular
content--that a Teacher may find useful for unanticipated purposes
and may integrate into Lessons or otherwise as the Teacher sees
fit.
[0242] Description Summary
[0243] Thus, it will be seen from the foregoing embodiments and
examples that there has been described a way to manage education
and training workflows.
[0244] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the System
helps to provide a in certification of learning outcomes, as
specified in Curriculum Requirements set by a Regulator (a
certifying body) that includes a set of objectives defined to
realize a Program goal--whether it be an educational program, a
training program or more informally a set of outcomes defined by a
trainer/instructor/regulator to define an ad-hoc program including
extra-curricular learning. The System fosters the Interaction of
Students with the specified Program/Subjects/Lessons/Topics/Content
and documents those Interactions to evidence when and how these
outcomes have been satisfied during the training/education process.
Testing Schemes map Student Responses to Lesson Marks and Subject
grade Requirements, for either automatic marking or standards-based
manual marking. An Auditor can audit the performance (and more
broadly propriety) of the Student Interactions against the
Curriculum Requirements. And so the System can certify that desired
outcomes have been achieved when a Program has been completed
successfully and thus a `degree` or `certificate` has been earned
or a particular extra-curricular activity has simply been
completed.
[0245] While specific embodiments of the invention have been
described and illustrated, such embodiments should be considered
illustrative of the invention only and not as limiting the
invention as construed in accordance with the accompanying
claims.
[0246] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that
various changes, modifications, additions, deletions and
substitutions can be made to the foregoing embodiments without
departing from the principle and scope of the invention expressed
in the claims made herein.
[0247] Very useful embodiments of the invention could be created
with less expansive or coarser grained class structures or network
topologies. For example, a simpler but still useful System might
focus only on Teachers preparing Lessons that include Publisher
Content and presenting Lessons to it Students, and in that regard
omit the Regulator Server, School Server, Auditor Client and
Guardian Client and have a Curriculum without Programs and
Subjects.
[0248] Similarly, very useful embodiments of the invention could be
created by incorporating its teachings into more expansive or finer
grained class structures or network topologies.
[0249] Class structures in accordance with the teachings of the
invention can be usefully integrated into systems having different
hierarchies through the use of metadata tags, for example as
attributes of the Lesson class.
[0250] While the invention has been described as having particular
application for managing education and training workflows, those
skilled in the art will recognize it has wider application.
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