The present invention is related to Internet-based online teaching and in particular to the integration of human teachers with online teaching.
Many learners (students) are stuck in the role of observer, often watching what goes on around them without participating. In addition to language frictions, students may also lack the experience and/or confidence to participate. Traditional online teaching methods simply track student progress and loop a student back to a checkpoint if they fail. This somewhat isolated learning environment does not promote or otherwise encourage motivation to learn.
The present invention provides a learning system wherein students are provided with course content via the internet and perform learning activities online. The students are paired with teachers and other students as needed for learning. The system provides monitoring and ranking of student abilities and needs, teacher abilities and weakness, and content effectiveness, and can match teachers and students based on student needs and teacher abilities to meet those needs. The system allows for dynamic updating of content, and provides suggested content based on effectiveness.
Features of the present invention include:
The present invention provides includes at least the following aspects:
The following definitions are applicable in the context of the present invention:
A. General terms
B. Per-Student Metrics
C. Per-Teacher Metrics
D. Student Content Metrics
E. Teacher Content Metrics
The following procedural capabilities are provided:
A. Dynamic Teacher/Student Matching
B. Dynamic Teacher/Teacher Matching
C. Dynamic Peer Matching (1 to 1 and 1 to many)
D. Dynamically Suggesting Content
E. For Students
F. For Teachers
G. For Peer Group/Classroom
H. Need/Proficiency Pairs
According to the present invention, a student may register online for classes at any time. No set schedule is required for the classes. Registration grants students access to the system, and the student may work through the materials at their own pace.
A student may be placed in classes by various means, such as by taking a placement examination or based on previous completed courses.
After course placement and registration, a student is granted access to course materials and is allowed to progress through the materials. It is appreciated that the course materials depend on the subject being taught.
The computer system and course materials may be multilingual. The system may provide a database with multiple languages, which can interact with students in their native language and handle multiple languages at once. The system can match students with other students and teachers having the same native language as may be necessary or beneficial.
As a student works through the course materials, the student may schedule video conferences with teachers. These video conferences are often one on one video conferences between the student and teacher. Additionally, other types of video conferences may be utilized, such as between a teacher and multiple students, and between students.
Video conferences may be scheduled for a variety of reasons. If a student progresses through the course materials to a certain point, the student may be notified that a conference should be set up with a teacher. Alternatively, a student may be prompted to set up a conference based on scores on an assignment or test, based on the inability to understand or pass a certain point in the material, etc.
Video conferences thus become an important part of the course, and allow students to receive personalized attention from teachers. During a video conference, a teacher may present examples or learning exercises relevant to the student's needs.
Teachers or students can review previous conferences, lessons, all graded items, etc as desired. This can be used to determine why a student is not passing a current lesson point.
A student thus progresses through the course materials, and upon completion of one course, may register for any subsequent courses.
A significant aspect of the present invention is the use of a computer system to monitor and manage the learning process. The system provides a variety of functions as described herein.
One use of the computer system is to track the student progress through the course work. The system monitors and records many aspects of the student's study and progress through a course. The system monitors the students study habits and progress. The system tracks where a student spends time while studying and reviewing lesson material. The system also tracks the student's scores on assignments, activities, and tests.
Thus, the system is able to determine the strengths and weaknesses of a particular student. The system contains information as to which assignments or which concepts the student had trouble with, as well as in which areas the student performed well. Built in grading and reports based on progress allow review of progress, grades, status at any time. Reports can be used to see why a student is not passing a certain point in the lessons.
The system can provide notification to parents, boss, etc. regarding the student's progress. Responsible persons may log on and view records of students assigned to them. They can view scores, watch sessions, tie into live sessions, provide feedback to the system, view where students have spent time. The system can provide immediate report cards and scores provided to students or authorized persons to gauge progress. Such reports may not be limited to test scores only, but may include information regarding study habits, video conferences, etc.
Information regarding a student's progress may be used to determine whether or not a student would benefit from a video conference, or is ready to advance to the next course or curriculum.
The system can track what a student has reviewed, test scores, work scores, and provide these to a teacher. The teacher knows what a student has spent time on, what the student does well and has problems with. The system can provide suggestions as to what a student needs. Student will hit milestones which triggers a message that the student is ready for a video conference with a teacher. The student submits a request for a conference, a teacher may accept it, and the student may initiate the video conference. A student may request a videoconference on their own. Students requesting a conference may immediately be paired with an available teacher.
Triggers for a videoconference may be that a student can not progress beyond a certain point, or the student may have completed up to a certain point.
Teachers are provided with areas to address with students. The database system provides problem areas in lessons to work on with students. Adaptive learning within the system is routing a student within a learning system. A student is matched to teachers according to student needs and teacher abilities.
Similarly, monitoring student progress, scores, and the like may allow the system to find problems with the course material. Comparing the information from many students allows the system to determine if a particular part of the course material is inadequate to teach the desired concepts. These results may be used to modify the course materials. Materials which are inadequate may be marked for revision. Additionally, examples or illustrations of the course materials may be marked as to their effectiveness. The examples and materials may be ranked according to their effectiveness, and the most effective materials may be presented to students.
The system may also allow for feedback regarding the materials. The system may allow students and others to rate the materials and to comment on why the materials were or were not effective in learning the desired subject. Such comments may be used by system administrators or teachers to revise the materials.
Students provide feedback on lessons, teachers, examples, techniques. The system records feedback and uses it to rate the effectiveness of the material, which is used to suggest material most effective at solving a particular problem.
Teachers can mark or edit or update Lesson Content to improve the learning, based off of results and feedback. Teacher can note which things work or do not work and content is rated by usefulness. Teacher note problems and solutions related to student type, location, etc.
In a manner similar to how students are tracked, the system may also track teachers to determine teacher effectiveness. Video conferences between students and teachers may be monitored and tracked by the system to determine how much time was required and how much improvement was made by the student following the conference. Students may also be able to rate and comment on the teacher effectiveness and the effectiveness of examples and other content provided by the teacher.
The system thus allows for the ranking of both the teacher and the materials presented by the teachers. The system can track what the teacher is good at teaching and what a teacher is bad at teaching.
The system utilizes the ratings and information stored to manage the learning process for the students. The course content may be dynamically managed to improve the content. Content which has shown to be ineffective in teaching the students may be replaced or modified. Content which has been effective in teaching the students may be automatically presented to the students at the appropriate point in the course. Tracking the effectiveness of the content for each student allows the system to determine the overall effectiveness of the content in teaching, and allows the system to rate content according to effectiveness and present the most effective content to a student.
Tracking student progress and difficulties allows the system to customize content to each particular student. The system may track the particular difficulties a student is having and present effective content to the student. Additionally, when a video conference is needed, the system can match a student's particular difficulties to a teacher who is effective in teaching the needed concepts and schedule video conferences between the student and the desired teacher.
Students are placed with a teacher best suited to their skills, level, or deficiencies. The system monitors scores, time to complete lessons, etc to determine what a student needs. Information about a student's progress may be used to adjust the learning process or material and to pair a student with teachers for video conferences.
The system also monitors teacher effectiveness at teaching specific lessons or skills based on student progress, time used, feedback and review scores. Teachers are rated up or down on particular lessons or skills so that each teacher is rated for the skills and lessons they have taught. Student needs are then matched with teacher effectiveness for a particular topic.
The system may also present the student's study and progress information to the teacher, and present highly ranked examples or supplemental material to the teacher to cover during the video conference.
Teachers are provided with the skills, examples, activities to teach a particular lesson or skill. For video conferences, teachers are provided with the material relevant to a specific student problem. Teacher effectiveness is tracked and used to select specific teachers according to student needs. Teacher can train through a similar system to increase their abilities. There is a teacher pool of many teachers. The system tracks and rates teachers on specific topics and determines which teachers are the most effective at teaching particular concepts.
Students are matched to the most effective teacher at solving their particular problem. The most effective path for teaching is selected as a student progresses through material as the students are routed to the most effective teachers for each particular problem.
Classroom settings may also be utilized. A video conference can thus be between one teacher and many students. The system can select a group of students with similar needs, problems, strengths, etc. and can match to a teacher best suited to the particular needs.
If a group of students have trouble with similar concepts, the system may identify all of these students and arrange a group videoconference between these students and a teacher which is effective in teaching these concepts.
Video conferencing can also be student to student. A student who is bad at A and good at B can be matched to a student who is bad at B and good at A for a conference. Pairing can also be based on similar interests or backgrounds. Students can be left to talk freely, given specific topics to discuss, review lessons, etc. Students are allowed to see strengths and weaknesses in other students and allowed to discuss challenges in lessons and tests.
The system provides dynamic rating of student and teacher strength and weakness and dynamic pairing of students and teachers according to strength and weakness and needs. Teaching content is also dynamic as it can be edited by teacher and is rated according to effectiveness. During conferences, content is suggested to teachers or students according to effectiveness.
The system may also track the types of examples or materials which a particular student found effective and correlate the materials in such a manner. The system may track the examples and materials useful to particular students and determine correlations between what types of examples are useful to particular types of students. Thus the system can provide examples and materials to aid in teaching a student according to the student's previous learning patterns or other information.
The system may determine that students living in England found example A useful in learning concept 1, example F useful in learning concept 2, and example c useful in learning concept 3, while students living in the United States of America found example B useful in learning concept 1, example c useful in learning concept 2, and example G useful in learning concept 3. Similarly, the system may determine a student who found example B useful in learning concept 1 will likely find example A useful in learning concept 2 and example D useful in learning concept 3, while a student who found example A useful in learning concept 1 will likely find example C useful in learning concept 2 and example B useful in learning concept 3.
By so monitoring the entire learning process, including students, teachers, course materials, supplemental materials, etc., the system allows for the most efficient learning process for each particular student. When a student has trouble with a particular concept, the most relevant supplemental material may be presented to the student. When a teacher conference is desired or needed, the system can match a student to a teacher according to the strengths and weaknesses of the student and the effectiveness of the teacher in teaching the specific concepts needed by the student.
Each individual student is thus routed through the most efficient teaching pathway for themselves individually. They are presented with the concepts most relevant to their needs and are taught by the teacher most qualified to help with their particular needs.
The course content may be constantly monitored via feedback, ratings, and student progress monitoring and dynamically adjusted to increase the priority ratings for effective content and by editing less effective content.
Referring to
The invention provides real-time placement (104) of the a newly registered student. Registration (106) grants students access to the system, allowing the student to work through the materials at their own pace. After course placement and registration, a student is granted access to course materials and is allowed to progress through the materials (108). The student's progress is monitored, as he/she progresses through the material. Based on the student's progress through the material, recommendations can be made to schedule a live video conference with a teacher (110).
Live teachers are an integral aspect of the presentation invention. Teacher-users are always available to the student (24 hours a day, seven days a week). The live video conference can be conducted with a teacher-user irrespective of the student's geographic location. Teachers provide real-time course interaction based on the student's progress, and importantly provide valuable real-time feedback, grading, and reporting to the student to allow the student to assess his weaknesses and so that he can direct his efforts more effectively than without such feedback.
An aspect of the present invention is that the student's progress through the learning material is monitored, and when certain milestones are detected (step 204a), live video conferences with a teacher-user (step 204b) can be recommended. Typically, conferences are recommended because the student has not made sufficient progress as determined from testing, by monitoring his activity with the courser material, and so on. The student and teacher can then arrange for a video conference (step 204c). A scheduling database can be provided to facilitate the exchange of the student-user's and the teacher-user's scheduling information.
A live video conference session between the student and the teacher is then conducted (step 204d). Feedback from the conference can be entered into the database (step 204e); additional detail of the various databases in an embodiment of the present invention is given below. This feedback includes feedback from the student as well as the teacher. The student's feedback allows the teacher to review (step 204f) his teaching performance and about the course material, thus allowing for refinement of the course material as well as the teacher's teaching methodology. The student completes the course (step 204g) by taking examination(s) to prove his proficiency. The student's grade is also provided (step 204h) to the student. In an embodiment of the present invention, the student's student data record can be provided to other personnel. For example, an employer of the student might want to be able to assess the student's progress and proficiency, especially if the employer has paid for the learning.
Upon completion of the course material, a certificate can be issued (step 206a). For example, in an embodiment of the present invention, the course material relates to learning English. In an embodiment of the present invention, an ECT Certificate is issued. The ECT certificate (English Certification Test) is a test created and licensed by the Brigham Young University. Upon completion of a course, the student is allowed to register for another course (step 206b). For example, the student can register for an additional courses such as “SpeakENG Business” programs once he has completed the “SpeakENG Academic” course load and taken a certification exam.
The student-user can log out of the system and complete the placement exam at a later time.
After having completed the placement exam, the student-user can proceed with course selection (step 302). A student account is then created (step 304). This typically occurs early on when the student has decided to register to take courses. Creating a student account involves obtaining a student ID (step 306), used to log onto the system, and involves requesting an ID from the student (step 306a) and verifying if the selected ID is already in use by another student (step 306b). After an acceptable ID is provided, student data is obtained (step 308). This involves obtaining data (step 308a) such as shown in form 332 and verifying (step 308b). Upon a successful entry of the student's data (step 308c), the student's email is verified (step 310) and a verification email is sent (step 312). The student then verifies the email address (step 314), for the student can click a link in a verification email that is sent to the student to confirm that it is a valid email address before account creation completes.
Recall from
If a video session is ready to commence, then a URL pop-up will be pushed to the student's browser (
Prior to conducting the video conference, the teacher can access the databases (
In the particular embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in
The student-user component 1002 comprises a computer 1002a comprising components of a typical computer such as a data processing unit, memory, storage (e.g., hard disk drive), a display, and input devices such as a keyboard and a pointing device (e.g., mouse). Stored on the computer 1002a are various software components. A suitable browser 1026 executing on the student's computer 1002a provides Internet to the Web site hosted by the learning center.
The Client Site 1034 represents various web pages necessary to allow the student-user to access the learning center via the web browser 1026. For example, web pages are provided to launch a Lesson Engine 1022, to initiate a download of Lesson Content from the server Lesson Content store 1052, to access the student's data records, and so on.
The Lesson Engine 1022 is configured to operate the student's computer 1002a to access and display Lesson Content to the student-user. Lesson Content is stored locally in a Lesson Content data store 1028, and typically comprises XML files, MP3 data, and .mov data; but can include any other media suitable for displaying lessons and interaction with the lessons. In one embodiment, the Lesson Content data store 1028 is storage on the hard disk drive of the student's computer 1002a. Alternatively, it may be more suitable that the Lesson Content data store 1028 is contained in a shared local data store that is accessible by two or more students.
The Lesson Engine 1022 is launched from the web browser 1026, and mediates interactions between the student and the Lesson Content. The Lesson Engine 1022 monitors and records the student's interactions with the Lesson Content. For example, the Lesson Engine 1022 will monitor the student's access activity of the Lesson Content (length of time spent at each page, number of repeated accesses to a particular page, how many questions in the lesson content the student answered, which lessons the student worked on, which games the student played as a part of the content, which skills (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, listening, communication, pronunciation) the student worked on, and so on.
A bridge 1032 is provided between the Lesson Engine 1022 and client software referred to as the SpeakENG Service 1024. The bridge 1032 is a lightweight program component that is responsible for passing student activity data and a few other things (e.g., student's username, what course/unit/lesson to display, etc.) between the SpeakENG Service 1024 and Lesson Engine 1022. The SpeakENG Service 1024 comprises the programming for providing a suitable user interface to access the Lesson Content and to perform the related lesson-access activities on the student's computer 1002a. The SpeakENG Service 1024 communicates over the Internet with a Web service 1044 in the learning center 1004 to send the student activity data to a Backend Server 1042.
A video conference engine 1036 can be launched on the computer 1002a when a live video conference between the student-user and the teacher-user is conducted. The video conference engine 1036 receives video and possibly audio from the teacher for display on the student's computer 1002a. The video conference engine 1036 can also receive digital video from a digital camera aimed at the student and send the captured video to the teacher. Allowing the teacher to view the student can provide important information to the teacher, especially in the case where language learning is involved. Oftentimes, it is important to be able to see how the student forms the sounds in order to give properly teach the student. The video conference engine 1036 can also receive digital audio input from a microphone that the student speaks into and send the captured audio to the teacher. Alternatively, the audio connection between the student and teacher can be by a telephone or some other suitable communications channel. In an embodiment of the present invention, the video conference engine 1036 is a Skype™ client.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the learning center 1004 is presented to the student as a web site. The web site can be hosted on one or more server machines. The Backend Server 1042 represents the main workhorse of the learning center 1004. The Backend Server 1042 handles all the logic associated with storing and retrieving all data; e.g. Scheduling, Records, Registrations, Test/Quiz results, Users, and so on. The Backend Server 1042 also handles logic associated with administering tests/quizzes, performing authentication, authorization, and so on.
The Web service 1044 is a thin facade responsible for relaying data (such as student records, available courses, authentication, etc) between the SpeakENG Service 1024 and the Backend Server 1044. A portal 1046 delivers the Web pages to the browser 1026 to give most of the functionality that the web site provides that is not otherwise provided by the Client Site 1034, such as Scheduling, Test/Quiz taking, Course registration, Progress display, and so on.
The Lesson Content is stored in the data store 1052 as lesson files. As the student accesses the various lessons in a course, the appropriate lesson files are downloaded to the Lesson Content data store 1028. The lesson files are typically zipped up (e.g., .zip files) for easy downloading.
Various databases include: a Student Database 1054. This database stores of all data associated with a student; e.g., Lesson Progress, Placement Exam scores, Test/Quiz scores, the student's lesson access activity/history. A Scheduling Database 1056 stores the scheduling data that constitutes the schedules of all teachers and the times that students have scheduled sessions. An Evaluation Database 1058 contains evaluation content necessary to display and grade tests and quizzes. Typically, this data is stored as XML files, MP3 data, and images; of course, any other suitable data format is possible.
The teacher component 1006 comprises a computer 1006a on which a suitable browser 1062 can be executed to access the learning center 1004. A teacher-user can access the various databases 1054-1058 maintained at the learning center 1004. This allows the teacher to monitor and assess the student-user's progress through the learning material.
The computer 1006a can also launch a video conferencing engine 1064 in order to conduct a scheduled a live video conference between the teacher and the student, and in an embodiment of the present invention is a Skype™ client. As with the student's video conferencing engine, the teachers video conferencing engine 1064 receives video and possibly audio from the student. The video conferencing engine 1064 can also be configured to receive video from a digital camera aimed at the teacher and to send the captured video to the student. This is particularly useful for language learning, as it allows the teacher to visually demonstrate to the student how words are formed. The audio can be provided via a telephone or some other suitable communications channel.
A relay sever 1082 (e.g., the Skype™ supernode) mediates the communication (video and audio) between the two video conferencing engines 1036, 1064. In an embodiment of the present invention a conference database 1048 receives and stores video and audio feeds from the relay server 1082 which constitute a recording of the live video conference. These recordings can be accessed by the student or the teacher for review purposes, for evaluation and feedback of teacher effectiveness. The recording can be reviewed by the learning center personnel to evaluate teacher effectiveness.
As discussed above, an important aspect of the present invention is the integration of live video conferencing with the computer-assisted presentation of learning material. This requires scheduling a video session with the teacher. The student can request a video conference.
Referring to the screenshot of
Referring now to
The teacher's availability may vary as teaching assignments change or unexpected events happen. The teacher can log into the learning center and alter his or her schedule accordingly. Changes in the teacher's schedule are reflected each time a student brings up a scheduling menu. For example, in
The present application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/790,097, filed Apr. 6, 2006, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60790097 | Apr 2006 | US |