Patent Application
20120094259
Many books and other devices have been created to aid a person, usually a child, to learn to spell in a predetermined language. In a language learning situation, it is useful to provide the student, particularly if it is a child, with as much comfort as possible in the learning situation so that they will not turn off or turn away from learning.
Accordingly, it is a major purpose of this invention to provide a spelling teaching device which has an enhanced level of comfort for use by a student.
It is a related purpose of this invention to meet the above purpose in a device that is simple and inexpensive so that it will attain widespread use.
It is a further purpose to provide the above in a device that can be independently used by the student so that learning can take place without requiring the presence of a teacher.
In brief, the basic embodiment of this invention is one which combines various features that provide, in combination, an enhanced comfort level for a student learning how to spell a language.
The device involved is a hand-held electronic reference product having a keyboard and a screen. A memory is adapted to store a set of words including an audio record of each stored word and a spelling record of each stored word.
The device has an edit mode in which an editor, usually a parent or teacher, uses the keyboard to input a set of spelled words which are stored in the memory. After each word's spelling is input, the teacher switches the device to a state where the teacher uses a microphone to speak the entered spelled word thereby creating an audio record in memory of the pronunciation of each word. The audio record of each word is linked to the spelling record of the word. One advantage of this mode of associating pronunciation with spelling is that the individual speaking into the microphone can be someone with whom the student is familiar such as a parent or a teacher. This familiarity gives a level of comfort to the student and facilitates an understanding of what is being spoken. This process of pronouncing the word and associating that pronunciation with the spelling of the word is repeated for each word on a list or on a series of lists.
A learning mode can then be selected. In this learning mode, actuation of an appropriate key on the keyboard causes display of one or more spelled words on the display screen. Selection of one of the words displayed accesses the audio record of that word and provides pronunciation through a speaker. In this fashion the student has the spelling and associated pronunciation presented.
In one version, a plurality of lists are used ranging from the simplest to more complex and the procedure is repeated for each word in each list after the list involved has been selected by the student.
Each list can be gone over as often as a student wishes until the student is satisfied that he or she has correctly spelled all the words in the list. At that time, the student can go on to an additional list.
The selection of a lists, the repeating of a list, deciding when to go from one list to another are all under control of the student and gives an added sense of comfort to a student.
In a spelling quiz mode, the student presses a key which brings up the pronunciation of a word. The student then has a predetermined time within which to type the spelling of that word on the keyboard. The device has a comparator which compares the typed in spelling against the correct spelling and then provides an indication to the student whether or not the spelling is correct.
Additionally, the device may be equipped with means for adding an audible spelling hint for one or more words on each list. These hints are preferably in the familiar, comforting voice of a parent or teacher and are entered in the edit mode. In the learning mode, the hint can be accessed in the by the student at his or her discretion.
It is believed that this combination of pronunciation by a voice familiar to the student coupled with the student's ability to control much of the operation of that spelling learning device provides an optimum degree of comfort that facilitates the student's learning.
The Figures are all relate to one embodiment of the invention.
The memory unit 28 stores keyboard entered words for visual format presentation and also stores the audio pronunciation of words. This audio pronunciation of words is input through the microphone circuit 29. The speaker circuit 90 permits the student to hear the pronunciation of the words. The memory unit 28 may or may not have the spelling and pronunciation stored as records in a database.
A USB port on the side of the device (not shown) may be incorporated to provide an interface with outside devices such as a personal computer. For example, a list from a PC can be synchronized with a list in the device 10.
The processor 25 is programmed with the appropriate software to control and enable each of the circuits. The processor 25 also handles processing of the software to allow functions to be preformed on data held in the database. The functions of the software are disclosed in the flow charts in sufficient detail so that a programmer skilled in the art can create the detailed software from these flow charts.
The flow charts of
As used herein, the term editor refers to any individual who can input the spelling and pronunciation for the student. Thus the device described herein is adapted to be used by a parent or teacher with whom a student is familiar to provide the comfort level of having a familiar voice, which tends to enhance learning.
With reference to
If the editor has selected “Delete”, the words in the List previously selected are available to be scrolled. The editor, at step 34 scrolls to the word to be deleted and, as indicated at step 35 presses the enter key 17 to delete the selected word. The device then presents the choice indicated at step 33. If the editor selects “Add/Record” and then presses the enter key 17, the device is put in a state to accept new words. The editor at step 36 types in a new word through the keyboard 12 and at step 37 presses the enter key 17 to place the word into memory. The enter key 17 is then pressed again at step 38 to enable audio recording. The device provides five seconds at step 39 for the editor to speak the word into the microphone 14. At the end of five seconds, the audio pronunciation of the word is stored in memory and is linked to the corresponding typed version of the immediately preceding typed word.
Each of the terms “scroll” and “select”, used at steps 31, 33 and 34 above and elsewhere herein, should be understood to refer to steps in which the device either provided the choices one at a time for selection by the editor or provides the choices simultaneously on the screen 11 requiring the editor to scroll to the item to be selected.
There is a hint function as part of the edit mode. When the editor completes word addition and deletion as shown in
One example of the hint that might be used for a particular student might be the following. The word the student is to spell is “gate”. The hint the editor might enter is “remember your auntie in Minneapolis”. In this example, this hint makes sense where the aunt's name is Kate.
As shown in
If at step 46, the hint key 23 is pressed, then at step 48, the previously recorded hint is played through the speaker or presented on the screen. For example, if the word displayed is “gate”, pressing the hint button could provide the hint “Remember your auntie in Minneapolis”; her name being Kate.
This learning mode can also be used by the editor to check on the inputs from the edit mode. The editor can then revert to the edit mode to make corrections by deleting a record or adding a corrected record.
With reference to
The student might then, at step 56, press the Hint key 23 to obtain oral or written information, at step 57, to aid the student in spelling the word. If the Hint key is not pressed or if the hint has been presented, the student then, at step 58, enters, on the keyboard 12, the student's understanding of how to spell the word that had been pronounced at step 55. When finished spelling, the student again presses the enter key 17 (step 59). The device determines if the student entered word is spelled correctly (step 60) and at step 61 displays either “Correct” or “Incorrect”. The correct spelling is displayed at step 62 if the student had entered the incorrect spelling. At step 63 the next word on the List is selected by the program and at step 64 this next word is determined to be or to not be the last word on the list. If it is not the last word, the audio file pronounce the next word at step 65 and thereafter the sequence of steps from step 58 on can be repeated until the List is exhausted. When the list is exhausted, such a determination is made at step 64 and then the mode is stopped at step 66.
The first few steps 70, 71 and 72 of this mode are essentially the same as in the
Steps 74 and 75 correspond to steps 56 and 57 in the
If the selected word does not correspond, then at step 79 the indication “Incorrect” is provided on the display screen and at step 80 the correct answer is displayed on the screen. If the selected word does correspond to the audio file, then the screen displays “Excellent”. At step 82, determination is made as to whether all of the words in the selected List have been played. If not, then the routine beginning at step 72 is repeated until all of the words have been played. When all of the words have been played, a score is calculated and at step 84 that score is displayed.
One advantage of the design shown is that it can be used to teach spelling in any language that uses the standard QWERTY keyboard. The inputs by the editor of both spelling and pronunciation of a word are determined by the editor and not by the device itself. Thus, the device can be used in any language that uses the Latin alphabet in which special pronunciation marks can be ignored.
While the foregoing description and drawings represent the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, it should be understood that those skilled in the art will be able to make changes and modifications to those embodiments without departing from the teachings of the invention and the scope of the claims.
