Activity based system and method for charging student accounts

• US 20080070220A1
• Filed: 04/02/2007
• Published: 03/20/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Educate Online Technology LLC
• Original Assignee: Educate Online Technology LLC
• Inventors: Finnigan, Stu, McAvoy, Glenn, Viazanko, Duane, Adams, Brad
• Granted Patent: US 8,311,474 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/322
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/20 Education
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/08 providing for individual presentation of information to a plurality of student stations
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/00 Electrically-operated teaching apparatus or devices working with questions and answers mechanically operated G09B3/00; computing arrangements G06F

Abstract

A system for charging one ore learning session to one or more student accounts comprises an online learning system having one or more nodes that creates one or more online learning sessions over one or more communications channels between one or more students and corresponding teachers. An enrollment node receives student enrolment information. A scheduling node schedules the online learning session. A databases the stores information relating to one or more one or more charge criterion information for charging the one or more learning sessions to the one or more student accounts based on communications channel activity. An activity node receives communications channel activity information associated with one or more learning sessions, and an accounting node associates a charge information for a learning session to an student account based on the channel activity information and one or more charge criterion information. The charge information for the learning session is associated with the student account based on a determination of whether one or more communications channel activity associated with the learning session satisfy the one or more charge criterion.

Claims

1. A system for charging one ore learning session to one or more student accounts, comprising:

an online learning system having one or more nodes that creates one or more online learning sessions over one or more communications channels between one or more students and corresponding teachers;

an enrollment node that receives student enrolment information;

a scheduling node that schedules the online learning session;

a databases the stores information relating to one or more one or more charge criterion information for charging the one or more learning sessions to the one or more student accounts based on communications channel activity;

an activity node for receiving communications channel activity information associated with one or more learning sessions; and

an accounting node that associates a charge information for a learning session to an student account based on the channel activity information and one or more charge criterion information.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the charge information for the learning session is associated with the student account based on a determination of whether one or more communications channel activity associated with the learning session satisfy the one or more charge criterion.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the communications channel activity information comprises at last one of a quantitative or qualitative measure of a communications channel parameter.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein a quantitative measure of a communications channel parameter relates to at least one of data rate, number of data units, number of received packets or number of transmitted packets.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein at least one of a qualitative measure of a communications channel parameter relates to at least one of a data, voice, video or image quality parameter over a communications channel.