Patent Application
20100035226
The present invention relates to a computerized education device, multimedia production device and associated methods to support distance learning that provide students with an adaptive and proactive interactive learning environment.
The process of educational instruction has changed greatly from conventional teaching techniques in recent years. The conventional teaching techniques involve a teacher presenting concepts to students in a non-interactive way. Often, textbooks or other printed materials are provided to students in anticipation that the students will study the printed material before the teacher presents and explains the material in class. Conventional education techniques, even today, are still taught principally with words, and textbooks and speech as primary mediums of communication in a classroom. Therefore, distance learning has become a desirable option for education, which conforms to time and geographic constraints of teachers and students. Use of networks including local and wide area networks such as the internet and local area networks (LANs) has made this possible.
Use of networks allows students to study at anytime and any place.
Advancement of animation technology, particularly Macromedia's Flash, has created interactive animation of images. However, Flash was designed as a professional tool for artists and animators to create professional internet animations. Professional Flash animators are expensive and difficult to find. Most teachers are not sufficiently educated to create dynamic images using Macromedia's Flash. Therefore, there is a need for a web-based education device that requires an efficient method to build an effective distant learning device without having to employ highly skilled and trained specialists.
To overcome Flash's static content limitation, a need for a web-based education device that allows Flash content to be changed dynamically based on responses of students is required.
The present invention has multiple objectives. The primary objective is to provide a computerized education device with a learning platform that allows a student to log in and take tests.
The secondary objective is to provide a computerized multimedia production device that has multiple-user and multiple-tasking capabilities to produce multimedia materials.
The third objective is to provide a Flash component conversion method that generates a Flash component without expensive creation work.
The fourth objective is to provide a dynamic interactive method that allows changing difficulty of content based on responses of students.
The computerized education device, multimedia production device and associated methods in accordance with the present invention provide students with an adaptive and proactive interactive learning environment. The computerized education device allows a student to log in and take tests and comprises a computer-based learning platform, a content database, a student database and a processor. The multimedia producing device has multiple-user and multiple-tasking capabilities to produce multimedia materials and comprises a managing server and multiple stations. The FLASH component conversion method makes a Flash component without expensive creation work and comprises acts of retrieving content, sampling, generating a small web format file, generating a data model and generating a FLASH quiz. The interacting method changes difficulty of content based on responses of students and comprises acts of qualifying, entertaining and compiling statistics.
With reference to
The computerized education device (1) comprises a learning platform (10), a content database (11), a student database (12) and a processor (13).
The learning platform (10) is a graphical user interface (GUI) and an optional web-based interface. The GUI offers graphical indicators to a person and allows the person to interact with the education device and take tests. The web-based interface may allow a person to log into the computerized education device (1) through a computer connected to the internet.
The content database (11) comprises multiple records, multiple exercises and multiple game modules. The exercises are stored respectively in records in at least one file format. The at least one file format may be selected from Word, text, numerical, date or data files. The game modules are respectively Flash backgrounds and comprise interactivity and sound effects.
The student database (12) stores personal information data about specific students. The personal information data for each student comprises at least the student's name, account name, password, grade and academic history.
The content database (11) and student database (12) may be a Relational Database Model database.
The processor (13) generates a FLASH quiz, is connected to the learning platform (10), the content database (11) and the student database (12), sends the corresponding FLASH quiz to the learning platform (10) and comprises a converting unit (131) and a game unit (132).
The converting unit (131) is connected to the content database (11), converts content of the exercise into a FLASH component and generates the FLASH quiz.
The game unit (132) is connected to the converting unit (131), the learning platform (10) and the student database (12) and provides entertainment interaction through the learning platform (10).
A Flash component conversion method (2) in accordance with the present invention may be performed in the converting unit (131), converts content of an exercise into a FLASH component, generates a FLASH quiz and comprises acts of retrieving content (20), sampling (21), generating small web format (swf) files (22), generating data models (23) and generating FLASH quizzes (24). The FLASH quizzes are sent to the learning platform (10) by the processor (13).
The act of retrieving content (20) comprises retrieving content of an exercise and a corresponding game module from the content database (11).
The act of sampling (21) comprises converting the content of the exercise to a uniform image format (such as Windows Metafile (WMF) or Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format) and generates a temporary image file.
The act of generating swf files (22) comprises animating FLASH components based on the temporary image files and may apply OPENOFFICE DRAW.
The act of generating data models (23) converts the swf files to an Extensible Markup Language (XML) files. The XML files comprise information including display locations, size ratios between temporary image files and desired display sizes and links to the FLASH component.
An example of the XML in accordance with the present invention follows:
The act of generating a FLASH quizzes (24) generates a FLASH quiz based on ActionScript language and uses SWFMILL application software to combine the FLASH component and the game module with a specific scale.
The SWFMILL application software is open source software and its operational method is disclosed at http://swfmill.org.
An interacting method (3) in accordance with the present invention is used in a computerized education device (1) comprising a learning platform (10), a content database (11), a student database (12) and a processor (13), may be used in the game unit (132) and comprises acts of qualifying (30), entertaining (31), compiling statistics (32) and an optional rewarding (33).
The act of qualifying (30) comprises generating a game script, determines difficulty of the game script based on a person's academic history and requests that the converting unit (131) retrieve corresponding exercises to generate multiple corresponding FLASH questions based on the difficulty of the game script.
The act of entertaining (31) comprises transmitting a corresponding FLASH question to the person based on previous responses of the person and the game script.
The act of compiling statistics (32) comprises recording whether the response to a question is correct or incorrect and stores the result in the student database (12).
The act of rewarding (33) comprises giving each person reward points based on the response of questions and stores the reward points in the student database (12).
The reward points can be used as virtual credit allows a person to exchange or purchase virtual goods through some web applications on the education device (1). The applications may be a Flash based virtual character that allows the person buying most novel and fashion clothes for the virtual character, which encourage the person to take tests to earning as much reward points as possible.
Since the difficulty of a game script and the generation of the FLASH question are determined dynamically based on the person's academic performance, the computerized education device (1) provides a challenging and adaptive learning environment that promotes a person's motivation in learning.
A multimedia production device (4) in accordance with the present invention has multiple-user and multiple-tasking capabilities to produce multimedia materials and comprises a managing server (40) and multiple stations (41).
The managing server (40) monitors production procedures and relations of materials, traces errors and comprises a material database (401), a front-end platform (402), a rear-end platform (403) and an optional content decomposing method (5).
The material database (401) stores multimedia materials and links to corresponding materials.
The multimedia materials may be music, sounds, images including photos and questions.
The front-end platform (402) is connected to the material database (401), collects error information, may connect to a computerized education device (1) having a learning platform (10), a content database (11), a student database (12) and a processor (13) and retrieves and sends finished multimedia materials (exercises or game modules) to the computerized education device (1).
The rear-end platform (403) is connected to the material database (401) and the front-end platform (402), is an editing platform for a person to obtain desired material for making multimedia materials and feeds back finished work (or semi finished material) to the material database (401).
The stations (41) are connected to the rear-end platform (403) through the internet that allows specialists such as an animation designer, a teacher, a content editor, a testing member, a FLASH animator or a programmer to cooperate with other specialists.
However, the multimedia materials stored in the material database (401), especially to the quiz content widely vary in different fields such as mathematics to history. Therefore, the content decomposing method (5) in accordance with the present invention is imbedded in the used to help specialists to separate quiz content without having to understand the specific quiz content and comprises acts of classifying content (50), generating multiple sub-content files (51) and an optional FLASH conversion (52).
The act of classifying content (50) retrieves the quiz content from the material database (401) and classifies the quiz content into multiple divisions. The divisions can be tables of a WORD document or be divided by labels (i.e. <title></title>,) and the divisions comprise type, title, description, sources, answers and answer options.
The act of generating multiple sub-content files (51) divides multiple divisions into multiple sub-content files and stores the sub-content files in the material database (401).
The optional act of FLASH conversion (52) uses the Flash component conversion method if the specialist is a FLASH producer that requires making a FLASH quiz, converts the sub-content files to a FLASH component and stores the FLASH component in the material database.
People skilled in the art will understand that various changes, modifications, and alterations in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 097129741 | Aug 2008 | TW | national |
| 097131988 | Aug 2008 | TW | national |
| 097146567 | Dec 2008 | TW | national |
| 098111193 | Apr 2009 | TW | national |
