Systems and methods for providing a dynamic continual improvement educational environment

• US 8,182,270 B2
• Filed: 07/31/2003
• Issued: 05/22/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Reserve, Inc. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)
• Original Assignee: Intellectual Reserve, Inc. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)
• Inventors: Elzinga, C. Bret, Parry, Kent S., Spencer, Sherrie L., South, Joseph B., Williams, Raelynn
• Primary Examiner(s): Utama, Robert J
• Application Number:
  US10/632,892
• Publication Number:
  US 20050026131A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,218 Days
• Field of Search: 434/322, 434/350, 434/348, 434/236, 434/323, 706 46- 47
• US Class Current: 434/322
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/00 Electrically-operated educational appliances working with questions and answers G09B7/00; simulators G09B9/00; advertising or displaying in general G09F
• 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

Dynamic systems and methods for gathering/tracking data, automatically adapting to an individual'"'"'s pace of learning, selectively determining the type and difficulty of content provided to an individual, selectively providing an exposure frequency for the content, and/or enabling rapid design modifications within the educational environment. Educational content is dynamically designed/developed and customizably presented to an individual learner. An analysis is performed on the data to optimize learning. Modifications are selectively or automatically made to the educational content. The process of designing, implementing, analyzing, and selectively modifying creates a cycle that optimizes the learning process and adapts to groups and individual learners with the goal of improving learning outcomes and efficiency. Furthermore, the educational content is dynamically provided to the learner on an iterative basis according to the need of that learner in the learning process.

Claims

1. A method for providing a dynamic continual improvement educational environment that is tailored to an individual learner, the method comprising:

using a user interface and a graphical design technique to design an educational path that is selectively adaptive to educational performances of learners, wherein the adaptive educational path comprises dynamic educational content and a plurality of object oriented educational activities for presentation to the learners, wherein the dynamic educational content is separate and independent from the plurality of object oriented educational activities, wherein the design technique automatically produces computer readable instructions relating to the dynamic educational content, and wherein aspects of the educational content are associated in a relational order even when an aspect of the educational content is moved, and further using the user interface and graphical design technique to design a collaborative activity for multiple learners, wherein the collaborative activity is initiated after an establishment of pre-determined criteria;

providing a portion of the adaptive educational path for presentation of at least a portion of the educational content to a particular learner;

obtaining and automatically analyzing learner performance data of the particular learner, wherein the learner performance data is obtained and analyzed by a computer system;

using a computer processor and a computer readable medium encoded with object oriented computer executable code to automatically and adaptively customize the educational path to an educational performance of the particular learner, wherein the customizing of the educational path to the educational performance of the particular learner comprises;

using the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed by the computer system to identify which portions of the educational content are to be presented to the particular learner, wherein the identified portions include a type and difficulty of the educational content that is to be selectively presented to the particular learner;

using the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed by the computer system to selectively determine a frequency of exposure of the identified portions of the educational content to the particular learner;

using the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed by the computer system to prioritize the identified portions of the educational content that are to be presented to the particular learner;

using the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed by the computer system to selectively match the identified and prioritized portions of the educational content with the identified educational activities for presentation to the particular learner; and

selectively prioritizing the individually matched educational content and corresponding educational activities for presentation to the particular learner based upon the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed by the computer system, wherein the prioritization comprises modifying the presentation order of the individually matched educational content and corresponding educational activities based upon the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed; and

providing portions of the educational content for iterative presentation to the learner over an extended period of time based on at least some of the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed by the computer system to maintain the learner'"'"'s understanding of the educational content.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the prioritizing is ordered based upon a characteristic of the particular learner, the characteristic being at least one of:

(i) a learning pace of the particular learner;

(ii) a background of the particular learner;

(iii) a style of learning of the particular learner; and

(iv) a learning progress of the particular learner.

3. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein said iterative presentation to the particular learner over an extended period of time comprises a step for providing a systematic spaced review of portions of the educational content to the particular learner based on the particular learner performance data.

4. A method as recited in claim 3, wherein the systematic spaced review is further based on dynamic parameters of a minimum delay and a maximum delay of the review, wherein the dynamic parameters are selectively adjustable by an instructional designer.

5. A method as recited in claim 3, wherein the particular learner performance data corresponds to at least one of (i) the particular learner'"'"'s accuracy and (ii) the particular learner'"'"'s speed in understanding the educational content.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the design technique comprises at least one of:

(i) an object oriented technique that graphically relates at least some of the educational content with at least some of the educational activities; and

(ii) a drag-and-drop technique that graphically relates at least some of the educational content with at least some of the educational activities.

7. A method as recited in claim 6, wherein said association comprises said combining of the identified portions of the educational content and the educational activities.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step for using an interface and a graphical design technique comprises:

designing a collaborative activity among learners; and

dynamically linking roles of the learners in the collaborative activity.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the adaptive educational path provides an order for which concepts are to be learned by the particular learner within a lesson.

10. A method as recited in claim 9, wherein the adaptive educational path comprises at least one of:

(i) a linear sequence of activities; and

(ii) an adaptive sequence of activities.

11. A method as recited in claim 9, wherein the adaptive educational path includes one or more stage markers that delineate meaningful stages of learning.

12. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step for using an interface and a graphical design technique to design an adaptive educational path comprises automatically snapping activity icons to a grid.

13. A method as recited in claim 12, wherein the step for using an interface and a graphical design technique to design an adaptive educational path further comprises selectively organizing the activity icons to develop a flow of activities.

14. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein movement of an activity icon within the flow of activities includes maintaining relationships with other activities branching the activity icon that is being moved.

15. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the adaptive educational path includes a systematic spaced review of an educational lesson.

16. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein the step for using an interface and a graphical design technique to design an adaptive educational path includes designing an environment that includes a look and feel that is customized to a particular audience.

17. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising designing a least a portion of said dynamic education content comprising at least one of:

selectively cutting an audio file into smaller files that are named and preserved;

modifying a start position of a selected audio file;

modifying an end position of a selected audio file;

graphically associating educational concept types with relationship types and properties;

graphically identifying potential presentation problems corresponding to the educational content;

automatically adding new educational content from outside resources;

selectively tagging educational portions of a particular lesson to illustrate to the particular learner different contextual uses of the educations portions; and

utilizing a repository of media for designing the educational content.

18. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step for using an interface and a graphical design technique to design an adaptive educational path comprises automatically analyzing data to identify said associations.

19. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising designing dynamic educational content for presentation comprising:

executing automated tests on components to ensure that the components function as designed; and

diagnosing any errors in the components.

20. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step for using an interface and a graphical design technique to design an adaptive educational path does not require that the designing be performed at the code level by a computer programmer.

21. A method as recited in claim 19, wherein the step for designing dynamic educational content for presentation comprises detecting any potential problems in the designed content for repair.

22. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step for providing portions of the educational content for iterative presentation comprises:

automatically identifying a current activity used in presenting a portion of the educational content to the particular learner;

keeping track of a learning progress of the particular learner; and

automatically and adaptively determining which activity to use next to present the portion of the educational content to the particular learner.

23. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step for providing portions of the educational content for iterative presentation comprises automatically evaluating activity branching conditions upon completion of an activity for branches emanating from the completed activity.

24. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step for providing portions of the educational content for iterative presentation comprises:

automatically monitoring the educational progress of the particular learner;

if an educational lesson is not understood by the particular learner, performing at least one of;

(i) selectively repeating at least a portion of an adaptive path related to the educational lesson; and

(ii) presenting a related activity to assist the particular learner in understanding the educational lesson; and

if the educational lesson is understood by the particular learner, following another adaptive path that relates to a subsequent lesson.

25. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step for providing portions of the educational content for iterative presentation comprises automatically providing positive feedback to the particular learner as aspects of the educational content are learned.

26. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising tracking the progress of the particular learner and generating a report relating to the particular learner'"'"'s progress.

27. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising monitoring implementation fidelity to perform at least one of:

(i) ensuring that the presentation is performed as intended by the designer and that the results of the presentation are reliable;

(ii) measuring the degree to which teachers, tutors and students implement the presentation as designed and the degree to which learners, the tutors and administrators who interact with and contribute to any learning experience are encouraged to comply to system-determined guidelines; and

(iii) automatically reporting results of the implementation fidelity.

28. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step for providing portions of the educational content for iterative presentation further comprises evaluating the learning of the educational content.

29. A method as recited in claim 28, wherein the step for providing portions of the educational content for iterative presentation further comprises modifying the frequency for presenting the portions of the educational content based on the learning of the educational content.

30. A method as recited in claim 28, wherein the step for evaluating the learning of the educational content by the particular learner includes automatically conducting experiments on the particular learner to identify an optimal instructional setting for the particular learner.

31. A method as recited in claim 28, wherein the step for evaluating the learning of the educational content includes automatically analyzing experimental data obtained.

32. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the relational order is an hierarchical order.

33. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said obtaining learner performance data includes a step for allowing a designer to determine the type of information that is to be obtained.

34. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the learner performance data includes at least one of:

(i) a period of time;

(ii) a number of questions;

(iii) a number of answers;

(iv) a number of times the particular learner'"'"'s voice was recorded;

(v) information accessed;

(vi) a number of particular learner interactions;

(vii) particular learner interactions;

(viii) audio recording of the particular learner;

(ix) text from the particular learner;

(x) a conversation between multiple learners, wherein one of the multiple learners is the particular learner;

(xi) a conversation between a computer device and the particular learner;

(xii) a response to content presented;

(xiii) graphical data created by the particular learner; and

(xiv) any input received from the particular learner.

35. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising designing dynamic educational content for presentation using at least one of:

(i) component modules, wherein the component modules are reusable for designing other dynamic educational content, thereby causing a process of designing dynamic educational content for presentation to be efficient; and

(ii) dynamic activities, wherein the dynamic activities are reusable for designing other dynamic educational content, thereby causing a process of designing dynamic educational content for presentation to be efficient.

36. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step for using an interface and a graphical design technique to design an adaptive educational path includes a step for allowing at least a portion of the content to be selectively supported by any of a number of output layout formats.

37. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising a step for selectively and instantly changing a look and feel of the presentation.

38. A method as recited in claim 2, further comprising a step for grouping experimental data to determine information relating to one or more groups to which the particular learner belongs.

39. A method as recited in claim 38, wherein the step for providing the adaptive educational path for presentation includes implementing the at least a portion of the presentation based on the particular learner'"'"'s similarity to other learners for which optimum settings have been established.

40. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step for providing portions of the educational content for iterative presentation includes a step for conducting experiments using an experimental unit that is at least one of:

(i) a particular concept;

(ii) a particular learner type; and

(iii) a particular learner.

41. A method as recited in claim 2, further comprising a step for automatically generating a report relating to at least one of:

(i) the presentation; and

(ii) the particular learner'"'"'s performance.

42. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step for providing portions of the educational content for iterative presentation includes selectively prioritizing aspects of the presentation, wherein the aspects are at least one of:

(i) activities;

(ii) lessons; and

(iii) tasks.

43. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising a step for selectively displaying the particular learner'"'"'s progress.

44. A dynamic continual improvement educational system that is tailored to an individual learner, the system comprising:

a computer system having a development module, an implementation module, an analysis module, and an output device, wherein the output device displays a user interface that enables a user to utilize a graphical design technique for designing an educational path that is selectively adaptive to educational performances of learners, wherein the adaptive educational path comprises dynamic educational content and a plurality of object oriented educational activities for presentation to one or more learners, wherein the dynamic educational content is separate and independent from the plurality of educational activities, wherein the design technique automatically produces computer readable instructions relating to the dynamic educational content; and

the dynamic educational content designed for presentation to learners, wherein the adaptive educational path includes structural components that are graphically associated in a relational order on the user interface even when any of the structural components are moved, and wherein at least a portion of the educational path is adaptively customized for a particular learner by obtaining and automatically analyzing learner performance data of the particular learner, wherein the learner performance data is obtained and analyzed by the computer system to cause the system to automatically and adaptively sequence the educational path to an educational performance of the particular learner, wherein the customizing of the educational path to an educational performance of the particular learner comprises;

using the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed by the computer system to identify which portions of the educational content are to be presented to the particular learner, wherein the identified portions include a type and difficulty of the educational content that is to be selectively presented to the particular learner;

using the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed by the computer system to selectively determine a frequency of exposure of the identified portions of the educational content to the particular learner;

using the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed by the computer system to identify which of the object oriented educational activities are to be grouped into an activity set and be presented to the particular learner;

grouping the identified objected oriented education activities into the activity set;

selectively matching the identified portions of the educational content with identified educational activities of the activity set for random presentation to the particular learner; and

selectively prioritizing the individually matched educational content and corresponding educational activities of the activity set for presentation to the particular learner based upon the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed by the computer system, wherein the prioritization comprises modifying the presentation order of the individually matched educational content and corresponding educational activities of the activity set based upon the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed; and

wherein the adaptive customization comprises a modification to the educational path based upon the learner performance data, the adaptive customization being ordered based upon a characteristic of the particular learner and portions of the educational content are iteratively presented to the particular learner over an extended period of time to maintain the particular learner'"'"'s understanding of the educational content.

45. A system as recited in claim 44, wherein the characteristic is at least one of:

(i) a learning pace of the particular learner;

(ii) a background of the particular learner;

(iii) a style of learning of the particular learner; and

(iv) a learning progress of the particular learner.

46. A system as recited in claim 45, wherein the user interface is configured for use in assembling activities from the structural components to design the adaptive educational path, and wherein the interface facilitates the creation of adaptively sequenced instruction.

47. A system as recited in claim 45, further comprising a computer device communicatively coupled to the computer system and configured to enable an exchange of information between the computer device and the computer system.

48. A system as recited in claim 47, wherein the communications mechanism is a network.

49. A system as recited in claim 48, wherein the network is the internet.

50. A system as recited in claim 47, wherein the graphical user interface includes a grid on which the adaptive educational path is created by automatically snapping activity icons to the grid and providing a relationship between the activity icons.

51. A continual improvement educational process that is tailored to an individual learner, the process comprising:

a development module for designing an adaptive educational path using a user interface and a design technique, wherein the design technique automatically produces computer readable instructions relating to the dynamic educational content without causing a designer to encode the instructions, wherein the adaptive educational path comprises dynamic educational content and a plurality of object oriented educational activities for presentation to learners, and wherein the dynamic educational content is separate and independent from the plurality of educational activities;

the dynamic educational content for presentation to learners, wherein the adaptive educational path comprises a sequence of at least some of the dynamic educational content for presentation to a particular learner, wherein aspects of the educational content are graphically associated in a relational order on the user interface, the association capable of being maintained even when an aspect of the educational content is moved;

an implementation module associated with the development module for selectively implementing the presentation of the educational content to the learner, wherein the presentation is automatically adapted to a characteristic of the learner, and for iteratively implementing at least a portion of the presentation to the learner over an extended period of time to maintain the learner'"'"'s understanding of the educational content; and

an analysis module having a computer processor and a computer readable medium encoded with computer executable code, wherein the analysis module is associated with the implementation module for determining the learning pace of the learner and the learner'"'"'s understanding of the educational content, the analysis module obtaining and automatically analyzing learner performance data of the learner while providing the adaptive educational path, wherein the learner performance data is obtained and analyzed by the analysis module to cause the computer processor of the analysis module to automatically and adaptively customize the educational path to the educational performance of the learner, wherein the customizing of the educational path to the educational performance of the learner comprises;

determining an effectiveness of a particular lesson by presenting a first lesson to a first test group and presenting a second lesson to a second test group, wherein the results of the first and second test groups are analyzed to determine an effectiveness of the first and second lessons in relation to each other;

comparing the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed by the computer system to the effectiveness of a particular lesson to assist in identifyiing which lessons are to be presented to the particular learner;

using the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed by the computer system to identify which portions of the educational content are to be presented to the particular learner, wherein the identified portions include a type and difficulty of the educational content that is to be selectively presented to the particular learner;

using the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed by the computer system to selectively determine a frequency of exposure of the identified portions of the educational content to the particular learner;

using the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed by the computer system to prioritize the identified portions of the educational content that are to be selectively presented to the particular learner;

using the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed by the computer system to selectively match the identified and prioritized portions of the educational content with the identified educational activities for presentation to the particular learner; and

selectively prioritizing the individually matched educational content and corresponding educational activities for presentation to the particular learner based upon the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed by the computer system, wherein the prioritization comprises modifying the presentation order of the individually matched educational content and corresponding educational activities based upon the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed; and

wherein the adaptive customization comprises modifying presentation of the educational path to the learner based upon the learner performance data.

52. A continual improvement educational process as recited in claim 51, wherein the characteristic is at least one of:

(i) a learning pace of the learner;

(ii) a background of the learner;

(iii) a style of learning of the learner; and

(iv) a learning progress of the learner.

53. A continual improvement educational process as recited in claim 52, further comprising an implementation fidelity module associated with the implementation module for:

ensuring genuine fidelity of the presentation of the educational content; and

measuring and encouraging fidelity to system-determined guidelines for learners, tutors, and administrators who interact with and contribute to a learning experience.

54. A computer program product for implementing within a computer system a method for providing a dynamic continual improvement educational environment that is tailored to an individual learner, the computer program product comprising:

a non transitory computer readable medium encoded with computer executable code utilized to implement the method, the method comprising;

receiving input through a design technique to display an adaptive educational path on a user interface, the adaptive educational path, having dynamic educational content and a plurality of object oriented educational activities for presentation to learners, wherein the dynamic educational content is separate and independent from the plurality of educational activities, wherein the design technique automatically produces computer readable instructions relating to the dynamic educational content, and wherein aspects of the educational content are associated in a relational order even when an aspect of the educational content is moved;

obtaining and automatically analyzing learner performance data of a particular learner, wherein the learner performance data is obtained and analyzed by the system to cause the system to automatically and adaptively customize the educational path to an educational performance of the particular learner, wherein the customizing of the educational path comprises;

determining an effectiveness of a particular lesson by presenting a first lesson to a first test group and presenting a second lesson to a second test group, computer system, wherein the prioritization comprises modifying the presentation order of the individually matched educational content and corresponding educational activities based upon the learner performance data that was obtained and analyzed; and

displaying the combined educational content and educational activities on an output device to the learner, wherein the prioritization of the presentation order is automatically adapted to a characteristic of the learner; and

iteratively presenting at least a portion of the educational content to the learner over an extended period of time to maintain the learner'"'"'s understanding of the educational content.

55. A computer program product as recited in claim 54, wherein the characteristic is at least one of:

(i) a learning pace of the learner;

(ii) a background of the learner;

(iii) a style of learning of the learner; and

(iv) a learning progress of the learner.

56. A computer program product as recited in claim 55, wherein the step for iteratively presenting at least a portion of the educational content to the learner over an extended period of time comprises a step for automatically providing a systematic spaced review of the educational content to the learner based on the learner'"'"'s performance, including the learner'"'"'s accuracy and speed in understanding the educational content.

57. A computer program product as recited in claim 55, wherein the association is between available components of the educational content based on specific properties of the available components.

58. A computer program product as recited in claim 55, wherein the adaptive education path provides a flow of activities for selective presentation to the learner to teach a particular educational lesson.

59. A computer program product as recited in claim 58, wherein the flow of activities are automatically snapped as activity icons to a grid.

60. A computer program product as recited in claim 59, wherein the method further comprises, upon receiving input to move an activity icon within the flow of activities, automatically and graphically maintaining relationships with other activities branching the activity icon that is moved.

61. A computer program product as recited in claim 55, wherein the method further comprises:

executing automated tests on components to ensure that the components function as designed; and

diagnose any errors in the components.