Didactic appliance
First Claim
1. A hand held teaching apparatus, comprising:
- a display;
at least one motion sensor;
a touch screen, responsive to user inputs;
at least one processor configured to;
present to a user a didactic sequence on the display, the didactic sequence comprising a plurality of tasks and task-related user prompts;
monitor the at least one motion sensor;
sense user-implemented changes in apparatus orientation between a landscape orientation and a portrait orientation;
train the user to progress through the didactic sequence steps necessary to successfully complete and/or master tasks, wherein the training of the user includes;
a) determine whether the user has crossed off an answer choice on the touch screen using either a finger or a stylus; and
in the event that the user has crossed off the answer choice, determine whether remaining uncrossed off answer choice is a correct answer;
b) determine whether the user has crossed off a first answer choice and a second answer choice, wherein after the first and second answer choices are crossed off, only an answer correlating to a step of the training operation remains;
c) or any combination thereof;
determine whether user inputs are appropriate inputs in connection with said tasks and prompts; and
in the event that the user inputs are appropriate inputs, navigate through said didactic sequence between said tasks and said prompts, wherein the navigating through the didactic sequence comprises;
encapsulate the teaching task in a mnemonic, the mnemonic including at least three elements; and
change the apparatus orientation after completing each step in the didactic sequence, the didactic sequence comprising a process-based series of problem solving techniques, wherein the changing of the apparatus orientation permits user navigation through said didactic sequence if the step has been correctly completed, only if a first letter of the apparatus orientation after each apparatus rotation is consistent with a next element of the mnemonic, only if the mnemonic corresponds to the apparatus orientation changing at least twice, and a first element of the at least three elements corresponds to an initial apparatus orientation; and
a memory coupled to the at least one processor and configured to provide the at least one processor with instructions.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Deficiencies in existing attempts at educational software solutions are addressed by providing systems, methods, and devices that both replicate and facilitate the necessary elements of successful classroom-based learning, while taking advantage of the platform-specific benefits of handheld computing devices. Various applications address the issue of the limited screen size of mobile devices by using the motion sensors of the devices both to move from one part of a program to another, thus eliminating the need for on-screen navigation buttons and allowing the entire screen to be used for content, and also to reinforce learning through the use of mnemonics. In these applications, the user rotates the device after completing each step, in sequence, of a process-based series of problem solving techniques. Group learning dynamics are also reproduced through a study group feature.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A hand held teaching apparatus, comprising:
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a display; at least one motion sensor; a touch screen, responsive to user inputs; at least one processor configured to; present to a user a didactic sequence on the display, the didactic sequence comprising a plurality of tasks and task-related user prompts; monitor the at least one motion sensor; sense user-implemented changes in apparatus orientation between a landscape orientation and a portrait orientation; train the user to progress through the didactic sequence steps necessary to successfully complete and/or master tasks, wherein the training of the user includes; a) determine whether the user has crossed off an answer choice on the touch screen using either a finger or a stylus; and in the event that the user has crossed off the answer choice, determine whether remaining uncrossed off answer choice is a correct answer; b) determine whether the user has crossed off a first answer choice and a second answer choice, wherein after the first and second answer choices are crossed off, only an answer correlating to a step of the training operation remains; c) or any combination thereof; determine whether user inputs are appropriate inputs in connection with said tasks and prompts; and in the event that the user inputs are appropriate inputs, navigate through said didactic sequence between said tasks and said prompts, wherein the navigating through the didactic sequence comprises; encapsulate the teaching task in a mnemonic, the mnemonic including at least three elements; and change the apparatus orientation after completing each step in the didactic sequence, the didactic sequence comprising a process-based series of problem solving techniques, wherein the changing of the apparatus orientation permits user navigation through said didactic sequence if the step has been correctly completed, only if a first letter of the apparatus orientation after each apparatus rotation is consistent with a next element of the mnemonic, only if the mnemonic corresponds to the apparatus orientation changing at least twice, and a first element of the at least three elements corresponds to an initial apparatus orientation; and a memory coupled to the at least one processor and configured to provide the at least one processor with instructions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A computer implemented teaching method, comprising:
presenting to a user a didactic sequence on a display, the didactic sequence comprising a plurality of tasks and task-related user prompts; monitoring at least one motion sensor; sensing user-implemented changes in apparatus orientation between a landscape orientation and a portrait orientation; training the user to progress through the didactic sequence steps necessary to successfully complete and/or master tasks, wherein the training of the user includes; a) determining whether the user has crossed off an answer choice on the touch screen using either a finger or a stylus; and in the event that the user has crossed off the answer choice, determining whether remaining uncrossed off answer choice is a correct answer; b) determining whether the user has crossed off a first answer choice and a second answer choice, wherein after the first and second answer choices are crossed off, only an answer correlating to a step of the training operation remains; c) or any combination thereof; determining whether user inputs are appropriate inputs in connection with said tasks and prompts; and in the event that the user inputs are appropriate inputs, navigating through said didactic sequence between said tasks and said prompts, wherein the navigating through the didactic sequence comprises; encapsulating the teaching task in a mnemonic, the mnemonic including at least three elements; and changing the apparatus orientation after completing each step in the didactic sequence, the didactic sequence comprising a process-based series of problem solving techniques, wherein the changing of the apparatus orientation permits user navigation through said didactic sequence if the step has been correctly completed, only if a first letter of the apparatus orientation after each apparatus rotation is consistent with a next element of the mnemonic, only if the mnemonic corresponds to the apparatus orientation changing at least twice, and a first element of the at least three elements corresponds to an initial apparatus orientation.
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23. A computer program product for teaching, the computer program product being embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:
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presenting to a user a didactic sequence on a display, the didactic sequence comprising a plurality of tasks and task-related user prompts; monitoring at least one motion sensor; sensing user-implemented changes in apparatus orientation between a landscape orientation and a portrait orientation; training the user to progress through the didactic sequence steps necessary to successfully complete and/or master tasks, wherein the training of the user includes; a) determining whether the user has crossed off an answer choice on a touch screen using either a finger or a stylus; and in the event that the user has crossed off the answer choice, determining whether remaining uncrossed off answer choice is a correct answer; b) determining whether the user has crossed off a first answer choice and a second answer choice, wherein after the first and second answer choices are crossed off, only an answer correlating to a step of the training operation remains; c) or any combination thereof; determining whether user inputs are appropriate inputs in connection with said tasks and prompts; and in the event that the user inputs are appropriate inputs, navigating through said didactic sequence between said tasks and said prompts, wherein the navigating through the didactic sequence comprises; encapsulating the teaching task in a mnemonic, the mnemonic including at least three elements; and changing the apparatus orientation after completing each step in the didactic sequence, the didactic sequence comprising a process-based series of problem solving techniques, wherein the changing of the apparatus orientation permits user navigation through said didactic sequence if the step has been correctly completed, only if a first letter of the apparatus orientation after each apparatus rotation is consistent with a next element of the mnemonic, only if the mnemonic corresponds to the apparatus orientation changing at least twice, and a first element of the at least three elements corresponds to an initial apparatus orientation.
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Specification