WHITEBOARD PRESENTATION OF INTERACTIVE AND EXPANDABLE MODULAR CONTENT

• US 20110225494A1
• Filed: 11/16/2009
• Published: 09/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pearson Education Incorporated (Pearson plc)
• Original Assignee: Virtual Nerd, LLC (Pearson plc)
• Inventors: Shmuylovich, Leonid, Salcman, Joshua
• Granted Patent: US 8,887,046 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/705
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Abstract

In one aspect, described herein is a method for creating an interactive expandable multimedia tutorial. The method includes receiving a plurality of tutorial elements, generating a first user interface including a plurality of regions that correspond to each of the plurality of tutorial elements, presenting the first user interface on a display device, receiving a request to access the one or more additional tutorial elements, accessing the one or more additional tutorial elements, generating a second user interface comprising one or more regions that correspond to each of the accessed one or more additional tutorial elements, and presenting the second user interface on the display device, wherein the second user interface is displayed simultaneously with the first user interface, and wherein at least a portion of the first user interface remains visible to the user to enable navigation between the second user interface and the first user interface.

Claims

1. A system for creating an interactive expandable multimedia tutorial, the system comprising:

a memory area for storing tutorial elements and user information; and

a processor programmed to;

access a plurality of tutorial elements from the memory area, wherein at least one of the plurality of tutorial elements comprises a video of a presenter describing a lesson, wherein at least one of the plurality of tutorial elements is configured to enable access to one or more additional tutorial elements, and wherein the one or more additional tutorial elements further define one or more of the plurality of tutorial elements;

generate a first user interface comprising a plurality of regions that correspond to each of the accessed plurality of tutorial elements;

receive a request to access the one or more additional tutorial elements;

pause the video upon receiving the request to access the one or more additional tutorial elements;

access the one or more additional tutorial elements; and

generate a second user interface comprising one or more regions that correspond to each of the accessed one or more additional tutorial elements, wherein the second user interface is configured to be superimposed over the first user interface, and wherein at least a portion of the first user interface is configured to remain visible to the user to enable navigation between the second user interface and the first user interface.

2. The system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the video further comprises audio of the presenter describing the lesson.

3. The system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the lesson comprises at least one of a solution to a problem, a demonstration of a principle, an argument, an equation, and a logical expression.

4. The system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the video comprises the presenter writing the lesson on a whiteboard.

5. The system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the video is in a first region of the plurality of regions, and wherein the video is synchronized and/or coordinated with an interactive tutorial element in a second region of the plurality of regions, the interactive tutorial element comprising an image related to the lesson.

6. The system in accordance with claim 5, wherein the image represents one of a logical step or a conceptual point related to the lesson.

7. The system in accordance with claim 5, wherein synchronizing and coordinating the video with the interactive tutorial element comprises updating the region comprising the interactive tutorial element with a successive iteration of the lesson with each successive part of the lesson that the presenter describes.

8. The system in accordance with claim 7, wherein updating the region comprising the interactive tutorial element with a successive iteration of the lesson comprises highlighting portions of the image corresponding to relevant steps in the lesson.

9. A method for creating an interactive expandable multimedia tutorial, the method comprising:

receiving, by a processor, a plurality of tutorial elements, wherein at least one of the plurality of tutorial elements is configured to enable access to one or more additional tutorial elements;

generating a first user interface comprising a plurality of regions that correspond to each of the plurality of tutorial elements;

presenting the first user interface on a display device;

receiving, from a user, a request to access the one or more additional tutorial elements;

accessing the one or more additional tutorial elements;

generating a second user interface comprising one or more regions that correspond to each of the accessed one or more additional tutorial elements; and

presenting the second user interface on the display device, wherein the second user interface is displayed simultaneously with the first user interface, and wherein at least a portion of the first user interface remains visible to the user to enable navigation between the second user interface and the first user interface.

10. The method in accordance with claim 9, wherein at least one of the plurality of tutorial elements comprises a video of a presenter describing a lesson.

11. The method in accordance with claim 10, wherein the video is in a first region of the plurality of regions, and wherein the video is synchronized and/or coordinated with an interactive tutorial element in a second region of the plurality of regions, the interactive tutorial element comprising an image comprising each step of in the lesson.

12. The method in accordance with claim 11, further comprising:

enabling a user to select a step in the image comprising each step in the lesson; and

re-synchronizing and/or re-coordinating the video with the interactive tutorial element at a point in the video that the video describes the selected step.

13. The method in accordance with claim 11, wherein the video further comprises the presenter writing the lesson on a whiteboard.

14. The method in accordance with claim 13, further comprising updating the region comprising the interactive tutorial element with a successive iteration of the lesson with each successive step of the lesson that the presenter writes.

15. The method in accordance with claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, from the user, a selection of the at least one of the plurality of tutorial elements configured to enable access to one or more additional tutorial elements;

presenting a superimposed window comprising a link to the one or more additional tutorial elements.

16. The method in accordance with claim 15, wherein the superimposed window further comprises at least one of:

a definition of one or more variables depicted in one of the plurality of tutorial elements, and an option to leave a comment.

17. The method in accordance with claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, from a user, a request to access one or more further additional tutorial elements;

accessing the one or more further additional tutorial elements;

generating one or more additional user interfaces comprising one or more regions that correspond to each of the accessed one or more further additional tutorial elements; and

presenting the one or more additional user interfaces on the display device, wherein the one or more additional user interfaces are displayed simultaneously with the first user interface and the second user interface, and wherein at least a portion of each user interface remains visible to the user to enable navigation between the first user interface, the second user interface, and the one or more additional user interfaces.

18. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable components, said components comprising:

a tutorial element component that when executed by at least one processor causes the processor to receive a plurality of tutorial elements, wherein at least one of the plurality of tutorial elements comprises a video of a presenter describing a lesson, and wherein at least one of the plurality of tutorial elements is configured to enable access to one or more additional tutorial elements;

a user interface component that when executed by at least one processor causes the processor to generate a first user interface comprising a plurality of regions that correspond to each of the plurality of tutorial elements;

a display component that when executed by at least one processor causes the processor to present the first user interface on a display device; and

an interface component that when executed by at least one processor causes the processor to, receive, from a user, a request to access the one or more additional tutorial elements and pause the video upon receiving the request to access the one or more additional tutorial elements;

wherein the user interface component further causes the processor to access the one or more additional tutorial elements;

wherein the user interface component further causes the processor to generate a second user interface comprising one or more regions that correspond to each of the accessed one or more additional tutorial elements; and

wherein the display component further presents the second user interface simultaneously with the first user interface, and wherein at least a portion of the first user interface remains visible to the user to enable navigation between the second user interface and the first user interface.

19. The computer-readable media in accordance with claim 18, wherein upon a selection from the user to resume the paused video, the video continues from a point from which the video paused.

20. The computer-readable media in accordance with claim 18, further comprising instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to:

receive, from a user, a search request of an additional tutorial; and

provide a user with a set of tutorials that are ranked according to relevance in response to the search request.