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Claims  |
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What is claimed is:
1. An educational method which provides an interactive audio-visual system
comprising the steps of:
developing courseware which presents audio-visual material in a desired
manner;
loading said courseware into a plurality of student workstations and a
teacher workstation;
selecting one of a plurality of presentation modes from a student
workstation;
retrieving and presenting at the student workstation audio-visual material
based on said selection step;
displaying, at the end of said presenting step, a plurality of questions
based on said audio-visual material;
comparing answers to said questions to correct answers,
retrieving and presenting, on the basis of said comparing step, audio
visual material relating to questions incorrectly, and
monitoring student progress and alerting the teacher of student need for
remedial instruction.
2. The educational method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
entering assignment answers into the system; and
grading and assignments by comparing the answers entered into the system
with correct answers in the system.
3. The educational system of claim 2 wherein said step of entering
assignment answers comprises the step of:
scanning said answers into the system.
4. The educational method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
printing progess and remedial action notices; and
recording acknowledgements of these notices.
5. The educational method of claim 1 wherein said step of presenting
material further comprises the step of:
providing audio instruction using voice synthesis techniques.
6. An interactive educational system comprising:
supervisory station means for monitoring the education system including:
first interface means for transmitting data to and receiving data from a
student station means;
first output means for outputting data to a user of the supervisory station
means;
first input means for inputting commands to the supervisory station means;
first memory means for storing data and programs used to operate the
educational system; and
first processing means, responsive to said first input means and said first
interface means, for controlling the flow of data among said first
interface means, the first input means, and said first output means; and
student stations means for interacting with a user including:
second interface means for transmitting data to and receiving data from
said supervisory station means;
second output means for outputting data to the user of the student station
means station;
second input means for inputting commands to the student station means;
second memory means for storing data and programs used to operate the
educational system; and
second processing means, responsive to said second input means and said
second interface means, for controlling the flow of data among said second
interface means, said second input means, and said second output means;
wherein said second processing means is also for directing said second
output means to output educational data and questions relating to said
educational data, and for directing said second input means to receive
answers to said questions;
wherein said second processing means is also for comparing said received
answers with correct answers stored in said second memory means;
wherein said second processing means, based on a result of said comparison,
is also for communicating said second output means to output remedial
material related to, but not the same as, questions answered incorrectly.
wherein said second processing means is also for directing, after said
remedial material has been output, said second output means to output
questions related to those questions answered incorrectly and for
directing said second input means to receive second answers to said
related questions; and
wherein said second processing means is also for comparing said second
answers to correct answerers of said related questions and for sending a
notice to said supervisory station means based on said comparison.
7. The interactive educational system of claim 6, wherein:
said first and second input means each comprise at least one of a
touch-sensitive display, a pointing device, a keyboard, and an optical
scanner;
said first and second output means comprise at least one of a display and
an audio output device; and
said first and second memory means comprise at least one of a hard disk
drive, a laser disk drive, and a CD-ROM.
8. The interactive educational system of claim 6 wherein:
said first processing means is also for receiving progress data from said
student station means relating to progress of said user at said student
station means and for storing said progress data in said first memory
means.
9. The interactive educational system of claim 8 wherein:
said first processing means is also for directing said first input means to
receive operation selections from a user of said supervisory station
means, wherein said operation selections comprise a report generation
selection.
10. The interactive educational system of claim 9 wherein said supervisory
station means further comprises:
means for generating tangible reports, wherein said first processing means,
upon receipt of a report generation selection input from said first input
means, is also for retrieving said progress data from said first memory
means and for directing said generating means to print at least one report
based on said progress data.
11. The interactive educational system of claim 8 wherein:
said first processing means uses a database program for storing said
progress data in said first memory means.
12. An interactive educational system having a learning station and a
supervisory station wherein:
said learning station comprises means for outputting educational
information to a user, means for receiving educational input data from a
user, means for processing said information and data, and means for
communicating with said supervisory station; and
said supervisory station comprises means for transmitting and receiving
data to and from said learning station, means for analyzing an educational
progress of said user based on said received data, means for outputting an
indication of said educational progress, means for monitoring a student's
progress during a particular period, and means for generating homework
assignments based on said monitored progress.
13. The educational system of claim 12, wherein said supervisory station
further comprises:
means for storing and retrieving said received data; and
means for selecting generating at least one report based on said received
data.
14. The educational system of claim 13 wherein:
said at least one report comprises one of a grade report and a remedial
action notice.
15. The educational system of claim 12, wherein said student station
further comprises:
means for outputting said educational data as audiovisual information and
questions relating to said educational data;
means for comparing responses received from said educational input data
means to correct responses; and
means for outputting remedial material based on said comparison.
16. The educational system of claim 15 wherein said student station further
comprises:
means for outputting second questions related to said remedial material;
means for comparing second responses received from said educational input
data means to second correct responses; and
means for notifying said supervisory station based on a result of said
comparison.
17. The educational system of claim 12, wherein said means for generating
homework further comprises:
memory means for storing said homework assignments; and
printing means for printing out said homework assignments;
18. An interactive educational system comprising:
supervisory station means for monitoring the educational system including:
first interface means for transmitting data to and receiving data from a
student station means;
first output means for outputting data to a user of the supervisory station
means;
first input means for inputting commands to the supervisory station means;
first memory means for storing data and programs used to operate the
educational system; and
first processing means, responsive to said first input means and said first
interface means, for controlling the flow of data among said first
interface means, the first input means, and said first output means; and
student stations means for interacting with a user including:
second interface means for transmitting data to and receiving data from
said supervisory station means;
second output means for outputting data to the user of the student station
means station;
second input means for inputting commands to the student station means;
second memory means for storing data and programs used to operate the
educational system; and
second processing means, responsive to said second input means and said
second interface means, for controlling the flow of data among said second
interface means, said second input means, and said second output means;
wherein said second processing means is also for directing said second
output means to output educational data and questions relating to said
educational data, and for directing said second input means to receive
answers to said questions.
wherein said second processing means is also for comparing said received
answers with correct answers stored in said second memory means;
wherein said second processing means, based on a result of said comparison,
is also for commanding said second input means to output remedial material
related to questions answered incorrectly;
wherein said second processing means is also for directing, after said
remedial material has been output, said second output means to output
questions related to those questions answered incorrectly and for
directing said second input means to receive second answers to said
related questions; and
wherein said second processing means is also for comparing said second
answers to correct answers of said related questions and for sending a
notice to said supervisory station means based on said comparison.
19. The interface educational system of claim 18, wherein:
said first and second input means each comprise at least one of a
touch-sensitive display, a pointing device, a keyboard, and an optical
scanner;
said first and second output means comprise at least one of a display and
an audio output device; and
said first and second memory means comprise at least one of a hard disk
drive, a laser disk drive, and a CD-ROM.
20. The interactive educational system of claim 18 wherein:
said first processing means is also for receiving progress data from said
student station means relating to progress of said user at said student
station means and for storing said progress data in said first memory
means.
21. The interactive educational system of claim 20 wherein:
said first processing means is also for directing said first input means to
receive operation selections from a user of said supervisory station
means, wherein said operation selections comprise a report generation
selection.
22. The interactive educational system of claim 21 wherein said supervisory
station means further comprises:
means for generating tangible reports, wherein said first processing means,
upon receipt of a report generation selection input from said first input
means, is also for retrieving said progress data from said first memory
means and for directing said generating means to print at least one report
based on said progress data.
23. The interactive educational system of claim 20 wherein:
said first processing means uses a database program for storing said
progress data in said first memory means. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to educational methods at the
classroom and individual level, as well as systems for implementing such
methods. More particularly, the present invention relates to an
educational method which combines audio-visual and computer technology to
shift the teacher's role away from mass pupil instruction and paperwork
and back to the more traditional role of helping each individual student
with his or her unique educational difficulties.
2. State of the Art
Classroom teaching methods have changed very little since the early days of
our country. The bedrock of education remains the teacher or professor
lecturing to groups of students, commonly in conjunction with a text.
Homework is assigned to reinforce the lessons learned in class and tests
are administered to measure students' aptitude and retention of the
material. At the early levels of education, the setting for this
instruction has and continues to be the schoolroom, public or private,
where a teacher is responsible for a group of, for example, fifteen to
forty students.
The conventional classroom method of teaching a subject typically involves
a lesson plan which includes a plurality of lectures each having an
associated written homework assignment for the student to reinforce the
lecture. The teacher collects and evaluates the homework and occasionally
gives tests to measure the students' retention of the material. The
teacher is also required to perform a multitude of other subsidiary tasks,
such as report card generation and parent-teacher conferences, to keep the
community satisfied with both the students' and the teacher's performance.
Thus under the conventional classroom scenario, teachers must split their
time to assume the roles of administrator and public relation officer, as
well their supposedly primary role of teacher.
Educators have long recognized that while the classroom scenario provides
economies of scale, one drawback is that students of different ages and
aptitudes learn at differing rates and with the need for varying amounts
of individual attention. This recognition led to the availability of
private tutoring, for those who could afford such, provides more
flexibility to meet an individual student's needs. On the other hand,
private tutoring has also been criticized since it does not provide the
student with the opportunity to develop social skills which is inherent in
the classroom setting.
Although this traditional method of education has changed little over the
years, the amount of information which students need to assimilate to be
considered well educated continues to increase geometrically. This fact is
graphically illustrated by the technological wonders which surround us
such as microcomputers, DNA mapping, videophones, etc. The increase in
information puts a correspondingly greater burden on teachers to try to
cram more learning into the same amount of time, which leads to an
associated increase in the amount of paperwork to be handled. Moreover, as
fiscal resources grow more and more scarce, teachers have been required to
handle even larger groups of students resulting in even less individual
attention.
Although these problems are rapidly becoming more acute, they have been
acknowledged by educators for many years. Many countries have reacted by
adding more days to the school year or sending children to school at an
earlier age so that students have more time to acquire the additional
knowledge necessary. This solution, however, will only provide short term
relief since there is only a finite amount of additional learning time
which can be reasonably added to students' schedules, while our knowledge
base will always continue to expand. Additionally, increasing the school
year further aggravates the fiscal problem of education by requiring even
greater economic resources and putting greater pressure on teachers.
Educators have also experimented with alternate teaching methods, such as
self-study programs and videotaped lectures, to both more efficiently use
teachers' time and to provide an element of individuality to a student's
study program. Although these types of methods are somewhat successful at
higher levels of education, they are generally ineffective at lower levels
where younger students lack the discipline to teach themselves.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, an interactive educational method
has an object of providing a flexible alternative to the conventional
classroom educational method which will relieve the teacher of many of the
non-teaching burdens discussed above, while also giving the student the
opportunity to learn at his or her own pace. The teacher will no longer
have the repeated paperwork chores of preparing a daily lecture, preparing
and grading homework, creating and grading tests, documenting each
student's progress and performance or justifying their evaluation of the
student to the parents.
This will free teachers to use their primary skills of providing individual
instruction to students who have difficulty with different areas of
learning. In other words, the role of the teacher will revert from
administrator and public relations officer back to teacher.
Another object of the present invention in accordance with preferred
embodiments of this novel educational method, is to provide a interactive,
audio-visual system which will encourage each student to learn at his or
her own individual pace. Moreover, each student will be provided with
instructional reinforcement in the form of questions and his or her
performance will be monitored by the system. If a student has difficulty
with a particular area, the system will alert the teacher who can then
provide additional help.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other advantages and objects of the invention will become more
apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred
embodiments when read in conjunction with the attached Figures in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of the elements of a system for
implementing the educational method according to an embodiment of the
present invention;
FIG. 2 sets forth a flow chart which indicates an overall sequence of
events according to a preferred embodiment of an educational method
according to the present invention;
FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate flowcharts describing subprocesses of the sequence
described in FIG. 2.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A system for implementing the educational method according to a preferred
embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
FIG. 1. In this exemplary embodiment it is envisioned that each student
will be provided with a workstation 10 that may comprise all of the
devices indicated in block form within the dotted lines of FIG. 1 linked
together via system bus 12. The workstation 10 can, for example, be an
enhanced microcomputer and the CPU 14 could be that which is commonly
associated with the enhanced microcomputer. For example, an IBM PC having
an Intel 80386 microprocessor could provide the platform for the
workstation. Alternately, more or less powerful computer systems could be
used.
The workstation 10 can be integrated within or around an ergonomic
environment. Each station can include an ergonomically designed chair (not
shown) so that the student can remain comfortably seated for extended
periods of time. The display 16, which can be a conventional VGA monitor
attached via a serial port to the system bus 12, can be mounted within a
student's desk under glass at about a 45 degree angle. Alternately, the
display can simply rest on the desktop. In some preferred embodiments of
the invention, the display will be touch sensitive so that a student can
enter data and respond to questions from the computer via the screen.
The keyboard 18, floppy drives 20, and hard drive 22 are all conventional
components attached Via suitable interfaces to the CPU 14. The auxiliary
input device 24 can be any type of pointing device such as a mouse,
digitizing tablet or light pen. The CD-ROM device 26 and laser disk 28,
for providing text data and video data, respectively, are also of a
conventional design and can be either built-in to the workstation or
provided as stand-alone models.
Each of the TV input module 30, audio interface 32, and stereo input module
34 can be off-the-shelf boards which are designed to plug into the
expansion slots of a microcomputer in a known manner. The TV input module
30 is a board which allows a computer to receive television signals via
either antenna or cable and convert those signals into image signals which
can be displayed on all or part cf the display 16. The audio interface 32
is an input/output board which allows the computer to send sounds,
including voice and music, to a student via headphones (not shown) which
plug into the board and receive such sounds via a microphone (not shown).
Alternately, the audio interface could simply be a speaker which would be
connected to a sound board and/or a voice synthesizer as is well known in
the art. The stereo input module 34 is a board which allows the
microcomputer to receive radio transmissions or signals from a tape
player, CD player or any other type of audio device, which a student could
listen to as background music. Printer 36 can be any type of microcomputer
compatible printer, including dot matrix, inkjet or laser printer, which
communicates with the CPU in a known manner.
All of the student workstations are in constant communication with a
teacher's workstation 40 via a LAN interface 42 and local area network
(LAN) 44. As described in more detail below, this real-time communication
between student workstation and teacher workstation allows the teacher to
be informed of the students' progress and activities as well as allowing
the teacher to tailor instructional programs for each student.
The foregoing description will be understood by one skilled in the art as
merely an example of one system which could be used to implement the
various embodiments of the educational method of the present invention
described in detail below and that various other configurations and
devices could also be used. Reference to the conventionality of the
various I/0 devices described above is made merely to emphasize that one
skilled in the art will recognize that the system described in FIG. 1 can
be implemented using known interfaces and software packages.
Initially, one advantageous feature of the educational method according to
the present invention is that courseware can be uniquely developed for
each class, school, school system or any other segment of a student
population so as to provide a curriculum desired by the educators using
the system and method of the present invention. The term "courseware" as
used throughout this specification is meant to comprise the combination of
control programs and data which provide each lesson to the student at a
workstation and includes, for example, both the information stored on the
hard drive, laser disk, and CD-ROM, as well as that input through the TV
input module, and the programmed presentation of that data. The phrase
"lesson segment" is used to denote a block of material presented to a
student which is intended to be viewed and interacted with in one sitting,
typically 15-40 minutes. A lesson segment can also be a test which
evaluates the student's retention of one or more lesson segments or a
whole semester's worth of material.
As a simplified example, history courseware dealing with the American
Revolution might comprise a plurality of lesson segments. One lesson
segment might include, for example, a narrative story of George
Washington's role in the revolution. The text of the story, read from the
CD-ROM, might occupy one half of the display while illustrations, from the
laser disk, occupy the other half of the screen. After each segment of the
lesson, the program could test the student's comprehension by asking the
student to answer a series of questions via the keyboard which relate to
the previous segment of the lesson.
Thus the teacher or school system can select material including, for
example, text, illustrations, length of lesson and questions to be
answered, to comprise the courseware for any subject. This courseware
development step in the educational method according to the present
invention advantageously provides teachers and parents with the
opportunity to create and update the educational material for presentation
to the students.
One skilled in the teaching art will appreciate that many other teaching
tools could be integrated into the courseware, in addition to those
mentioned above, to present various topics. For example, some topics, such
as biology, are particularly conducive to teaching via film presentation.
This material can be input via the TV input module and displayed while an
accompanying voice description is listened to by the student on the
headphone set.
Next, FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary preferred embodiment of an overview
of an educational method according to the present invention wherein the
student is using the workstation and the system has been loaded with the
developed courseware. In block 100, the teacher initializes the system and
then the students enter their homework assignments from the previous day
into the system at block 110. The homework assignment can be entered
manually by the student typing the answers on the keyboard. Alternately,
an optical scanning device (not shown) can be provided which is used to
scan the homework paper and digitize the answers. In either case, the
homework answers are compared to the expected answers by the CPU of each
workstation and the results transmitted via the LAN to the teacher's
workstation as indicated by block 120. The homework answers are stored in
database files corresponding to each student name or ID number in the hard
drive at the teacher's station for future use.
The teacher and/or a system program can then use the results of the
homework assignments in conjunction with each student's progress, which
has been stored in another database file at the end of the previous day,
to assign lesson segments to each student as the process flow continues to
block 130. This assignment process allows the teacher and/or a system
program to determine how much and what type of material each student can
access for a given period of time, and provides the first of several
opportunities for the teacher and/or system program to tailor each
student's individual learning program.
Within the system, this assignment process is controlled by the CPU of the
teacher's station which downloads the control programs corresponding to
the lesson segments selected by the teacher and/or a system program from
the hard drive or other storage device of the teacher's workstation to the
selected student's station through the LAN. Alternately, a single control
program could be downloaded to the students' workstations which will allow
selection of lesson segments already stored on the hard drive of each
student's workstation. When run by the student these control programs
access the various information storage devices to retrieve the audio and
visual data created for each lesson segment.
In block 140, the process flow moves to the next step of displaying the
main screen at each student work station. In addition to lesson segments,
this screen can also include selections such as games, movies or
educational video programs, and creative writing or drawing activities.
These selections can also be chosen by the teacher, student, and/or a
system program and can be downloaded through the LAN to each student
workstation. As mentioned briefly above, depending on the educational
level at which the system and method are being implemented, the student
can make selections in a variety of ways. Younger students, for example,
can make a selection by touching color-coded figures displayed on a
touch-sensitive screen. More advanced students can make a selection by
using the workstation's pointing device to click on the appropriate icon.
In decision blocks 141, 143, 145, and 147, the process flow checks to see
which selection is made from the main screen. For exemplary purposes only,
the choices of LESSON SEGMENT, GAME, VIDEO and END are illustrated in FIG.
2, however it is to be understood that many other different types of
selections can be provided. Based on the determined selection, an
appropriate subroutine 142, 144, 146, or 148 is executed. The LESSON
SEGMENT selection will now be described with reference to FIG. 3 which
illustrates an exemplary flowchart breaking down some of the steps of a
lesson segment subroutine as diagrammatically indicated at block 142.
A control program corresponding to the selected function which was
previously stored on the hard drive or other storage device of the
student's workstation during the assignment process is initiated in block
152. The student then watches and listens to the audio-visual presentation
created by the control program as the process flow continues in block 153.
The control program will also provide software control options for the
student such as adjustment of speed or volume of the presentation and the
ability to stop and restart the presentation so that the student can take
a break or ask the teacher a question as discussed below.
At decision block 154 the control program checks to see if it has presented
all of the material for the lesson segment. If so, the subroutine ends and
the control program goes to block 180 in FIG. 3 to execute quizzing
subprocess described below. If not, the control program polls various flag
variables associated with the commands available to the student during the
presentation as shown at decision block 156. If a flag has not been set,
the control program loops back and continues displaying material at block
153 and then again checks if the lesson segment is over. If a flag has
been set, indicating that the student wants to change or stop the
presentation, the flow proceeds to a decision tree to implement the
corresponding subroutine.
A first such exemplary subroutine is shown beginning at decision block 158,
wherein it is asked whether the flag representing the STOP command was
set. If not, the flow proceeds to the next command checking decision block
160. If the student has activated the stop command, the process flows to
decision block 159 where the student is asked if he or she wishes to save
the current position in the lesson segment and return to the main screen.
If so, a pointer indicating a last displayed time frame in the lesson
segment is stored and the process goes back to block 140 in FIG. 2.
Otherwise the presentation is temporarily frozen at block 162. Next, the
control program checks to see if the student has activated the restart
command at decision block 164. If so, the process flow returns to block
153 and continues to display material in that loop. If not, a counter is
incremented at block 166 and the count is compared, at block 168, to a
predetermined number, for example, a number equal to 5 minutes, to see if
the teacher should be notified of the delay. If the current number is
equal to the predetermined number, a message is sent over the LAN to
notify the teacher at block 170, otherwise, the process flow loops back to
again check if the restart command has been given.
The SPEED and VOLUME control commands are checked for and implemented at
blocks 160, 172, 174, and 178 in a similar manner. Since these functional
subroutines are not themselves part of the present invention and are well
known in the art, they are not described in further detail herein.
Moreover, one skilled in the art will appreciate that a plurality of other
commands can be made available to the student by simply adding such
subroutines to the decision tree and providing icons or areas of a
touch-sensitive screen which will set a flag corresponding to that
function.
After a lesson segment has finished being presented, the control flow
according to this exemplary embodiment of the present invention goes from
decision block 154 to block 180 which executes a quiz subroutine
illustrated in more detail in FIG. 4. At the end of each lesson segment,
which can be designed at the courseware level to be of an optimal
attention span length for the intended grade level of the student,
typically there will be a series of questions retrieved from a database of
questions associated with the particular lesson segment for the student to
answer at block 182. The student enters his or her responses via the
keyboard and the workstation CPU compares these responses to the correct
answers stored in the database at blocks 184 and 186. If desired, a grade
on the student's responses can be generated and transmitted to the
teacher's station for storage in the student's file.
At decision block 186, if the student has correctly answered all of the
questions the flow loops back to the main screen block 140 of FIG. 2,
whereat the student can access another lesson segment, request
recreational material, or end for the day. If the student has incorrectly
answered some questions, the process flow loops back to block 153 of FIG.
3 and the program retrieves and replays only material relating to those
questions which were missed. This replayed material could be excerpted
from the original presentation or it could be new material specifically
designed to explain the correct answer to each incorrectly answered
question. The process of replaying this material includes all of the steps
discussed above with respect to subroutine block 142 and the subroutines
of FIG. 3.
After playing this remedial material, the same or different questions as
those previously answered incorrectly will again be displayed and answered
at blocks 182 and 184. The workstation CPU will again check the answers at
decision block 186 and transmit the results to the teacher's station for
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