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| United States Patent |
6,988,138 |
|
Alcorn
, et al.
|
January 17, 2006
|
Internet-based education support system and methods
Abstract
A system and methods for implementing education online by providing
institutions with the means for allowing the creation of courses to be
taken by students online, the courses including assignments,
announcements, course materials, chat and whiteboard facilities, and the
like, all of which are available to the students over a network such as
the Internet. Various levels of functionality are provided through a
three-tiered licensing program that suits the needs of the institution
offering the program. In addition, an open platform system is provided
such that anyone with access to the Internet can create, manage, and
offer a course to anyone else with access to the Internet without the
need for an affiliation with an institution, thus enabling the virtual
classroom to extend worldwide.
| Inventors: |
Alcorn; Robert L. (Arlington, VA); Cane; Daniel E. (Washington, DC); Chasen; Michael L. (Washington, DC); Chi; Timothy R. (Fairfax, VA); Gilfus; Stephen R. (Woodbridge, VA); Perian; Scott (Washington, DC); Pittinsky; Matthew L. (Washington, DC) |
| Assignee: |
Blackboard Inc.
(Washington,
DC)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
09/608,208 |
| Filed:
|
June 30, 2000 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
709/225 ; 434/350; 709/203; 709/204; 709/217; 709/218 |
| Current International Class: |
G06F 15/173 (20060101) |
| Field of Search: |
709/225,203,218,217,204,205 343/350,204,336
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Jaroenchonwanit; Bunjob
Assistant Examiner: Nguyen; Thanh T
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
Parent Case Text
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This patent application is based on and claims filing priority from
co-pending U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/141,283, filed on
Jun. 30, 1999; co-pending U.S. provisional application Ser. No.
60/141,864, filed on Jul. 1, 1999; and co-pending U.S. provisional
application Ser. No. 60/187,890, filed on Mar. 8, 2000, all of which are
incorporated herein by reference.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A course-based system for providing to an educational community of
users access to a plurality of online courses, comprising: a) a
plurality of user computers, with each
user computer being associated with a user of the system and with each
user being capable of having predefined characteristics indicative of
multiple predetermined roles in the system, each role providing a level
of access to a plurality of data files
associated with a particular course and a level of control over the
data files associated with the course with the multiple predetermined
user roles comprising at least two user's predetermined roles selected
from the group consisting of a student role
in one or more course associated with a student user, an instructor
role in one or more courses associated with an instructor user and an
administrator role associated with an administrator user, and b) a
server computer in communication with each of the
user computers over a network, the server computer comprising: means
for storing a plurality of data files associated with a course, means
for assigning a level of access to and control of each data file based
on a user of the system's predetermined role
in a course; means for determining whether access to a data file
associated with the course is authorized; means for allowing access to
and control of the data file associated with the course if
authorization is granted based on the access level of the
user of the system.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the instructor user is
provided with an access level to enable the creation and editing of a
plurality of files associated with a course.
3. The system of claim 2 wherein the course files comprise an announcement file.
4. The system of claim 2 wherein the course files comprise a course information file.
5. The system of claim 2 wherein the course files comprise a staff information file posted to all registered in the course.
6. The system of claim 2 wherein the course files comprise a course document file posted to all registered in the course.
7. The system of claim 2 wherein the course files comprise an assignments file posted to all registered in the course.
8. The system of claim 2 wherein the course files comprise a dropbox file.
9. The system of claim 2 wherein the course files comprise an asynchronous communication file.
10. The system of claim 2 wherein the course files comprise a synchronous communication file.
11. The system of claim 2 wherein the student user is provided
with an access level to enable reading of a plurality of files
associated with a course.
12. The system of claim 11 wherein the student user is
provided with an access level to enable modification of a subset of the
plurality of files associated with a course.
13. The system of claim 11 wherein the user is provided with
an access level to enable creation of a student file associated with a
file for which the student user is able to read.
14. The system of claim 13 in which the file that the student
is able to read is an assessment file created by the instructor user,
and the student file created by the student user is a response to the
assessment file.
15. The system of claim 14 wherein the assessment file
comprises a plurality of examination questions selected by the
instructor user to assess the ability of the student user.
16. The system of claim 15 wherein the examination questions
are selected by the instructor user from a predetermined pool of
available examination questions.
17. The system of claim 15 wherein the examination questions
are created by the instructor user substantially at the time of the
creation of the assessment file.
18. The system of claim 15 wherein the student file is reviewed by the instructor user and assigned a grade.
19. The system of claim 18 wherein the grade is made available to the student user.
20. The system of claim 18 wherein the instructor user
collates a plurality of grades obtained from reviewing a plurality of
student files, and wherein the collated grades are made available to
all student users associated with the course.
21. The system of claim 13 in which the file that the student
is able to read is an assignment file created by the instructor user,
and the student file created by the student user is a response to the
assignment file.
22. The system of claim 8 wherein the dropbox file comprises
a plurality of files transferred to the server computer from one or
more student users associated with the course.
23. The system of claim 22 wherein the instructor user is
provided with access to the files in the dropbox file, whereby the
instructor user may download, edit and upload the files in the dropbox.
24. The system of claim 1 wherein a user is required to enter
a login sequence into a user computer in order to be provided with
access to course files associated with that user.
25. The system of claim 24 wherein the user is provided with
access to all courses with which the user is associated after entry of
the logon sequence.
26. The system of claim 25 wherein the user is provided with
a web page comprising a plurality of course hyperlinks, each of said
course hyperlinks associated with each course that the user has
enrolled in.
27. The system of claim 26 wherein selection of a course
hyperlink will provide the user with a web page associated with the
selected course, the web page comprising a plurality of content
hyperlinks to various content areas associated with the
course.
28. The system of claim 27 wherein said content hyperlinks
comprise an announcement area hyperlink, a course information
hyperlink, a staff information hyperlink, a course documents hyperlink,
an assignments hyperlink, a communications
hyperlink, and a student tools hyperlink.
29. The system of claim 28 wherein selection of the
announcement area hyperlink provides a web page comprising a group of
course announcements.
30. The system of claim 28 wherein selection of the course
information hyperlink provides a web page comprising information
regarding the associated course.
31. The system of claim 28 wherein selection of the staff
information hyperlink provides a web page comprising data regarding the
instructors of the associated course.
32. The system of claim 28 wherein selection of the course
documents hyperlink provides a web page comprising a listing of
documents associated with the course.
33. The system of claim 32 wherein the listing of course documents comprise active hyperlinks to the documents.
34. The system of claim 28 wherein selection of the
assignments hyperlink provides a web page comprising a group of course
assignments.
35. The system of claim 28 wherein selection of the
communications hyperlink provides a web page comprising hyperlinks to a
group of communication tools comprising an asynchronous communication
tool and a synchronous communication tool.
36. An method for providing online education
method for a community of users in a network based system comprising
the steps of: a. establishing that each user is capable of having
redefined characteristics indicative of multiple predetermined
roles in the system and each role providing a level of access to and
control of a plurality of course files; b. establishing a course to be
offered online, comprising i. generating a set of course files for use
with teaching a course; ii. transferring
the course files to a server computer for storage; and iii. allowing
access to and control of the course files according to the established
roles for the users according to step (a); c. providing a predetermined
level of access and control over the
network to the course files to users with an established role as a
student user enrolled in the course; and d. providing a predetermined
level of access and control over the network to the course files to
users with an established role other than a
student user enrolled in the course.
37. The method of claim 36 wherein at least one of the course
files comprises a course assignment, further comprising the steps of:
e) the student user creating a student file in response to the course
assignment; and f) the student user
transferring the student file to the server computer.
38. The method of claim 37 further comprising the steps of:
g) the instructor user accessing the student file from the server
computer; h) the instructor user reviewing the student file to
determine compliance with the course assignment; and
i) the instructor user assigning a grade to the student file as a
function of the determination of compliance with the course assignment.
39. The method of claim 38 further comprising the step of the
instructor user posting the grade to a file on the server computer
accessible only to the student user with which the grade is associated.
40. The method of claim 38 further comprising the steps of
the instructor repeating the steps (g), (h), and (i) for a plurality of
student users that are enrolled in the course.
41. The method of claim 40 further comprising the step of the
instructor user performing a statistical analysis on the grades
assigned to the plurality of student users.
42. The method of claim 41 further comprising the step of
making results of the statistical analysis available to the student
users enrolled in the course.
43. The method of claim 36 further comprising the step of
providing an asynchronous communication tool accessible to student
users enrolled in the course for enabling asynchronous communication
amongst the student users.
44. The method of claim 36 further comprising the step of
providing a synchronous communication tool accessible to student users
enrolled in the course for enabling synchronous communication amongst
the student users.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods
for the exchange of information between instructors and students in an
educational context. More specifically, the present invention relates
to systems and methods in which an
educational instructor interacts with one or more non-collocated
students by transmitting course lectures, textbooks, literature, and
other course materials, receiving student questions and input, and
conducting participatory class discussions using an
electronic network such as the Internet and World Wide Web. The present
invention also relates to the provision of an infrastructure that
allows for on-line registration and tuition payment of educational
courses.
The ability of educators, including educational institutions,
private corporations, and institutions of higher learning, to reach
potential students has generally been limited by geography. In most
instances, a potential student must physically
move to within commuting distance or onto a campus in order to have
access to course instructors, classes, and materials. Furthermore,
potential students and persons seeking knowledge of all sorts are
generally limited to proximate sources of courses of
instruction, tutoring, or training. Due to these limitations, a
prospective student must either seek to learn a given subject from
whatever local means of instruction is available to her or move her
household in order to be able to access her preferred
sources of instruction. Many prospective students are deprived of
receiving instruction from other, possibly better-qualified instructors
or institutions located outside of their immediate locale. Similarly,
educational institutions have been limited
to serving only those students located within commutable distance of
their campuses.
The advent of networked computers and communications has
afforded a partial solution to these limitations. In particular, the
widespread use and availability of electronic networks such as the
Internet and the World Wide Web have made it
possible for students and educators to overcome geographic dispersion
and physical location as a barrier to education.
Using this electronic medium, students and instructors are able to
exchange information including (live or transcribed) classroom
lectures, homework assignments, texts and materials, grading, (live or
transcribed) question and answer interaction sessions, and other
related information to effect a traditional learning or educational
experience regardless of physical location.
However, electronic networks, including the Internet, are
complex technological systems requiring the user to have or acquire
specialized knowledge in order to use them effectively. Even graphical
user interfaces (GUIs) designed to enhance
simplicity of use, such as that provided by the World Wide Web, may
require specialized knowledge of network terminology and technical
aspects. For example, an Internet user's ability to access information
using that medium is significantly reduced if
the user lacks understanding of how to use Uniform Resource Locators
(URLs) to traverse (i.e., navigate) web pages. Slow adoption of new
technology and lack of technological sophistication have a chilling
effect on the widespread use of the medium in
general. Applied specifically in an educational context, these chilling
factors apply to instructors who, while possessing high expertise in
their respective intellectual or educational fields, would be required
to further attain technological knowledge
necessary to effectively use the Internet to educate non-collocated
students.
Furthermore, the complexity of using the Internet for
educational purposes is compounded as the number of user choices
required at the user interface increases because not only must the
instructor and students acquire technological competency in
the use of the medium, but they must in addition understand the
presentation and consequences of a plethora of choices required by a
particular user interface (e.g., a web page). The design of the user
interface therefore can be critical in enabling
widespread use of the medium in an educational context. Solutions other
than the present invention may be characterized as having relatively
complicated and confusing user interfaces. Users, including both
students and instructors, of these other
solutions are confronted with one or more web pages that typically
require the user to review and select a subsequent web page or function
from among a large array of potential user choices, thereby
complicating the user's task of interacting with the
system.
Further, many educational institutions have existing or legacy
network-based systems which students access to obtain various types of
information (e.g., class schedules). The addition of yet another
network-based system requires the host or
sponsoring institution to incur implementation and maintenance costs
associated with the installation, integration, administration, and
maintenance of a new network-based system. These costs place limits on
the achieving the widespread use of the medium
for educational purposes.
Further, access, presentation, and aggregation of information
contained in existing networks are provided from the institution's
perspective and not an individual student's perspective. Typically, a
student must access different locations or web
pages of an institution's network for each datum she wishes to inspect.
Further, a student may have to log-on to multiple networks in order to
access different items of data. For example, a student may wish to view
his financial aid status before
registering for an upcoming course or semester. In existing networks,
the student will have to traverse multiple web pages and possibly
log-on to multiple networks in order to access his current financial
aid status, assess that information, and then
register online taking into account his particular information. Many
similar situations are commonplace involving access to grading
information, class schedule, exam materials, student group meetings,
and other such information. Existing systems, in
short, aggregate course, institution, and student information in an
institution-centric manner. This imposes a time cost upon each
student/user of the existing systems in order to reduce complexity from
the institution's implementation and maintenance
perspectives. However, given that these time costs are imposed on all
students, the sum of these distributed costs outweigh the cost savings
realized by the institution in the institution-centric approach,
resulting in a net loss.
Further, instructors' teaching techniques are greatly
variable, based on personal preference and the subject matter being
taught. Network-based systems that do not provide for a significant
degree of customization are ill-suited to address to
this need to accommodate diverse teaching modes in a single system.
Further, a general concern with use of the electronic network
medium is that response time tends to slow as more users are added to
the system. As response time becomes prohibitive, the time- and
cost-effectiveness associated with using the
medium for educational purposes is greatly reduced.
Many colleges and universities have stayed away from allowing
on-line registration and tuition payment for a number of reasons,
including high initial setup costs and incompatible billing practices.
The exception to this rule are so-called virtual schools.
Virtual schools traditionally charge an enrollment fee, and then offer
free courses. In lieu of paying for each course taken, a student is
subjected to advertising while viewing on-line
course material. While such billing and income generation methods may
be acceptable for companies providing on-line training, such methods
are not consistent with traditional college and university billing
practices. Colleges and universities typically
charge a low enrollment fee and bill students on a per-credit or
per-course basis.
Therefore, it is a general object of the present invention to
provide a system and methods that allow users to interact with a
computer network-based education support system through means of a simplified, easy-to-use user interface.
A further general object of the present invention is to provide
a system that can be easily integrated with existing computer network
and backend systems with minimal disruption to existing operations and
systems.
A still further general object of the present invention is to
provide a system that is scalable in order to accommodate increasing
numbers of users, such that system responsiveness is not materially
degraded as the number of users of the system
grows to an increasingly large number.
A still further general object of the present invention is to
provide a system and methods that can accommodate a variety of diverse
teaching modes without requiring substantial modifications to the
system.
A further object of the invention is to provide such a system
that allows multiple types of users to access the features of the
system as a function of their predefined role within the framework of
the system (e.g. student, teacher,
administrator).
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a system that integrates with the education platform provided therein value added services and control such as calendar, task, contact and communication functions.
These as well as other objects of the present invention are
apparent upon inspection of this specification, including the drawings
and appendices attached hereto.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with these and other objects, provided is a
system for providing to a community of users access to a plurality of
online courses, comprising a plurality of user computers and a server
computer in communication with each of the user
computers over a network. Each user computer is associated with a user
of the system having predefined characteristics indicative of a
predetermined role in the system. Each role provides a level of access
to data files associated with a course, and a
level of control over data files associated with a course. The server
computer has means for storing data files associated with a course,
means for assigning a level of access to each file, wherein the level
of access is associated with the ability of a
user to access the file, means for determining an access level of a
user requesting access to a file, and means for allowing access to a
file associated with a course as a function of the access level of the
user.
The user roles comprise a student role associated with a
student user, an instructor role associated with an instructor user,
and an administrator role associated with an administrator user (roles
may be mixed; for example when an instructor of
one course, is also a student in another course). The instructor user
is provided with an access level to enable the creation and editing of
a plurality of course files associated with a course. The course files
include an announcement file, a course
information file, a staff information file, a course documents file, an
assignments file, a dropbox file, an asynchronous communication file,
and a synchronous communication file.
The student user is provided with an access level to enable
reading of course files associated with a course. The student user is
also provided with an access level to enable modification of some of
the files associated with a course. Also, the
user may be provided with an access level to enable creation of a
student file associated with a file for which the student user is able
to read. The file that the student is able to read may be an assessment
file created by the instructor user, and the
student file created by the student user is a response to the
assessment file. The assessment file may be a plurality of examination
questions selected by the instructor user to assess the ability of the
student user. The examination questions may be
selected by the instructor user from a predetermined pool of available
examination questions. The examination questions also may be created by
the instructor user substantially at the time of the creation of the
assessment file and optionally added to
the pool. The student file may be reviewed by the instructor user and
assigned a grade, which would be made available online to the student
user. The instructor user may collate the grades obtained from
reviewing a number of student files, and the
collated grades may be made available online to all student users
associated with the course (e.g.: an average for the class, a pie or
bar chart, etc.).
The student will also be able to read an assignment file
created by the instructor user, and the student file created by the
student user is a response to the assignment file.
The "digital dropbox" may contain a plurality of files
transferred to the server computer from one or more student users
associated with the course. The instructor user may be provided with
access to the files in the dropbox file, whereby the
instructor user may download, edit and upload the files in the dropbox.
A user may be required to enter a login sequence into a user
computer in order to be provided with access to course files associated
with that user. The user is then provided with access to all courses
with which the user is associated after
entry of the logon sequence. The user is provided with a web page
comprising a plurality of course hyperlinks, each of the course
hyperlinks associated with each course that the user has been enrolled
either as an instructor or as a student. Selection
of a course hyperlink will provide the user with a web page associated
with the selected course; the web page having content hyperlinks and
buttons to various content areas associated with the course. The
content hyperlinks and/or buttons include an
announcement area hyperlink, a course information hyperlink, a staff
information hyperlink, a course documents hyperlink, an assignments
hyperlink, a communications hyperlink, and a student tools hyperlink.
Selection of the announcement area hyperlink
provides a web page including a group of course announcements.
Selection of the course information hyperlink provides a web page
including information regarding the associated course. Selection of the
staff information hyperlink provides a web page
including data regarding the instructors of the associated course.
Selection of the course documents hyperlink provides a web page
including a listing of documents associated with the course, which may
be active hyperlinks to the documents. Selection
of the assignments hyperlink provides a web page including a group of
course assignments. Selection of the communications hyperlink provides
a web page including hyperlinks to a group of communication tools
including an asynchronous communication tool
and a synchronous communication tool.
In another aspect if the invention, provided is a system for
providing to a community of users access to online courses, including a
server computer in communication with user computers over a network,
wherein the server computer has means for
creating course user accounts from a file of existing user accounts
associated with an external computer. In this manner, existing legacy
systems having large members of user accounts stored in memory may be
integrated with this system without having to
re-enter user data into the system (so-called batch enrollment).
In yet another aspect of the invention, provided is a method for providing online education,
which includes the steps of establishing a course to be offered online,
offering the course to be taken online to a group of student users; and
providing
access over the network to the course files to a student user who has
enrolled in the course. The establishment of the course includes an
instructor user generating a set of course files for use with teaching
the course, then transferring the course
files to a server computer for storage thereat, and then making access
to the course files available to a predefined community of student
users having access to the server computer over a network.
Preferably, at least one of the course files comprises a
course assignment, and the student user creates a student file in
response to the course assignment and transfers the student file to the
server computer. The instructor user accesses the
student file from the server computer, reviews the student file to
determine compliance with the course assignment, and the instructor
user assigns a grade to the student file as a function of the
determination of compliance with the course assignment. The instructor
user may post the grade to a file on the server computer accessible
only to the student user with which the grade is associated. The
instructor user may repeat these steps for a number of student users
that are enrolled in the course, and
then perform a statistical analysis on the grades assigned to the
student users. The results of the statistical analysis may be made
available to the student users enrolled in the course.
An asynchronous communication tool accessible to student users
enrolled in the course may be provided for enabling asynchronous
communication amongst the student users. Likewise, a synchronous
communication tool accessible to student users
enrolled in the course may be provided for enabling synchronous
communication amongst the student users.
The present invention also enhances the prior art by providing
a flexible infrastructure for colleges, universities, and other
institutions wishing to facilitate on-line registration and tuition
payment. More specifically, the present invention
can accommodate different billing methods, including, but not limited
to, billing on a per-credit-hour basis, and billing on a per-registrant
basis. Tuition may be paid by credit card, debit card, check, or other
verifiable payment method. Payment
verification may be performed by the present invention, or the present
invention may interface with third-parties providing payment
verification services. In addition, the present invention allows
on-line billing information to easily interface with a
college, university, or other institution's standard billing practices.
Integrating with existing billing practices simplifies transition to
automated systems.
In addition, the present invention may be configured as an
open system wherein anyone can connect to a server over the Internet
and create a course online that may be taken by anyone else connected
over the Internet. Thus, anyone may create a
virtual classroom available to anyone else, regardless if they are
affiliated with a particular institution such as a University. For
example, a lawyer may create a course in patent law online, and
configure the system to require entry of a password to
enroll. The lawyer may then disseminate the passwords to desired
students who can enroll in the course. Alternately, the lawyer can
request the system to require payment to enroll in the course such as
by credit card.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE
DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an architectural block diagram of a preferred embodiment of an education support system according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 describes a preferred embodiment implementing load balancing to achieve scalability;
FIG. 3 illustrates the functioning of a preferred embodiment of an engine/registry model according to the present invention;
FIG. 4 shows a preferred user interface according to the present invention;
FIG. 5 shows a screen shot of the home page that a user will view;
FIG. 6 is a screen shot of a web page showing the course list and course catalog available to student users;
FIG. 7 is a screen shot of the default view for a course web site;
FIG. 8 is a screen shot of the announcements provided to a student user;
FIG. 9 is a screen shot of the course contents window;
FIG. 10 is a screen shot of the assignments web page;
FIG. 11 is a screen shot of the course documents web page;
FIG. 12 is a screen shot of the communication center web page;
FIG. 13 is a screen shot of the asynchronous discussion board web page;
FIG. 14 is a screen shot of the student tools web page;
FIG. 15 is a screen shot of the student drop box web page;
FIG. 16 is a screen shot of the instructor's control panel web page;
FIG. 17 is a screen shot of the announcements web page;
FIG. 18 is a screen shot of the course information web page;
FIG. 19 is a screen shot of the course tasks web page;
FIG. 20 is a screen shot of the instructor library web page;
FIG. 21 is a screen shot of the digital dropbox web page;
FIG. 22 is a screen shot of the course gradebook web page;
FIGS. 23A and 23B are a screen shot of the course statistics web page;
FIG. 24 is a screen shot of the advanced course and portal manager web page;
FIG. 25 is a screen shot of the community web page;
FIG. 26 is a screen shot of the services web page;
FIG. 27 is a screen shot of the calendar web page;
FIG. 28 is a screen shot of the email web page;
FIG. 29 is a screen shot of the create a course web page;
FIGS. 30A and 30B are a screen shot of the create user web page;
FIG. 31 is a screen shot of the web resource web page;
FIG. 32 is a further screen shot of a web resource web page;
FIG. 33 is a screen shot of the virtual chat web page;
FIG. 34 is a block diagram illustrating information passed from a course registration server to a payment server;
FIG. 35 is a sample of a payment form;
FIG. 36 is a block diagram illustrating interaction between a payment server and a payment validation server;
FIG. 37 is a sample of a payment information page;
FIG. 38 is a block diagram illustrating post-order processing;
FIG. 39 is an overall block diagram of the system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 39, the present invention comprises a system
and methods for the exchange of course content and related information
between non-collocated instructor users and student users. An
instructor user interacts with one or more
non-collocated student users by using the system and methods of the
present invention to, without limitation, transmit course files
including course lectures, textbooks, literature, and other course
materials, receive student questions and input, and
conduct participatory class discussions using an electronic network
such as the Internet or World Wide Web. Access to the course file is
controlled by access levels and control logic, to ensure integrity and
security of the system. Also, administrator
users have access to the system to perform administrative tasks as
defined herein.
System Architecture
The system architecture of a preferred embodiment of an education support system 100 according to the present invention is presented in FIG. 1. Referring now to FIG. 1, education
support system 100 comprises application subsystems 110, a web
browser 120, a web host server 130, a database subsystem 140, and core
subsystems 150. Web host server 130 further comprises a shell service
131. Applications subsystems 110 further comprise a content registry
111, a tool registry 112, a course
registry 113, one or more content engines 114, one or more tool engines
115, and one or more course engines 116. Core subsystems 150 further
comprise a core engine 151, an access manager 152, a user interface
(i.e., UI) manager 153, a user manager 154,
a group manager 155, an event manager 156, a log manager 157, and a
connection manager 158.
In a presently preferred embodiment, education
support system 100 is implemented in a client-server network topology.
Users (who may have one or several roles such as a student, instructor,
teaching assistant (TA), or administrator) access and
interact with education support system 100 via web
browser 120. More specifically, a user accesses application subsystems
110 and core subsystems 150 through shell service 131 servlet providing
a standard Internet interface including, but not limited
to, TCP/IP, HTTP, SMTP, and FTP to the user via web browser 120 running
on a standard computing platform such as a personal computer or
workstation. Specifically, shell service 131 servlet uses the
URL-encoded information contained in HTTP requests
received from web browser 120 clients to invoke the corresponding
requested application subsystem 110 or core subsystem 150. Shell
service 131 servlet also provides user authentication and session
management.
Application subsystems 110 function in conformance with an
engine/registry model 300 as described in FIG. 3. Generally,
engine/registry model 300 comprises one or more engines 301, a registry
302, and a context factory 303. Engines 301 include,
but are not limited to, content engine(s) 114, tool engine(s) 115,
course engine(s) 116, and core engine 151. Registries 302 include, but
are not limited to, content registry 111, tool registry 112, and course
registry 113. Course engine(s) 116 creates
a course by associating together a set of educational materials to
which a student user has access, by organizing references to these
informational items as contained in content registry 111. Specifically,
course engine(s) 116 queries content registry
111 for an index to the content engine 114 associated with a particular
resource being requested by a user.
Content engine(s) 111 includes an assessment engine that generates quizzes to assist and instruct users in the use of education support system 100. For example, one such quiz provided by an assessment engine of education
support system 100
provides step-by-step instructions to an instructor for building a
course. The quiz is then administered online to the instructor to allow
him to build a customized course to be provided using education support system 100.
Unlike content engines 111 which represent actual course
content, tool engine(s) 115 generally comprise installable programs
that provide capabilities available for use with a plurality of courses
and not fixedly associated with any particular
course or courses.
Instructors have different preferred modes of teaching.
Further, the same instructor may emphasize different modes of teaching
depending upon the subject being taught. For example, some instructors
emphasize individual homework while others
prefer a group or collaborative approach. Education
support system 100 supports a variety of teaching methods. By invoking
a particular set of tool engines 115 during interaction with the
assessment engine, an instructor can customize a course offering
to conform to her preferred mode of teaching. An example of a tool
engine 115 is the chat/whiteboard communication tools (synchronous
and/or asynchronous) provided by education
support system 100 that allows for student group interaction and
collaboration associated with a given course. Other tools include, but
are not limited to, announcements for broadcast of group-oriented
messaging, a calendar mechanism for storing date-related events and
information, a discussion board for posting
questions and answers in a threaded discussion format, notes-editing,
group pages, and email services. Further capabilities provided by education
support system 100 include, but are not limited to, a catalog listing
of all courses available, means for
student users to enroll in either open enrollment or closed enrollment
situations, means for course creation including course templates and
course themes, a course/page editor and viewer, a site page editor and
viewer, means for making and disseminating
announcements, a calendar function, a chat board in the nature of an
online discussion, a white board allowing group interaction and display
of free-form information using, for example, Microsoft Paint.TM., means
for sending email between instructors and
students and groups of students, a list of course members and links to
their web pages, a list of groups and links to their web pages, a file
sharing area, means for providing assignments to student users, means
for conducting a variety of types of
student assessments (i.e., testing), means for providing lesson
material in sequential format, means for adding and removing users,
help documents, maintaining a grade book and progress tracking, links
to personal web pages or home pages, and a resource
library containing references to all uploaded content. Course templates
allow instructors to easily reuse a course structure for subsequent
courses. Course themes allow the instructor to affect the look and feel
of the course site.
Further, a presently preferred embodiment of education
support system 100 supports a plurality of environments 400 in a single
application. Examples of different environments 400 supported include
the personalized web page of student-centric
information accessed by a student user and the administrator's
environment used for maintenance of the system. Certain parts of the education
support system 100 application are consistent across all supported
environments 400, while the appearance to
the user may vary for different environments 400. An environment 400 is
defined by console frames that surround the application areas. An
example of an environment 400 defined by a four-frame page as shown in
FIG. 4 comprises a console navbar 401, and
console top 402, a toolbar 403, and content 404. Console navbar 401 and
console top 402 are controlled by a console frameset, while toolbar 403
and content 404 are controlled by a separate frameset. For example,
toolbar 403 "buttons" are always located
in the top frame of an application area, regardless of the environment
400. This approach allows users, and especially instructors, the
ability to customize their course offerings while conforming to
consistent user interface features that allow
application areas to be shared across environments 400. Student users
and instructors interact with education support system 100 via the same basic environment 400 format.
Context factory 303 contains information mapping a user to one or more courses associated with that user.
Access control manager 151 creates an access control list (ACL)
for one or more subsystems in response to a request from a subsystem to
have its resources protected through adherence to an ACL. Education
support system 100 provides multiple
levels of access restrictions to enable different types of users to
effectively interact with the system (e.g., access web pages, upload or
download files, view grade information) while preserving
confidentiality of information.
User manager 154 integrates the student-centric information
with existing network-based systems of an associated educational
institution. In a presently preferred embodiment, user manager 154
comprises a runtime component and a batch component
that periodically access and extract information contained in external
institution databases in order to maintain current student-centric
information. User manager 154 facilitates integration of education
support system 100 with existing or legacy
network-based systems, including proprietary institutional electronic
networks and systems related to grades, registration, course schedules,
financial aid, etc. without requiring modifications to existing systems
or security procedures.
In a presently preferred embodiment, application subsystems
110 and core subsystems 150 interface with database subsystem 140 via
the Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) standard interface to allow use
of any relational database including, but not
limited to, SQL and DB2 Universal Database standards.
Scalability is provided by the modular system architecture
described in FIG. 1, and, in a preferred embodiment, through use of a
load balancing server 200 as shown in FIG. 2. As users are added to the
system and access the system as web browser
120 clients, additional web server hosts 130 may be added to the
overall system to provide a matching increase in system capacity. Load
balancing server 200 allocates new web browser clients 120 to the
least-busy web server host 130 for servicing. By
thus balancing the load across all web server hosts 130, education
support system 100 prevents response times from become unacceptably
long for any one given user. In a presently preferred embodiment, load
balancing server 200 maintains one or more
metrics concerning the percent utilization for each web server host 130
and selects the least-busy web server host 130 based upon application
of a load balancing algorithm to these utilization metrics.
In a presently preferred embodiment, upon logging onto education
support system 100, shell service 131 servlet renders and presents to
the user (via web browser 120) a personalized web page comprising a
student-centric aggregation of data that
may include, without limitation, personal class schedules, grades, a
rolled-up or consolidated calendar, links to related tools, student
group events for groups of which a particular student is a member, and
class announcements.
Education support system 100 executes on a
variety of computing platforms including, but not limited to, UNIX.TM.
servers, NT.TM. servers, Solaris.TM., HP.TM., and Linux.TM.. Education
support system 100 supports popular web browsers
including, but not limited to, Netscape Navigator.TM. and Microsoft
Internet Explorer.TM., and, in a preferred embodiment, does not require
plug-ins at the web browser client.
In a presently preferred embodiment, an automated upload or
import capability is provided in which a user may upload a file to the
system and system presents or displays the information contained in the
uploaded file in a manner that preserves
the grouping of the information, including fields and other
categorization, based on the file type. Education
support system 100 provides a standard import file format to accomplish
this preservation of native grouping of information. In a presently
most preferred embodiment, the automated upload capability imports an
uploaded file in both native and HTML formats, maintaining the file
formats associated with the native format for the native formatted file
and converting the native format into HTML
formats for the HTML formatted file.
Education support system 100 supports a variety
of business models. For example, an institution may charge each student
for courses taken via education support system 100; or, an instructor may use education support system 100 to process
individual student tuition payments by providing links to e-commerce facilities.
Thus, a system and methods have been shown that that allow users to interact with a computer network-based education
support system through means of a simplified, easy-to-use user
interface, and that can be easily integrated with existing
computer network and backend systems with minimal disruption to
existing operations and systems. The disclosed system and methods is
scalable in order to accommodate increasing numbers of users, and can
accommodate a variety of diverse teaching modes.
Three Tier Functionality
The present invention will now be described in further detail.
The invention is embodied in four embodiments that represent three
levels of functionality of the system that can be provided to and by an
institution, and one embodiment that can be
offered to anyone on the Internet. One embodiment embodies a "first
tier" functionality and incorporates the basic system, referred to as
the Course Manager. The Course Manager provides course management
system tools that enable instructors to provide
their students with course materials, discussion boards, virtual chat,
online assessments, and a dedicated academic resource center on the
Web. As explained further below, the Course Manager includes personal
information management tools, course content
management tools, course communication and collaboration tools,
assessment tools, academic Web resources, course management tools, and
system management tools.
A "second tier" embodiment incorporates all of the
functionality of the basic embodiment in an epicentric or portal model,
also known as the Course & Portal Manager. This embodiment expands
beyond the first tier Course Manager, and provides
customized institution-wide portals for faculty, students, staff, and
alumni with access to numerous personalized news and information
services from across the Web. The platform can be customized with
institutional branding and a tailored look and feel. It enables
institutions to develop online communities, Web-based email, calendar,
announcements and tasks. It also allows for a central access point to
all of the institution's online services. In addition to the features
of the Course Manager, the
Course & Portal Manager includes enterprise database support,
customizable portal modules and information services, web-based e-mail
system, community management, institutional services management,
extended customization for institutional branding,
institution-wide content sharing and management, and course e-commerce
management.
The third embodiment is a third tier system, known as the
Advanced Course & Portal Manager. This embodiment incorporates the
complete end-to-end "e-Learning" solution. In addition to the Course
and Portal Manager, this third tier provides
advanced Java-based API's for unifying diverse online campus systems
into one integrated platform allowing for user-driven single log-in
service delivery, as well as capabilities that allow each school,
department or campus within the institution to
maintain its own customized environment. Thus, this is the fully
functional embodiment that includes all the features and functionality
of the first and second tiers and adds certain integration technologies
that allow integration of the invention with
existing enterprise systems, such as for downloading student databases,
etc. as defined further below. This includes a snapshot user management
API, an event-driven (real-time) user management API, an end user
authentication (security) API, and a
network protocol for passing user authentication data.
It is contemplated that each tier would be offered to
institutions in a licensing program that would best suit the needs and
budget of the institution.
A fourth embodiment of the invention is operated as a publicly
available web site on the Internet, that may be accessed by anyone,
whether they are affiliated with an institution or not. In this
embodiment, anyone on the web can create a course,
enroll in a public course, etc. as explained further below. This
provides for widespread dissemination of tools and utilities that
enable anyone to generate his own course that can be taken by virtually
any student.
As further explained herein, the course management tools
featured in the present invention allow instructors to monitor, control
and customize their course web sites from a web browser interface. The
Course Control Panel provides a robust and
easy-to-use interface for such course management. The system allows
instructors to customize the names of course web site navigation
buttons to suit their needs and requirements. The system also allows
the instructor to add or drop individuals or
groups of students from a course as required. The system features
extended student enrollment option, such as a limited-time
self-enrollment (e.g. certain dates only for the self-enroll feature),
password-protected enrollment, and defined course
duration (e.g. for self-paced study). Courses may be recycled between
academic terms by automatically resetting discussion boards,
assessment, and other content areas. In addition, the instructor can
track student progress, grades and content usage
through the system.
As further explained herein, the content management tools
featured in the present invention allow instructors to post course
documents, staff information, assignments, etc. Text may be typed
directly into a form, or existing files may be accessed
and uploaded automatically. Documents such as word processing files,
spreadsheets, slide presentations, graphics, audio and video clips,
etc. may be uploaded in this manner. Streaming multimedia may provided
interactivity between the student and the
course. Pop-up maps provide easy course site navigation, thus enriching
the teaching and learning environments.
The communication and collaboration tools enhance the
interaction between the students and instructors with asynchronous
discussion boards as well as synchronous chat tools. Online discussions
may be managed wherein messages are sortable by
date, author, title, etc., and may be archived and printed. A digital
dropbox is a file sharing utility that allows sharing of documents
between users. Virtual office hours may be held, and even field trips
conducted online with these tools.
The assessment tools in the present invention increase student
preparedness, measure student progress, and customize lessons by
creating and administering quizzes and surveys. Provided is an easy to
use, step by step process to create the
quizzes and surveys, wherein the instructor may mix and match multiple
question types such as multiple choice, multiple correct, true/false,
matching, ordering, fill in the blank, and essays. Multimedia or other
attachments may easily be included with
the assessment questions. Questions may be randomized and re-used from
assessment pools. Tests provided to students may be password protected
and timed, and may provide instant feedback to students.
Advantageously, statistical reports may be created
from the assessments and student answers.
The personal information management tools in the present
invention allow students, instructors, administrators and all other
users to access basic course, personal, and institutional data through
a user-centric "My Institution" screen. The user
may view announcements from multiple courses in one central location,
and maintain personal calendar, address book, user directory and to-do
lists.
The present invention also provides for access to a plethora of academic resources that supplement the student's online education experience. The user may browse discipline-specific information, resources and communities linked to each course
website. These academic resources may be customized and personalized to fit the users' needs.
The system management tools available with the present
invention allow system administrators to monitor, control and customize
an institution's online teaching and learning environment from the web
browser. The system administrator may control
security permissions and enable/disable features for numerous user
roles. Batch user enrollment (and unenrollment) may be performed system
wide. Preferences and options may be managed on multiple courses, all
from within a central system administrator
panel. The system administrator may also track and report faculty,
student and course statistics, may plan and manage system hardware
requirements by assigning instructors with pre-assigned disk quotas for
content storage, and may employ system-wide
announcements to broadcast messages to users about system maintenance
or institutional announcements.
In the Course & Portal Manager embodiment, the enterprise
database support provides support for tens of thousands of users across
an entire institution or system of institutions. User and course data
may be managed efficiently and effectively. Moreover, large volumes of
transactions may be managed efficiently and effectively. The "My
Institution" interface includes portal and community functionality
along with quick access to web email, course and institutional
announcements, and links to
other campus departments. Administrators may enable or disable portal
modules and establish required and optional modules from the portal
options menu bar. Administrators may also assign different portal
default settings to different user roles (e.g.
students get different portals than instructors).
Course e-commerce management functionality allows institutions
to set prices and charge fees for course enrollment directly through
the "e-Learning" platform.
In the Advanced Course & Portal Manager embodiment, the
snapshot user management tool allows scheduling of one-time or periodic
(i.e. hourly, daily, weekly) data integration from existing student
information systems, automating course population
and keeping the "e-Learning" environment synchronized with
administrative and student data. Moreover, the end-user authentication
enables a single login environment for the institution portal for all
students, instructors, administrators and staff,
which streamlines all campus services into a single web portal
environment.
The present invention will now be described in further detail
and embodiments. FIG. 5 shows a screen shot of the home page 500 that a
user will view, which is customizable in accordance with the
requirements and desires of any user. The home
page may also be institutionally branded, so that the "Your
Institution" logo 504 shown in FIG. 5 would display the name of the
institution that has licensed the product (i.e. "New York University").
The home page also provides the user with direct
access to personal, course, and institutional tools. As an added
feature, the system enables each user to select from a large number of
news and information services, so that everyone who uses the system
will have access to the most recent and relevant
information for them. All of this functionality is provided in one
place--the home page--so that the institution can provide a sense of
community on campus, with courses, and with a view to the external
information sources.
By selecting the "Courses" tab 502 shown in FIG. 5, the user
will be linked to a Course page 600 as shown in FIG. 6, which provides
direct links to the courses that they teach (602, 604) and/or are
enrolled in (606, 608, 610). To access the
course website, the user will click on the course title (and 602, 604,
606, 608 or 610), he is automatically linked to a web page associated
with that course. The user also has the opportunity to browse the
course catalog 612 by selecting the links on
the right side of the page 600, where courses are listed according to
category. The user may also search through the course search engine by
selecting the Browse Course Catalog Link 614.
For example, by selecting the link 602 for the Introduction to
Music course, which the user in this example is teaching, the user is
shown the web page 700 illustrated in FIG. 7. The default view for the
course web site 700 in this embodiment is
the Announcements page 702, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. As seen at the
lower part of the screen in FIG. 8, the user has the option of
selecting various types of views by filtering out certain time-based
announcements (i.e. today, last 2 weeks, last
month, or all) by selecting button 802. The Announcements section can
also be linked to after the user has left that page (i.e. is viewing
another part of the course web site) by simply clicking the
Announcements button 804 on the navigation toolbar 806
on the left of the web page.
Within the course website environment, the user is able to
access all of the relevant course material and communication features
as shown herein. The entire course outline may be displayed in a
separate browser window 900, wherein the course
contents are available for perusal and hyperlinking as desired. FIG. 8
shows the entire web page for Introduction to Music in two parts (an
upper part and a lower part, which of course is scrollable as desired).
As can be seen, one of the function
buttons provided is labeled "Course Map" 808, which upon being clicked
will popup the Course Contents window 900 shown in FIG. 9 (in an
expanded browser window). As can be seen, the user will be able to
expand or collapse the various headings provided
in order to drill into the entire course contents as currently
configured. So, for example, the user can expand the Assignments
section 902 and get a linkable list of all the assignments that have
been created for the course to date. Any of the
assignments may then be clicked for easy access thereto. This separate
window 900 is especially advantageous since it allows users to browse
the entire course, regardless of their current location in the web
site.
Thus, by selecting any of the Assignments links 902, the user
would be linked to the web page 1000 set forth in FIG. 10. This web
page lists each assignment that has been compiled for the course, each
of which can be linked to web pages that
contain the full details of the particular assignment. The assignment
page 1000 shown in FIG. 10 may of course also be viewed by clicking the
"Assignments" button 804 on the toolbar at the left of the course home
page shown in FIG. 8. In general, any
of the functions that are provided by toolbar buttons on the navigation
bar at the left of the course home page will be available in any page
accessed for that site, so that easy navigation may be had and the user
may jump around and visit any desired
portion of the course web site no matter where the user is currently
located. Likewise, the Course Contents window provides similar
functionality as described above.
As shown in FIG. 10, folders that have quizzes and surveys may
be linked to by viewing the assignments web page. Clicking on these
folders will present the student and/or instructor with a quiz that may
be taken online, wherein the answers may
be graded automatically, in real-time, as soon as the student has
finished the quiz. This assessment functionality will be explained in
greater detail below.
In general, assignments may be provided in virtually any type
of media that he instructor has at his disposal. For example, shown in
FIG. 10 is a link 1002 to a multimedia presentation for "Physics in
Music", which will give the student a
content-enriched lesson that will be useful, prior to the next lesson.
Assignments may also be as simple as a text based file that the student
would read in preparation for the required class session.
In addition to selecting the Assignments page 1000 or the
Announcements page 700, the user may select the Course Information
button 1004 on the toolbar. This will link the user to a web page that
will list information provided by the instructor
that is useful to the student, such as an introductory welcome message,
links to helpful resources, etc. Resources otherwise found on other
parts of the course web site may also be shown here if desired by the
course web site developer. Links may be in
the form of URLs to other web pages or resources, or to folders that
include groups of logically related resources.
Selection of the Staff Information navigation button 1006 will
provide the user with a web page that will list each instructor, TA,
professor, etc., along with an abstract listing office hours, address,
telephone number, etc. on each, as well as
a link that be clicked to send an email. This gives the student with
quick, easy access to any instructor as may be desired throughout the
course. Images and other types of multimedia files may also be made
available at this page for enhanced content
viewing.
The user may select the "Course Documents" link 1008 shown in
the navigational toolbar, after which the web page 1100 on FIG. 11 is
provided for that course. This provides the user with immediate access
to all documents relevant to the course. As a student, the user has
access to all of the course materials, including additional links to
information on the web that will enhance the instructional experience.
As an instructor, the user has the ability to post documents of
numerous file formats
and from disparate locations.
By selecting the "Communication" tab 1010 shown in FIG. 10,
the student is provided with the Communication Center web page 1200 as
shown in FIG. 12. In this area, the user has at his disposal many
different ways of establishing communications
with other users of the system as well as accessing other areas of the
system for various types of information. Thus, the user has access to
an email utility 1202, a student roster list 1204, a list of student
homepages 1206, a discussion board 1208, a
virtual classroom chat 1210, and a group pages link 1212.
Selection of the Send E-Mail link 1202 loads a web page with
various links that allow the user to send email to individuals
registered for the course, to students only, to instructors only, etc.
The email function is accomplished via web-based
email and allows for users to send attachments, etc. as in many
existing email packages available today. Selection of the Student
Roster link 1204 displays a web page that lists all of the students
registered for the course, along with contact
information if allowed by the student (such as phone number, address,
email address, etc.). Selection of the Student Pages link 1206 provides
a web page with links to the homepage for each student in the class.
Another very effective communication tool is the asynchronous
Discussion Board 1300, as shown in FIG. 13, which is displayed by the
student selecting the Discussion Board link 1208 of FIG. 12. Here,
students can access this for threaded
discussions that are archived for easy retrieval. By using the
discussion board, students can help each other learn even more easily
outside of regular class hours. It can also be used as an effective
method for instructors and TAs to use as a tutorial
tool for out-of-class questions and discussions that need to be saved
for the purpose of sharing with the rest of that class. This utility
operates in accordance with techniques well known in the art.
By clicking on the Virtual Chat link 1210, the student is
provided with a web page 3300 as shown in FIG. 33, labeled "virtual
chat". That is, each course has its unique chat area built into the
course site. Students can engage in chats about
the course, collaborate on assignments, and share information beyond
the boundaries of the classroom or posted materials. The instructor can
monitor the chats or actively engage in discussions. This real-time
virtual chat feature can also accommodate a
whiteboard mode.
Selection of the Group Pages link 1212 displays a web page
that lists various groups of users that are grouped by special
interests (such as music lovers, bookworms, sports fans, etc.). Access
to these groups is a definable parameter that is set
by the system administrator.
Selection of the External Links button 1012 will display a web
page that is provided with URLs for relevant content that the
instructor deems may be useful to the student community. For example,
in a law course, links may be provided to various
legal research web sites, a Congressional web page, etc.
Selection of the Student Tools button 1014 will display a web
page 1400 of associated links as shown in FIG. 14. These links include
various tools needed by the student, such as the Student Drop Box 1402,
Change your Information 1404, Check Your
Grade 1406, Edit Your Homepage 1408, Student Calendar 1410, and the
Student Manual 1412.
By clicking the Student Drop Box link 1402, the student is
provided with a web page that will allow control and access to the
student's digital dropbox, which is a folder of files that the student
can exchange with the course instructor. As
shown in FIG. 15, the dropbox web page 1500 allows the student to type
in box 1502 the resource location of a file that he wishes to provide
to the instructor, or to browse his computer's hard drive with button
1504, network drive, etc. in accordance
with well known techniques to locate the file and insert the
appropriate pointer. Clicking the Send File button 1506 will finish the
task of uploading the file. A list 1508 of uploaded files that exist in
the student's dropbox is also set forth in this
page, along with a control link 1510 that enables the removal of a
file. By using this utility, the student can submit documents such as
term papers to the instructor, who can then read and post comments to
the file for return to the student and review.
Selection of the Change Your Information link 1404 provides
the student with a web page that sets forth his personal data, such as
name, address, email, phone number, password, etc. In addition, certain
system preferences may be set at this
location. Similar to this link is the Edit Your Homepage link 1408,
which will allow the student to access his homepage and make
modifications as he desires (e.g. change a JPEG picture on the page,
change hotlink list, etc.)
Selection of the Check Your Grades link 1406 will deliver a
web page that shows the grades that the student has been assessed in
the course, such as for exams, quizzes, term papers, projects,
assignments, etc. The student may be able to link to
the specific exam or paper through this utility in order to review the
exam again, which may be useful for example in preparing for a final
exam. The instructor may also provide to the student a statistical
review of the entire class so that the student
has a better feel for the grade he may receive (for example, the class
median, mean, curve data, etc.).
The Student Calendar button 1410 will provide well known PIM
(personal information management) functionality to the student. The
Calendar web page can display calendar events in a graphical display
for that course, all the student's courses, all
institution events, as well as personal calendar events programmed by
the user. Thus, different entities can program calendar events, which
can be selectively displayed by the student by selection of display
functions on the page. For example, the
instructor can program the calendar events for the course, and an
administrator can program calendar events for the entire campus, and
these will be displayed on the student's calendar since he is
registered for the course. This provides the student
with a greater ability to manage his calendar than has been available
in the past.
The final button on the Student Tools web page is the Student
Manual link 1412, which when selected provides the student with access
to an online manual that may be used for a "help" reference in
navigating the web site.
Located below the navigation button toolbar is a group of
control buttons 1420. The Resources button 1422 links directly to a web
page of related online resources to assist with course-related issues,
as described further below. The Course Map
button 808 gives a separate browser window with direct access to the
course contents, as explained above. The My Blackboard button 1424 gives access to "My Blackboard"
functionality as explained below. The Search button 1426 enables the
user to search
all course materials by criteria and keyword(s). The Logout button 1428
logs the user out of the current course. There may also be an Enroll in
this Course button to allow students to register themselves in courses
(this button is only visible when the
student accesses as a guest a course in which he is not enrolled).
Instructor Functionality
The instructor is provided with essentially the same
functionality and control as is the student user, with additional
functions defined herein. That is, the instructor is provided with a
complete set of navigational buttons for accessing
announcements, course information, staff information, course documents,
assignments, communication tools, external links, and student tools for
a given course that he is teaching. The control panel is also given to
the instructor to enable display of a
set of links to course management and development tools that are
available to an instructor.
The instructor's control panel web page 1600 is shown in FIG.
16. This control panel 1602 provides the instructor with many features
that are useful in managing the course he instructs. The control panel
is divided into Content Areas 1604,
Course Tools 1606, Course Options 1608, User Management 1610,
Assessment 1612, and Assistance 1614, as set forth below.
Content Areas
The Announcement link 1616 displays a web page 1700 as shown in
FIG. 17 that will set forth all of the announcements that have been
posted for the course, the author (i.e. which instructor, if there are
more than one authorized to access this
area) of the announcement, and a modify button 1702 and a remove button
1704. An add announcement button 1706 is also provided, which displays
a web page with a blank message field that he instructor fills in and
submits to the server. The newly added
announcement will then be posted to all students registered in the
class.
The Course Information link 1618 displays a web page 1800 as
shown in FIG. 18 that will set forth all of the course information
documents or folders that have been posted for the course, and a modify
button 1802 and a remove button 1804. An add
item 1806 or add folder button 1808 is also provided, which displays a
web page with various fields that the instructor will fill in to define
the course information entry. After submitting the new entry to the
server, the new course information is
posted to all students registered in the class.
The Staff Information link 1620 displays a web page that will
set forth all of the staff entries (i.e. instructors, Tasks, etc.) that
are involved with the course, and a modify button and a remove button
for each entry similar to those shown in
FIG. 18. An add item or add folder button is also provided, which
displays a web page with various fields that the instructor will fill
in to define the new staff item entry. Fields are also provided for
links to each staff member's email address, web
page, etc. Images of the staff member may also be inserted in the
entry. After submitting the new entry to the server, the new staff
information is posted to all students registered in the class as
explained above.
Similarly, the Course Documents link 1622 displays a web page
that will set forth all of the course documents or folders that have
been posted for the course, and a modify button and a remove button as
discussed above. An add item or add folder
button is also provided, which displays a web page with various fields
that the instructor will fill in to define the course documents entry.
The document may be uploaded directly to the server for later access by
the student, or a link to an external
referenced resource may be provided (i.e. a URL). After submitting the
new entry to the server, the new course information is posted to all
students registered in the class as explained above.
Likewise, the Assignments link 1624 displays a web page that
will set forth all of the course assignments or folders that have been
posted for the course, and a modify button and a remove button. An add
item or add folder button is also
provided, which displays a web page with various fields that the
instructor will fill in to define the course assignment entry. The
assignment entry may be uploaded directly to the server for later
access by the student. After submitting the new entry
to the server, the new course assignment is posted to all students
registered in the class as explained above.
Also, the External Links link 1626 displays a web page that
will set forth all of the external links or folders that have been
posted for the course, and a modify button and a remove button. An add
item or add folder button is also provided,
which displays a web page with various fields that the instructor will
fill in to define the external links entry. The external links entry
may be uploaded directly to the server for later access by the student.
After submitting the new entry to the
server, the new external link page is posted to all students registered
in the class as explained above.
Course Tools
Under the Course Tools section 1606, the Course Calendar link
1628 displays a web page that will set forth all of the calendar events
that have been posted for the course, and a modify button and a remove
button. An add item button is also
provided, which displays a web page with various fields that the
instructor will fill in to define the new calendar item entry (i.e.
description, date, time, etc.). The calendar entry may be uploaded
directly to the server for later access by the
student. After submitting the new entry to the server, the new calendar
page is posted to all students registered in the class as explained
above.
The Course Tasks link 1630 displays a web page 1900 as shown
in FIG. 19 that will set forth all of the tasks that have been posted
for the course, and a modify button 1902 and a remove button 1904. An
Add Task button 1906 is also provided, which
displays a web page with various fields that the instructor will fill
in to define the new task entry (i.e. description, date, time, etc.).
The task entry may be uploaded directly to the server for later access
by the student. After submitting the new
entry to the server, the new tasks page is posted to all students
registered in the class as explained above.
The Send Email link 1632 displays a web page that is similar
to the one the user will be provided with in his email function (i.e.
allows selection of individual users associated with the course,
certain predefined groups of users such as all
students, etc.)
The Instructor Library link 1634 displays a web page 2000 as
shown in FIG. 20 that will set forth all of the folders and files that
have been posted by the instructor for the course, and a modify button
2002 and a remove button 2004. These
materials are accessible to instructors only (professors, TAs, etc.),
and not to students directly. An Add File button 2006 and an Add Folder
2008 button is also provided, which displays a web page with various
fields that the instructor will fill in to
define the new entry. In addition, the instructor is able to select the
Add From Institution button 2010 to select a new reference that is
available from a pool of references made available to all instructors
from the institution. The new entry may be
uploaded directly to the server for later access by the instructors
associated with the course. After submitting the new entry to the
server, the new Instructor Library page is posted to all instructors
associated with the course.
The Virtual Classroom link 1636 displays a web page that
provides a link to either launch a virtual classroom (and thus
participate in real-time, synchronous classroom sessions), or to view
the classroom archives (view previous classroom sessions
and/or download these sessions to the instructor's computer). Each
course includes a Virtual Classroom, which is a synchronous chat room
for student and group communications. The Virtual Classroom can be used
to hold "live" classroom discussions, TA
sessions, and office hour type question/answer forums. One can even
have guest speakers and subject matter experts talk with the class in
the Virtual Classroom.
A Virtual Classroom contains several distinct areas. The
Whiteboard Space is where web pages are displayed, which is the large
center area. One can also write or draw on this space using the drawing
toolbar. The Menu Bar is used to change the
information that appears on the whiteboard space, such as selecting a
font to use on the whiteboard space and moving an object on the
whiteboard space behind another object. One can also prepare lessons,
navigate slides displayed on the whiteboard
space, and clear the Group Discussion tab and Questions and Answers tab
(refer to the Tab Panel description for further information on these
tabs). The Application Tool Bar contains tools for navigating web
pages. The Location Field is used to enter
the URL of a web page the user would like to use during the Virtual
Classroom session. The web page is then displayed on the whiteboard
space. Users can also write or draw on the web page with the drawing
toolbar. The Drawing Toolbar is used to write
and draw on the whiteboard space. The Status Region is where status
messages are displayed at the bottom of the Virtual Classroom window.
The Tab Panel is used to chat with students, respond to students'
questions, control classroom behavior, and view
information about the students in the Virtual Classroom.
The following panels are available:
TABLE-US-00001 Name of Tab Purpose Group Discussion Use this
tab to talk with the students in the Virtual Classroom. Questions and
If a student uses his/her Questions Answers tab to submit a question to
the instructor, the instructor can then
answer the question using the Incoming Questions tab. Thereafter, the
instructor can view a log of their dialogue regarding the question on
the Questions and Answers tab. Participant Use this tab to learn about
the Information students in the Virtual
Classroom, such as their names. Slides Use this tab to prepare and
present a series of slides. (See Options in Preparing Lessons). The tab
is only available to the Instructor. Incoming If a student uses his/her
Questions Questions tab to submit a
question to the instructor, the instructor can then answer the question
using the Incoming Questions tab. Thereafter, the instructor can view a
log of their dialogue regarding the question on the Questions and
Answers tab. The Incoming Questions tab is
only available to the instructor. Access Control Use this tab to
control students' ability to conduct the four Virtual Classroom
activities: Question, Chat, Drawing, and Navigating. The tab is only
available to the instructor.
Selection of the Discussion Board link 1638 displays a web
page that provides links to the available discussion boards that are
associated with the course. A discussion board is another communication
tool to use in a classroom setting. This
feature is similar to Virtual Chat, but is designed for asynchronous
use, so users do not have to be available at the same time to have a
conversation. An additional advantage of the discussion board is that
user conversations are logged and organized. Conversations are grouped
into forums that contain threads and all related replies.
Selection of the Digital Dropbox link 1640 displays a web page
2100 as shown in FIG. 21 that lists the files that exist in the digital
dropbox. The Digital Dropbox is a tool that the instructor and students
can use to exchange files. The
Dropbox works by "uploading" a file from a disk or a computer to a
central location. A participant can then come and "download" it to work
locally. The Digital Dropbox is used to exchange materials between a
single student and the instructor. Information that needs to be posted
for all students should be placed in the Course Documents area using
the Page Editors.
Individual student access to the Dropbox is available from the
File Transfer Area located in Student Tools area on the Course.
Students also have group access to a private dropbox from a group
homepage.
The web page 2100 displayed lists the current files in the
dropbox, which are the files that participants have sent to the user.
Files posted here can be accessed and saved. The Send File 2102 to the
Student area is where files are uploaded and
sent to specific students. The user can also delete files that are no
longer needed.
Course Options
The Course Options area 1608 includes a Course Options link
1642 that will display a web page to the instructor that has the links
for Button Availability, Tool Availability, Course Availability, Course
Duration, Enrollment Options, Enrollment
Fees, and Guest Access. Selection of the Button Availability link will
display a web page that will allow the user to set and configure the
buttons that are used by students in that course, including enabling or
disabling them, or making them secure
(i.e. only accessible by enrolled students). Selection of the Tool
Availability link will display a web page that will allow the
instructor to enable or disable the student tools and communication
functions for that course (i.e. email, discussion board,
virtual chat, student roster, group pages, student dropbox, edit
homepage, personal information, calendar, grades, tasks, electric blackboard,
student manual, and course search). Selection of the Course
Availability link will display a web page that
will allow the instructor to enable or disable the availability of the
course to students (i.e. it can be kept unavailable until the course
site is finished). Selection of the Course Duration link will display a
web page that will allow the instructor
to select the duration of the course (continuous, start and end dates,
or number of days from the date of enrollment). Selection of the
Enrollment Options link will display a web page that will allow the
instructor to select the enrollment options as
either "instructor led", which allows students to email enrollment
requests to the instructor, or "self-enrollment", which will specify
the start and end dates and optionally require entry by the student of
an access code to enroll. Selection of the
Enrollment Fees link will display a web page that will allow the
instructor to specify if fees should be charged for enrollment in the
course, and what the fees should be. Selection of the Guest Access link
will display a web page that will allow the
instructor to specify if guests may access the course.
Selection of the Course Properties link 1644 in the Course
Options area 1608 displays a web page that enables the instructor to
add and/or edit course properties, including the course name, a
description of the course, and a subject area for
categorization purposes.
Selection of the Course Utilities link 1646 in the course
options area 1608 displays a web page that enables the instructor to
select a Course Recycler link, an Export Course Link, or an Import
Course Cartridge link. The Course Recycler link
enables the instructor to recycle the course by selectively removing
areas of the course, which are displayed as check boxes next to various
content categories (course documents, course information, textbooks,
assignments, etc.), various staff areas
(staff information, faculty), and external web links. The instructor
can also choose to recycle other areas such as discussion boards,
gradebook, assessments, etc. The Export Course link enables the
instructor to export all, or specific sections, of the
course (i.e. content, users, assessments, and/or discussion boards).
The Import Course Cartridge link enables the instructor to download and
install a course cartridge (if they have an access key).
Selection of the Course Images link 1648 in the course options
area displays a web page that enables the instructor to select a Button
Style link (to set the button styles for the course) and to select a
Course Banner link (to add or remove a
course banner on the first page of the course).
Selection of the Academic Web Resource link 1650 in the course
options area displays a web page that enables the instructor to select
an Enable/Disable Academic Web Button link (to enable or disable the
resources button the course homepage) or a
Customize Academic Web Button link (to designate the Academic Resources
for the course, wherein the instructor can customize the number of
links and the content that is available for the students).
User Management
Selection of the Add Users link 1652 in the user management
area 1610 displays a web page that enables the instructor to select a
Create User link, an Enroll Existing User link, or a Batch Add User
link. The Create User link displays a web page
that will enable the instructor to create a new user account and enroll
him in the course, by inputting name, address, etc. of the user,
designating the user's role (student, instructor, TA, grader, etc.) and
providing a password if desired. The Enroll
Existing User link displays a web page that enables the instructor to
enroll a user in the course. The Batch Add Users link displays a web
page that enables the instructor to create all of the user accounts by
uploading a text file containing the user
data.
Selection of the List/Modify Users link 1654 in the user
management area 1610 displays a web page that enables the instructor to
list and/or modify the users of the course, while selection of the
Remove Users link 1656 displays a web page that
enables the instructor to remove a user if desired from the course.
Selection of the Manage Groups link 1658 enables the instructor to
create and edit certain user groups (e.g. gifted students, remedial
students, etc.).
Assessment
Within the course, instructors are able to bring quizzes,
tests, and surveys online. Included may be essay, true/false, multiple
choice, fill-in-the-blank, or matching questions. The questions can
include text, graphics or multimedia. For the
student, instant feedback is provided through automatic grading
functionality. For the instructor, there is the ability to randomize
the tests, time them, and create statistical reports of outcomes.
Assessments within this system are an optimal way to
increase student preparedness for class and to track and compare
student progress over time. The Assessment area 1612 of the control
panel 1602 allows the instructor to select an Assessment Manager link
1660, a Pool Manager link 1662, an Online
Gradebook link 1664, or a Course Statistics link 1666.
Selection of the Assessment Manager link 1660 in the
assessment area 1612 displays a web page that enables the instructor to
create, edit and otherwise manage the assessment content areas. For
example, the instructor may create an assessment by
entering an assessment name, a description, and setting certain
parameters including Show Detailed Results (shows the students the
results for each question instead of simply their final grade), Reveal
Correct Answer (shows the students the correct
answer for each question), Feedback Enabled (allows students to view
the feedback that the instructor has entered for each question), Allow
Multiple Attempts (allows students to take the assessment more than
once), Set Time for Quiz (sets a timer that is
shown to the student during the exam), and Password Protect (allows
only those students with the entered password to take the test). By
clicking the Modify option, a web page is displayed that enables the
instructor to modify the assessment by adding
items. An item is added by selecting the type of question (multiple
choice, true/false, fill in the blank, etc.), typing in the question
text and possible answers (i.e. if it is multiple choice) with an
indication of the correct one, specify the order
of answers, etc. The order of the questions can be changed in this web
page as well.
Selection of the Pool Manager link 1662 in the assessment area
1612 displays a web page that enables the instructor to Add Pool,
Import Pool, Search Pool, or Export Pool. Pools are predefined groups
of questions and answer sets that are
logically linked, usually by subject matter, so that an instructor may
draw from a pool to obtain existing questions and answers sets from
other courses, instructors, semesters, etc. and not have to "recreate
the wheel" every time they generate or modify
a test. Thus, by clicking the Add Pool button, the instructor can add a
new pool to the list of pools displayed on the Pool Manager web page.
He will have to type in the name of the new pool and a description of
it on this form. By clicking the Import
Pool button, the instructor will enter the name of an existing pool to
import, or alternatively browse a disk drive to find the pool to
import. By clicking the Search Pool button, the instructor is presented
with a web page that will enumerate various
available pools that can be searched for questions of interest for
importing. The entire pool can be previewed by selecting a preview
mode, and all of the available questions in that pool may be viewed. By
clicking the Export Pool button, a pool may be
selected for exporting purposes. For the list of available pools set
forth on the Pool manager page, the instructor may modify the pool, in
which case a web page is displayed that lists all of the questions (and
associated answer sets) that are in the
pool. Each question in the pool may be modified in the same manner as
explained above with respect to the assessment manager. Likewise,
questions may be deleted entirely from a pool, and new questions may be
added to the pool as described above with
respect to the assessment manager.
Selection of the Online Gradebook link 1664 in the assessment
area displays a web page that enables the instructor to perform various
functions with respect to the online course gradebook. FIG. 22
illustrates a web page 2200 entitled "Course
Gradebook", which provides a variety of information including
consolidated grades, individual assignment/test scores, direct access
to specific assignments or tests by student, or a look at a specific
test with aggregated results. This allows the
instructor to organize the grade information so that it is meaningful.
It provides insight into the effectiveness of certain assignments and
provides a bridge for allowing instructor-assessment of assignment and
class content. The functions provided on
the Online Gradebook web page in the assessment area of the control
panel include Report By User (used to find a specific user and view
statistics, assessment results, and modification of any scores for a
user), Report By Item (used to view information
about a specific gradebook item), Spreadsheet View (standard gradebook
view as shown in FIG. 22, the instructor can modify, add or remove
gradebook entries as well as view assessment results), and Export
Gradebook (exported as a comma-delimited file).
Selection of the Course Statistics link 1666 in the assessment
area displays a web page that enables the instructor to set parameters
and view certain statistics for their course. Most instructors want to
analyze their class by how much their
online materials are being accessed, but very few have the opportunity
to take the time or the effort to determine these numbers. By using the
course statistics web page 2300 shown in FIGS. 23A and 23B, the system
provides a rich tool set for
instructors to evaluate the relative statistics of their courses. These
statistics may be valuable for evaluating online versus non-online
courses to determine the relative efficacy of online materials and how
they are enhancing the course. Thus, the
Course Statistics web page has input fields for selecting a report
filter, which will yield a report with Overall Summary of Course Usage,
Main Content Areas report, Communication Areas Report, Group Areas
Report, or Student Areas Report. The time
period must be specified, which may be all dates or between a beginning
date and an end date. The users must be selected, which will be either
all users or a selected subset thereof. Other options include Total
Number of Access per Area 2302, Number of
Accesses over Time 2304, User Accesses per Hour of Day 2306 (or Day of
Week 2308), and Total Accesses by User 2310. The data, charts and
graphs as shown in FIGS. 23A and 23B will then be displayed to the
instructor.
Assistance
Finally, there is an Assistance area 1614 defined in the
Control Panel, which sets forth links that will provide the instructor
with various types of help. Selecting the Online Manual link 1668 will
bring up an HTML based Instructor Manual in a
separate browser window. The Online Support link 1670 will bring up a
web page with contact info for sending an email to a support person,
and the Contact Admin link 1672 will bring up a web page with contact
info for sending an email to an
administrative contact.
Administrator Functionality
The Administrator Panel 2402, shown in FIG. 24, gives the
system administrator complete access to all of the features of the
system including portal features, course and club creation and
management, institution and system tools, e-commerce
features, user management, and other various institutional options.
This is accessed by selecting the Enterprise Administration tab 2404
shown on the homepage.
The Administrator panel 2402 includes a Portal Areas group
2406 of functions, a System Tools area 2408, an Enterprise Tools Area
2410, a System Options Area 2412, a Course and Community Management
area 2414, a User Management Area 2416, an
E-Commerce Area 2418, and an Assistance area 2420, as explained further
below.
Portal Areas
Selection of the My Institution tab 2422 in the Portal Area
2406 provides a web page that lists four hyperlink selectable options:
Customize Institution Tab, Institutional Module Options, All Module
Options, and Off-Campus Institution
Partnerships. The Customize Institution Tab link will provide a web
page that allows the user (the enterprise administrator, in this case)
to enable/disable the appearance of the "My Institution" tab for all
users, as well as enable/disable a Welcome
Message that may be displayed at logon. The user may also select an
image for the tab, as well as the name, and provide a predefined URL
that will be associated with the tab when selected by the end user.
The Institutional Module Options refers to the default layout
is the set of modules that new users sees the first time they log in to
the portal. This allows the enterprise administrator to enable/disable
and/or set as required the following
modules: My Courses, My Organizations, Today's Announcements, Today's
Tasks, Today's Calendar, School Services, Student Module, Faculty
Module, Staff Module, Alumni Module, Perspective Student Module, Guest
Module, Other Module, Institution Newspaper
Module, and Blank Module (a blank module that can be customized).
The All Module Options link allows the user to enable/disable
and/or set as required the following modules: Bookmark, Calculator,
Channels, Clip, Comment Clip, Custom Search, Directory, Discussion
Boards, various co-branded portal links (such as
EXCITE news, entertainment features, stock prices, sports updates,
maps, etc.), shopping site links, yellow pages links, etc.
The Off-Campus Institution Partnerships link allows the user
to add, modify, and edit hyperlinks to web sites with which the
institution has formed various partner or other types of arrangements;
for example, a partnership with an off-campus
bookstore may be provided as a means for supplementing the on campus
bookstore.
Selection of the Course tab 2424 in the Portal Area provides a
web page that lists four hyperlink selectable options: Customize
Courses Tab, Enable/Disable Course Creation, Course Catalog Options,
and Off-Campus Learning Partnerships. The
Customize Courses Tab link will provide a web page that allows the user
(the enterprise administrator, in this case) to enable/disable the
appearance of the "Courses" tab for all users. The user may also select
an image for the tab, as well as the name,
and provide a predefined URL that will be associated with the tab when
selected by the end user.
Selection of the Enable/Disable Creation Option link provides
a web page that allows the enterprise administrator to select an option
to not allow users to create courses, to allow users to create courses,
or to allow the user to send an email
request for course creation. Selection of the Course Catalog Options
link provides a web page that allows the enterprise administrator to
select the use of a default course catalog or to specify the use of an
internal course catalog and the URL of its
location. The Off-Campus Learning Partnerships link allows the user to
add, modify, and edit hyperlinks to web sites with which the
institution has formed various learning partner arrangements; for
example, a link to the KAPLAN or TUTORNET web sites.
Selection of the Community tab 2426 in the Portal Area
provides a web page that lists five hyperlink selectable options:
Customize Community Tab, Enable/Disable User Creation of Organizations
and Discussion Boards, Organization Catalog Options,
Manage Discussion Boards, and Off-Campus Community Partnerships. The
Customize Community Tab link will provide a web page that allows the
enterprise administrator to enable/disable the appearance of the
"Community" tab for all users. The user may also
select an image for the tab, as well as the name, and provide a
predefined URL that will be associated with the tab when selected by
the end user.
Selection of the Enable/Disable User Creation of Organizations
and Discussion Boards link provides a web page that allows the
enterprise administrator to select options to allow or disallow
instructors and students to generate general
organizations and discussion boards from the Community Tab or limit
organization/discussion board creation to the system administrator.
Selection of the Organization Catalog Options link provides a
web page that allows the enterprise administrator to select the use of
a default club catalog or to specify the use of an internal club
catalog and the URL of its location. The Manage
Discussion Board link provides a web page that allows the user to set
various parameters and otherwise add and manage various discussion
boards on the system. The Off-Campus Community Partnerships link allows
the user to add, modify, and edit hyperlinks
to web sites with which the institution has formed various
arrangements.
Selection of the Services tab 2428 in the Portal Area provides
a web page that lists three hyperlink selectable options: Customize
Services Tab, Institution Services, and Off-Campus Service
Partnerships. The Customize Services Tab link will
provide a web page that allows the enterprise administrator to
enable/disable the appearance of the "Services" tab for all users. The
user may also select an image for the tab, as well as the name, and
provide a predefined URL that will be associated
with the tab when selected by the end user.
Selection of the Institution Services tab allows the user to
create and manage links to other relevant parts of the campus intranet.
The Off-Campus Service Partnerships link allows the user to add,
modify, and edit hyperlinks to web sites with
which the institution has formed various service arrangements.
Under the System Tools area 2408 of the Portal Manager web
page, various links are provided to web pages that allow the enterprise
administrator to manage Announcements 2410, the Institution Calendar
2412, the Institution Tasks 2414, and Send
E-Mail 2416 in a manner similar to what was described with respect to
similar tabs in the previously described sections above.
Under the Enterprise Tools area 2410 of the Portal Manager,
links are provided to web pages that allow the enterprise manager to
Manage Institution Library 2418, and View Published Requests. The
Manage Institution Library web page allows the
user to add new items from local disk or his inbox into the institution
library, edit items, remove items, etc. The View Published Requests web
page allows users to view, approve and reject instructor published
files for the Institution Library.
Under the System Option area 2412 of the Portal Manager, the
user is provided with links to Gateway Options 2424, System Settings
2426, System Statistics 2428, Institution Properties 2430, Colors and
Images 2432, and Course Marketing 2434. The
Gateway Options link 2424 provides a web page that will determine
whether the login button, course catalog, and new user account button
appears on the gateway page. The System Settings link 2426 provides a
web page with links to Button Overrides (sets
which button areas can be used throughout the system), Tool Overrides
(sets which tools can be used throughout the system), System
Settings/Overrides (set overrides for course and club tools and
properties across the entire system), and Course Disk
Quotas (sets file system disk quotas for courses).
The System Statistics link 2428 provides a web page with links
to a System Reports web page (which allows the enterprise administrator
to view reports covering the system and its usage), an Auto-Reporting
Options web page (which sets various
options for automatically reporting statistics to a service provider),
and a Send System Statistics web page (which will send the statistics
to the service provider on demand).
The Institution Properties tab 2430 provides a web page that
allows the enterprise administrator to view system information such the
current version of the software, the registration page, and email
contacts. The Colors and Images link 2432
allows access to a web page that allows the administrator to modify the
aesthetic properties of the web site.
The Course and Community Management area 2414 of the Portal
Manager provides hyperlinks for Create Course 2436, Manage Courses
2438, Course Utilities 2440, Course Catalog 2442, Create Organization
2444, Manage Organization 2446, Organization
Utilities 2448, and Organization Catalog 2450.
The Create Course web page 2900 is shown in FIG. 29. There,
the administrator will enter the requested information about the
desired course; i.e. the course name, and ID, and a textual
description. The administrator can then specify properties
of the buttons that will be used along with the course to match his
aesthetic concerns. The administrator can then specify various options,
such as the subject area of the course, whether guests may access the
course, if the course is currently
available, if a course cartridge may be obtained and its URL and access
key, and the instructor ID for the course.
The Manage Courses web page allows the administrator to list
and/or modify courses, remove them from the system, and set certain
default tools (email, Discussion Board, Virtual Chat, Roster, etc.) and
buttons (Announcements, Course Information,
Staff Information, Virtual Classroom, etc.) to be used with each course
in the system. The Course Utilities web page allows the administrator
to select a Copy Course link (to make a copy of a course with a new
course ID), an Import Course link, an
Export Course link, and a Batch Create Courses link. The Course Catalog
link allows the user to categorize course and otherwise manage the
course catalog.
The Create Organization, Manage Organization, Organization
Utilities, and Organization Catalog links allow the user to obtain
similar control and functionality with organizations as with courses as
described above.
The User Management area 2416 of the Portal Manager provides
hyperlinks for Create User 2452, Manage Users 2454, and User Utilities
2456. The Create User web page 3000 (FIGS. 30A and 30B) allows creation
of a user entry by entering personal
information such as name, address, etc., and a user name and password.
The role of the user is set at this time, which may be a Student,
Faculty, Staff, Alumni, Guest, etc. Also, the user may be given an
administrative role at this point by selecting
the appropriate option that is available (None, System Admin, System
Support, Course Creator, Account Admin). The role of the user will
determine the access and control of the system that the user will have
as explained throughout this document. Once a
user is created, the Manage User web page allows listing, modification,
and/or removal of users. The User Utilities link 2456 allows the system
administrator to Batch Create Users (upload a file of user data in
predefined formats compatible with the
system), Batch Enroll Users (import a file to enroll users in courses
and clubs that exist in the system), and Batch Remove Users (import a
file to remove users from the system).
The E-Commerce area 2418 of the Portal Manager provides links
to web pages for Sponsorships 2458, Partnership Program 2460, and
Course E-Commerce 2462. The Sponsorship web page has links to Primary
Site Sponsor web page a "My Institution" Area
Sponsor, a Course Area Sponsor, a Community Area Sponsor, and a
Services Area Sponsor. These links allow the user to designate if a
sponsor is used in each of these capacities, an image of the sponsor
link, etc.). The Partnership program page allows
the administrator to enroll the institution in the service provider
partnership program, which can bring additional e-commerce
opportunities to the portal environment. The Course E-Commerce page
provides links to Enable/Disable Course and Club
E-Commerce (to select e-commerce options for charging fees for the
courses or clubs, allow administrators to set prices, allow club
leaders or instructors to set prices, etc.), and a Price Course link to
manage or set the cost of enrolling in courses or
organizations.
Other Utilities and Functions
One of the key elements to college and university life is the
ability to socialize and take advantage of the human element on campus.
The system's "Community" tab 2502 provides the web page 2500 shown in
FIG. 25, which allows students to
interact and be involved in all aspects of campus life from
fraternities and sororities to off-campus communities that enhance the
learning experience. Many campuses also provide rich services such as
job availability through the community function. The Community center
is the web equivalent of the student union building.
Most students are so conversant in online services that they
prefer to have campus administrative services available all the time on
the web. The system provides an enterprise level teaching and learning
system that allows tight integration into
student information systems and other campus systems to provide
anytime, anywhere administrative services. The Services web page 2600
shown in FIG. 26 (selected by tab 2602) enables users to register, add,
drop, check records, or even pay parking
tickets while online at anytime.
The system also provides a calendar 2700 that incorporates
personal as well as institutional information in a single view, as
shown in FIG. 27. The calendar utility gives students and teachers
access to all calendar events for each of the
courses they are enrolled in, as well as institutional calendar events.
Since email is the single most popular application on the
Internet today, and the leading reason that most people purchase
personal computers, email has been integrated with the system, as shown
by the web page 2800 in FIG. 28. Within a
personalized home page, the user will be able to access complete email
capabilities. The email system sits on top of the existing POP or IMAP
server and offers a web-based front end so that the user may access
messages from any machine at any time.
FIGS. 31 and 32 show web pages 3100 and 3200 that can be
accessed by tab 3102 to provide links that allow students and teachers
to find and access academic resources and content. These resources are
also context-sensitive to the course
discipline. For example, if one accesses the academic web resources
from an accounting course, he is automatically directed to news and
information sources that are relevant to accounting. The user has
access to news, web links, reference works, and
search engines that enhance the ability to locate relevant information
quickly.
In another aspect of the invention, provided is a system and method for applying E-commerce to education.
Specifically, this aspect of the invention allows users visiting a web
site to register and pay for courses provided by a college,
university, or other institution.
FIG. 34 is a block diagram illustrating information passed
from a course registration server to a payment server. As a current or
prospective student reviews courses offered by a college, university,
or other institution, a student may add
courses of interest to a list, or "shopping cart".
When a student has selected courses for which they would like
to register, a student may proceed from a registration or review area
(Block 100) to a "checkout" area (Block 110), as illustrated in FIG.
34. When a student proceeds to a checkout,
information, such as, but not limited to, name, address, cost of
courses, order identifier, order description, and a page to which a
user is to be returned when an order is complete, is passed on.
Information passed from a registration or review area
may be used to generate a payment form.
FIG. 35 is a sample of a payment form. A payment form may
consist of an introductory paragraph 210, a purchase summary 220, a
payment information area 230, and the like. An introductory paragraph
210 may be used to instruct a student in
requirements at each stage of the payment process. A purchase summary
220 may include services and products selected, per-unit prices,
quantities requested, inventory numbers for each product or service
selected, an invoice or purchase number, a total
price, and other, similar information.
A payment information area 230 can be used to collect payment
information from a student. A student may be required to enter some
information manually, such as, but not limited to, credit card type,
credit card number, credit card expiration
date, name on credit card, credit card billing address, check number,
checking account number, bank routing number, debit card number, and
personal identification number ("PIN code").
If a student has previously used the present invention, some
information may be automatically entered based on previously submitted
forms. Information transferred from a registration server may also be
used to fill in some form fields. When a
student has reviewed entered information, a form may be submitted for
processing by activating a button or other interface element.
FIG. 36 is a block diagram illustrating interaction between a
payment server and a payment validation server. After a student has
entered necessary information into a payment form and submitted the
form (Block 300), some information, such as,
but not limited to, amount of purchase, credit card number, name on
credit card, check number, bank routing number, or billing address, may
be transmitted to a payment validation server (Block 310). A payment
validation server may be maintained as part
of the present invention, or payment validation servers may be
maintained by one or more third parties, such as, but not limited to,
CyberCash, Inc.
A payment validation server processes transmitted information,
contacts a bank or other institution issuing the credit card or other
payment form, and verifies that a payment of the amount requested is
authorized. If payment of the requested
amount is authorized, authorization information, including, but not
limited to, a confirmation number, may be transmitted to a payment
server. If payment of the specified amount is not authorized, other
information, such as a declination code, may be
transmitted to a payment server. If payment is not authorized, a
payment error message similar to Block 320 may be displayed. FIG. 37 is
a sample of a payment information page. A student may print or
otherwise record information displayed on a payment
information page for his or her records. A payment information page can
include a thank you, confirmation, or other message (Block 410). A
payment information page may also include information such as, but not
limited to, confirmation or declination
information; goods, services, and classes purchased; and total price
charged (Block 420). In addition, a payment information page may
include a button or other interface element which a user can activate
to continue processing. The exact behavior of
this interface element may be determined by the referring system
through the URL or other data element which is illustrated in FIG. 34.
FIG. 38 is a block diagram illustrating post-order processing.
As previously stated, a payment information page may also contain a
button or other interface element which, when activated, causes a web
page to be displayed or performs other
processing steps. Activating the button or interface element may also
cause some authorization/declination information to be transferred to a
college, university, or other institution's accounting department for
processing (Block 530).
Open Web Environment
The present invention may be used as an open platform
environment, where anyone with access to the Internet may register as
an instructor to create, administer, and make available a course to
anyone else with Internet access. Thus, by entering a
publicly available website such as www.blackboard.com, a user may
register as an instructor and be provided with an instructor control
panel for creating course as described herein. To create the course,
the user will define course parameters such as a
description, enrollment options, announcements, assessments, course
materials, etc., and provide them in the various web pages as described
above. The user can then let others know about the availability of the
course online, and a potential student may
access the publicly available web site to enroll in the course. In this
manner, anyone can create a virtual classroom without the need to be
affiliated with an institution, and disseminate knowledge through the
course as previously unavailable.
While the preferred embodiment and various alternative
embodiments of the invention have been disclosed and described in
detail herein, it may be apparent to those skilled in the art that
various changes in form and detail may be made therein
without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. In addition,
titles and descriptions included in the Figures are included to
disclose the best mode contemplated by the inventor at the time of
filing, and should not be construed as limiting the
invention.
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