Interactive learning system

• US 5,772,446 A
• Filed: 09/19/1995
• Issued: 06/30/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Student Advantage LLC (Roper Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Leonard J. Rosen
• Inventors: Rosen, Leonard J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Apley, Richard J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rovnak, John Edmund
• Application Number:
  US08/529,986
• Time in Patent Office: 1,015 Days
• Field of Search: 434/307 R, 434/118, 434/323
• US Class Current: 434/307.00R
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/00 Teaching not covered by other main groups of this subclass teaching or practice apparatus for gun-aiming or gun-laying F41G3/26
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/02 with visual presentation of the material to be studied, e.g. using film strip
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/065 Combinations of audio and video presentations, e.g. videotapes, videodiscs, television systems
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/04 characterised by modifying the teaching programme in response to a wrong answer, e.g. repeating the question, supplying a further explanation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

An interactive learning system is disclosed that includes a note-making facility, a mentor facility, and an editor facility as its major subsystems. The note-making facility allows the user to create notes while scanning through an electronic text file that is accessible from a suitable memory space. The mentor facility provides content-specific information in response to the selection of certain passages or quotations from the text file by the user. The editor facility provides generalized learning strategies and recommendations useful in the analysis of text and the preparation of a written report. The information provided by the editor facility is generalized, and hence is not specific to the current text file; in contrast, the mentor facility is content-specific, and furnishes the user with information that is specifically related to the text under review.

Claims

1. An apparatus for providing information relating to a text file, said apparatus comprising:

A. scanner means for interruptably and selectively scanning through said text file;

B. selection means, coupled to said scanner means, for selecting a portion of the text file being scanned by said scanner means;

C. mentor means, coupled to said selection means, for providing information relating to said selected portion of said text;

D. means for identifying target sections of said text file deemed appropriate for providing information relating thereto;

E. means for supplying information relating to each of said identified target sections of said text file;

F. means for associating each of said target sections of said text file with its respective related information;

G. means for operating said scanner means and said selection means as a foreground process characterized by a known activation sequence generated by a user; and

means for operating said mentor means as a background process characterized by an unknown activation sequence generated by a user;

wherein said mentor means comprises;

i. means for determining whether said selected portion of said text file represents one of said target sections of said text file; and

ii. transfer means, responsive to an affirmative determination from said determining means, for transferring into a viewing space, suitable for viewing by a user, the information associated with the particular target section of said text file that is represented by said selected portion of said text file; and

wherein information related to a target section of said text file is content-specific to the text within said target section; and

wherein said determining means and said transfer means comprises;

i. database means including a plurality of knowledge files each representing a content-specific record pertaining to the text within a respective one of said target sections of said text file, each of said knowledge files being correlated with a text descriptor that is sufficient to identify said respective target section of said text file;

ii. comparator means for comparing the selected portion of said text file with each text descriptor associated with the knowledge files of said database means;

iii. means, coupled to said comparator means, for determining which comparison satisfies a match criteria; and

iv. output means for providing the content-specific record that corresponds to the knowledge file correlated with the particular text descriptor which satisfies said match criteria.

2. An interactive learning apparatus for analyzing the text of an electronic text file, said apparatus comprising:

scanner means for interruptably and selectively scanning said text file;

selection means, coupled to said scanner means, for selecting a portion of the text file being scanned in accordance with a user request directed to text selection;

filing means, coupled to said selection means, for receiving input data provided by said user that is representative of user annotations pertaining to the selected portion of said text file, assembling said input data into a notes file, and correlating said notes file to the selected portion of said text file, said correlation being indicated by a correlation indicator;

organization means, coupled to said filing means, for organizing said notes file and said correlation indicator in accordance with organizing criteria; and

archive means for providing archival information in accordance with a user request directed to archive material, said archive means having an archive database including information relating to an author'"'"'s study of said text file, documentaries concerning the subject matter of said text file, and critical reviews of the subject matter of said text file.

3. An interactive learning apparatus for analyzing the text of an electronic text file, said apparatus comprising:

scanner means for interruptably and selectively scanning said text file;

selection means, coupled to said scanner means, for selecting a portion of the text file being scanned in accordance with a user request directed to text selection;

filing means, coupled to said selection means, for receiving input data provided by said user that is representative of user annotations pertaining to the selected portion of said text file, assembling said input data into a notes file, and correlating said notes file to the selected portion of said text file, said correlation being indicated by a correlation indicator;

organization means, coupled to said filing means, for organizing said notes file and said correlation indicator in accordance with organizing criteria;

mentor means, coupled to said selection means and defined by a mentorship function which facilitates an understanding of the content of said text file, for determining whether the selected portion of said text file is encompassed by the scope of mentorship provided by said mentor means, and for generating information relating to the content of the selected portion of said text file upon an affirmative determination; and

advisor means, responsive to a user request directed to learning strategies, for providing information useful in synthesizing and analyzing text.

4. Electronic note making and filing apparatus comprising:

(A) means for selecting only a portion of an electronic file and for reproducing the portion as a text record;

(B) means for creating a notes file corresponding to the text record and for annotating the notes file with user-defined commentary;

(C) memory divided into storage areas, each of the areas being constructed and arranged for receiving notes files related by a common organizational criterion provided by the user;

(D) means for filing the notes file in one of the storage areas;

(E) means for displaying a plurality of notes files that are filed within at least one of the the storage areas; and

(F) a data assembler, responsive to input data, for generating the notes file at an output port that represents a compilation of the input data, wherein the means for creating a notes file comprises means for generating a correlation indicator representing a correlation between the portion of the text file and the notes file, and wherein the means for filing further comprises means for filing the correlation indicator in the memory.

5. Electronic note making and filing apparatus comprising:

(A) means for selecting only a portion of an electronic text file and for reproducing the portion as a text record;

(B) means for creating a notes file corresponding to the text record and for annotating the notes file with user-defined commentary, the means for creating a notes file comprising means for generating a correlation indicator representing a correlation between the portion of the text file and the notes file;

(C) memory divided into storage areas, each of the areas being constructed and arranged for receiving notes files related by a common organizational criterion provided by the user;

(D) means for filing the notes file in one of the storage areas, the means for filing comprising means for transferring and storing the notes file and the associated correlation indicator into the memory; and

(E) means for displaying a plurality of notes files that are filed within at least one of the storage areas.

6. Electronic note making and filing apparatus comprising:

(A) means for selecting only a portion of an electronic text file and for reproducing the portion as a text record;

(B) means for creating a notes file corresponding to the text record and for annotating the notes file with user-defined commentary;

(C) memory divided into storage areas, each of the areas being constructed and arranged for receiving notes files related by a common organizational criterion provided by the user;

(D) means for filing the notes file in one of the storage areas the means for filing comprising a memory organizer and a data transfer unit, the memory organizer being responsive to filing criteria for generating a memory map that functions to reserve areas of memory each representative of an organization attribute, the data transfer unit transferring the notes file and a text indicator to the memory wherein the text indicator provides correlation to the portion of the text file; and

(E) means for displaying a plurality of notes files that are filed within at least one of the storage areas.