STIMULATING ONLINE DISCUSSION IN INTERACTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
First Claim
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1. A method of improving online discussions in connection with an educational resource provided to students over network-connected devices, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) distributing an interactive educational resource over a network to a plurality of student devices, the student devices being associated with students currently enrolled in a class utilizing the educational resource;
(b) hosting, at a discussion server, an online discussion for receiving and making visible, to student devices assigned to a discussion group, annotations concerning the educational resource received by the discussion server from the student devices assigned to the discussion group;
(c) computationally analyzing annotations to identify high-quality annotations likely to generate responses and stimulate discussion threads; and
(d) making the identified annotations visible to student devices associated with students who are not assigned to the discussion group.
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Abstract
In various embodiments, online discussions in connection with an educational resource are improved by analyzing annotations made by students assigned to a discussion group to identify high-quality annotations likely to generate responses and stimulate discussion threads and by making the identified annotations visible to students not assigned to the discussion group.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method of improving online discussions in connection with an educational resource provided to students over network-connected devices, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) distributing an interactive educational resource over a network to a plurality of student devices, the student devices being associated with students currently enrolled in a class utilizing the educational resource; (b) hosting, at a discussion server, an online discussion for receiving and making visible, to student devices assigned to a discussion group, annotations concerning the educational resource received by the discussion server from the student devices assigned to the discussion group; (c) computationally analyzing annotations to identify high-quality annotations likely to generate responses and stimulate discussion threads; and (d) making the identified annotations visible to student devices associated with students who are not assigned to the discussion group. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An educational system comprising:
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a plurality of student devices for executing an interactive educational resource received over a network, the student devices being configured to receive student annotations associated with the educational resource and transmit at least some of the annotations to a discussion server; a student database; a resource server in electronic communication with the student devices, the resource server comprising a communication module and being configured to make the resource available to student devices associated with students enrolled in a class; a discussion server, in electronic communication with the student devices, for receiving and making visible, to student devices assigned to a discussion group in the student database, annotations concerning the educational resource received from the student devices assigned to the discussion group; and an analysis module for computationally analyzing annotations to identify high-quality annotations likely to generate responses and stimulate discussion threads, wherein the discussion server is configured to make the identified annotations visible to student devices associated with students who are not assigned to the discussion group. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification