System and method of correlating learning materials with educational objectives

• US 6,561,812 B1
• Filed: 10/30/2000
• Issued: 05/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Learncity Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Learncity Incorporated
• Inventors: Graves, Michael, Wayshak, Corinne, Burmester, Christopher Paul, Dietz, Mary E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheng, Joe H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Christman, Kathleen M
• Application Number:
  US09/699,797
• Time in Patent Office: 925 Days
• Field of Search: 434/350, 434/322, 434/323, 434/307.R, 434/118, 434/362, 434/365, 434/169, 706/397
• US Class Current: 434/365
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/06 with both visual and audible presentation of the material to be studied
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/02 of the type wherein the student is expected to construct an answer to the question which is presented or wherein the machine gives an answer to the question presented by a student

Abstract

A method of generating a correlation between a plurality of sets of educational requirements and learning activities, and identifying the educational requirements to which a learning component of the learning activities is correlated. Teachers and authors accessing the correlating system are able to author and select learning components to be correlated to the plurality of educational requirements sets. An educational requirements set can be a set of state educational standards, a set of school district educational standards or a set of corporate training or certification requirements. The correlation of educational components to the grouping of educational requirements and of learning components to a set of educational components are generated and stored by a server, preferably accessible over the internet through the public switched telephone network. Using the correlation system of the present invention, teachers and authors have the ability to develop lesson plans which are correlated to standards within the plurality of sets of educational requirements.

Claims

1. A method of generating a correlation between a plurality of sets of educational requirements and learning activities, comprising the steps of:

a. aggregating educational requirements from one or more of the sets of educational requirements into a grouping of educational requirements having a common factor;

b. generating a set of educational components including the educational requirements within the grouping;

c. correlating the set of educational components to the grouping of educational requirements to generate a first set of correlations; and

d. correlating a learning component of the learning activities to one or more educational components of the set of educational components to generate a second set of correlations.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the steps of correlating the set of educational components to the grouping of educational requirements and correlating the learning component of the learning activities to the set of educational components are performed by a server.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the step of correlating the learning component of the learning activities to one or more educational components of the set of educational components further comprises the step of manually selecting the educational components to which the learning component is correlated.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the grouping, the set of educational components, the first set of correlations, and the second set of correlations are stored on a storage device coupled to the server.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4 wherein the storage device is a database.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5 wherein the database is distributed into more than one physical location.

7. The method as claimed in claim 2 further comprising the step of establishing an internet connection with the server to provide and select the learning components to be correlated.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7 wherein the internet connection is established with a computer system at a remote location from the server.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the learning components of the learning activities are lesson plans generated by teachers or authors.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the learning components are generated by an authoring tool coupled to the storage device.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein a set of educational requirements is a set of state educational standards.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein a set of educational requirements is a set of school district educational standards.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein a set of educational requirements is a set of corporate training requirements.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein a set of educational requirements is a set of certification requirements.

15. A method of identifying educational requirements within a plurality of sets of educational requirements correlated to a learning component of a learning activity, comprising the steps of:

a. aggregating educational requirements from one or more of the sets of educational requirements into a grouping of educational requirements having a common factor;

b. generating a set of educational components including the educational requirements within the grouping;

c. correlating the set of educational components to the grouping of educational requirements to generate a first set of correlations;

d. correlating the learning component of the learning activities to one or more educational components of the set of educational components to generate a second set of correlations;

e. identifying educational components within the set of educational components by applying the second set of correlations to the learning component of the learning activities; and

f. identifying educational requirements within the grouping of educational requirements by applying the first set of correlations to the identified educational components of the set of educational components.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15 wherein the steps of correlating the set of educational components to the grouping of educational requirements and correlating the learning component of the learning activities to the set of educational components are performed by a server.

17. The method as claimed in claim 16 wherein the step of correlating the learning component of the learning activities to one or more educational components of the set of educational components further comprises the step of manually selecting the educational components to which the learning component is correlated.

18. The method as claimed in claim 16 wherein the steps of identifying educational components and identifying educational requirements are performed by the server.

19. The method as claimed in claim 16 wherein the grouping, the set of educational components, the first set of correlations, and the second set of correlations are stored on a storage device coupled to the server.

20. The method as claimed in claim 19 wherein the storage device is a database.

21. The method as claimed in claim 20 wherein the database is distributed into more than one physical location.

22. The method as claimed in claim 19 wherein the learning component is generated by an authoring tool wherein the authoring tool is coupled to the storage device.

23. The method as claimed in claim 22 further comprising the step of establishing an internet connection with the server to utilize the authoring tool.

24. The method as claimed in claim 16 further comprising the step of establishing an internet connection with the server to select the learning component to be correlated.

25. The method as claimed in claim 15 wherein the learning component of the learning activities is a lesson plan generated by teachers or authors.

26. A correlating system for generating correlations between a plurality of sets of educational requirements and learning activities, comprising:

a. means for aggregating educational requirements from one or more of the sets of educational requirements into a grouping of educational requirements having a common factor;

b. means for generating a set of educational components including the educational requirements within the grouping;

c. means for correlating the set of educational components to the grouping of educational requirements to generate a first set of correlations; and

d. means for correlating a learning component of the learning activities to one or more educational components of the set of educational components to generate a second set of correlations.

27. The correlating system as claimed in claim 26 wherein the means for generating sets of correlations is included within a server.

28. The correlating system as claimed in claim 27 wherein the means for correlating a learning component of the learning activities to one or more educational components of the set of educational components further comprises means for manually selecting the educational components to which the learning component is correlated.

29. The correlating system as claimed in claim 28 wherein a connection is established with a computer system and the server to access the correlating system and to provide and select the learning components to be correlated.

30. The correlating system as claimed in claim 29 wherein the connection is established between the computer system and the server over the internet.

31. The correlating system as claimed in claim 27 further comprising means for storing the grouping, the set of educational components, the first set of correlations, and the second set of correlations.

32. A correlating system for generating correlations between a plurality of sets of educational requirements and learning activities, comprising:

a. an interface circuit configured to establish a connection with a remote computer system; and

b. a correlating server coupled to the interface circuit to aggregate educational requirements from one or more of the sets of educational requirements into a grouping of educational requirements having a common factor, provide a set of educational components, correlate the set of educational components to the grouping of educational requirements to generate a first set of correlations, and correlate a learning component of the learning activities to one or more educational components of the set of educational components to generate a second set of correlations.

33. The correlating system as claimed in claim 32 further comprising a storage device coupled to the correlating server to store the grouping, the set of educational components, the first set of correlations, and the second set of correlations.

34. The correlating system as claimed in claim 33 wherein the connection is established with the remote computer system and the interface circuit over the internet to allow users to access the correlating server and to provide and select the learning components to be correlated.

35. A network of devices for generating correlations between a plurality of sets of educational requirements and learning activities, comprising:

a. one or more computer systems configured to communicate with other systems; and

b. a correlating server configured to couple to the one or more computer systems to aggregate educational requirements from one or more of the sets of educational requirements into a grouping of educational requirements having a common factor, provide a set of educational components, correlate the set of educational components to the grouping of educational requirements to generate a first set of correlations, and correlate a learning component of the learning activities to one or more educational components of the set of educational components to generate a second set of correlations.

36. The network of devices as claimed in claim 35 further comprising a storage device coupled to the correlating server to store the grouping, the set of educational components, the first set of correlations, and the second set of correlations.

37. The network of devices as claimed in claim 36 wherein the one or more computer systems and the correlating server are coupled together over the internet to allow users to access the correlating server and to provide and select the learning components to be correlated.

38. A method of generating a correlation between a learning component of a learning activity and a plurality of sets of educational requirements, comprising the steps of:

a. selecting one or more educational components to which the learning component is correlated;

b. correlating the learning component to the selected educational components to generate a first set of correlations;

c. correlating the selected educational components to one or more groupings of educational requirements having a common factor to generate a second set of correlations; and

d. correlating the one or more groupings to the plurality of sets of educational requirements to generate a third set of correlations.

39. The method as claimed in claim 38 wherein the step of selecting one or more educational components is performed manually.

40. The method as claimed in claim 39 wherein the steps of correlating the learning component to the selected educational components, correlating the selected educational components to one or more groupings of educational requirements having a common factor, and correlating the one or more groupings to the plurality of sets of educational requirements are performed by a server.

41. The method as claimed in claim 40 wherein the selected educational components, the first set of correlations, the second set of correlations, and the third set of correlations are stored on a storage device coupled to the server.

42. The method as claimed in claim 41 further comprising the step of establishing an internet connection with the server to select the educational components to be correlated.

43. The method as claimed in claim 38 wherein the learning component of the learning activities is a lesson plan generated by teachers or authors.