Method and system for providing content for learning appliances over an electronic communication medium

• US 9,520,069 B2
• Filed: 07/20/2009
• Issued: 12/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. (VTech Holdings Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. (VTech Holdings Ltd.)
• Inventors: Wood, Michael C., Marggraff, James, Brown, Matthew, Fishbach, Matt
• Primary Examiner(s): Gishnock, Nikolai A
• Application Number:
  US12/506,133
• Publication Number:
  US 20110029591A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,703 Days
• Field of Search: 434/307, 434/308, 434/322, 434/323, 434/350, 434/362, 446/175, 446/301, 463/35, 463/39, 463/42, 463/43
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 17/003 electrically operated apparatus or devices
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 17/006 with audible presentation of the material to be studied audio and audio-visual teaching apparatus in general G09B5/04, G09B5/06
• 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 19/025 with electrically operated apparatus or devices
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/04 Speaking with audible presentation of the material to be studied G09B5/04
• 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 5/04 with audible presentation of the material to be studied sound recording or reproducing G11B
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/06 with both visual and audible presentation of the material to be studied
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/062 Combinations of audio and printed presentations, e.g. magnetically striped cards, talking books, magnetic tapes with printed texts thereon
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/065 Combinations of audio and video presentations, e.g. videotapes, videodiscs, television systems
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/14 with provision for individual teacher-student communication
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/00 Electrically-operated teaching apparatus or devices working with questions and answers mechanically operated G09B3/00; computing arrangements G06F
• 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
• 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: G09B 7/06 of the multiple-choice answer-type, i.e. where a given question is provided with a series of answers and a choice has to be made from the answers
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/08 characterised by modifying the teaching programme in response to a wrong answer, e.g. repeating the question, supplying further information

Abstract

A method, a user interface, and an educational content server for assisting a user in learning using interactive learning appliances are disclosed. The performance information of the user, which may be in the form of a user log file in an interactive learning appliance, may be received at a server computer from a site where the user is present. The performance information and profile information can then be presented in the user interface and used to generate an electronic content package. The electronic content package can then be received and loaded into the interactive learning appliance.

Claims

1. A method of downloading educational content comprising:

receiving from a client computer, at the server computer including a non-transitory computer-readable medium, a user log file generated by an interactive learning appliance toy from user interactions with one or more content packages using the interactive learning appliance toy, wherein the interactive learning appliance toy includes one or more movable rings or movable buttons that a user uses to operate the learning appliance toy, and the learning appliance toy is configured to test one or more skills of the user;

determining, by the server computer, at least one current zone for the user for each skill tested by the interactive learning appliance toy;

analyzing, by the server computer, the user log file to determine most common errors made by the user;

selecting, by the server computer, problems to include in a content package based on the user'"'"'s at least one current zone for each skill tested by the interactive learning appliance toy and the most common errors made by the user;

generating, by the server computer, the content package tailored to profile information of the user and including the selected problems based on the at least one current zone for each skill tested by the interactive learning appliance toy and the most common errors made by the user; and

sending, by the server computer, the content package to the client computer via an electronic communication medium, wherein the client computer transfers the content package to a storage medium in the interactive learning appliance toy, the content package modifying the operation of the interactive learning appliance toy.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the one or more skill tested by the interactive learning appliance toy comprise multiple zones.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein each zone is associated with problems with a predetermined level of difficulty.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

analyzing the user log file to determine that one or more current zones should be incremented, maintained or decremented based on a number of problems the user has answered correctly and a number of problems the user has attempted.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the user is a first user and further comprising:

sending, to a second user, a report showing the first user'"'"'s performance based on the user log file and one or more first user performance logs.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a percentage of problems answered correctly by the user when interacting with the interactive learning appliance toy; and

for each at least one current zone;

determining a number of problems attempted by the user for the current zone for the user;

incrementing the current zone when the percent of problems answered correctly by the user when interacting with the interactive learning appliance toy is more than a predetermined percentage and the number of problems attempted by the user for the current zone for the user is more than a predetermined number of problems;

decrementing the current zone when the percent of problems answered correctly by the user when interacting with the interactive learning device is less than a predetermined percentage and the number of problems attempted by the user for the current zone for the user is more than a predetermined number of problems;

maintaining the current zone when the number of problems attempted by the user for the current zone for the user is less than a predetermined number of problems.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

retrieving, by the server computer, profile information of the user after receiving the user log file.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

retrieving, by the server computer, one or more user performance logs comprising past performance information for the user from one or more user log files for the user.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the performance information includes information related to errors made by the user when interacting with the interactive learning appliance toy.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

analyzing, by the server computer, the one or more user performance logs comprising past performance information to determine most common past errors made by the user; and

wherein selecting problems to include in a content package is also based on the most common past errors made by the user.

11. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

generating, by the server computer, a report showing the user'"'"'s performance based on the user log file and the one or more user performance logs.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein the past performance information includes one or more of the following:

response to latency by the user, frequency of correct responses provided by the user, frequency of incorrect responses provided by the user, correctness or incorrectness of the most recent responses provided by the user, problem identifiers of problems attempted by the user, or types of problems attempted by the user.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating, by the server computer, a report showing the user'"'"'s performance based on the user log file.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

selecting, by the server computer, facts and questions to include in the content package based on the user'"'"'s at least one current zone for each skill tested by the interactive learning appliance toy and the most common errors made by the user.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

updating user performance log information in a database after receiving the user log file.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein analyzing the user log file to determine most common errors made by the user includes conducting an error analysis comprising:

determining whether a response provided by the user is correct or incorrect;

marking a problem record associated with the response as tried for the user;

incrementing a percent correct variable for a problem zone if the answer is correct; and

incrementing an error counter of common error types associated with a particular problem if the answer is incorrect.

17. A server computer including a non-transitory computer-readable medium configured to:

receive from a client computer, a user log file generated by an interactive learning appliance toy from user interactions with one or more content packages using the interactive learning appliance toy, wherein the interactive learning appliance toy includes one or more movable rings or movable buttons that a user uses to operate the learning appliance toy, and the interactive learning appliance toy is configured to test one or more skills;

determine at least one current zone for the user for each skill tested by the interactive learning appliance toy;

analyze the user log file to determine most common errors made by the user;

select problems to include in a content package based on the user'"'"'s at least one current zone for each skill tested by the interactive learning appliance toy and the most common errors made by the user;

generate content to be included in a content package tailored to profile information of the user and including the selected problems based on the at least one current zone for each skill tested by the interactive learning appliance toy and the most common errors made by the user; and

send the content package to the client computer via an electronic communication medium, wherein the client computer transfers the content package to a storage medium in the interactive learning appliance toy, the content package modifying the operation of the interactive learning appliance toy.

18. A client computer including a non-transitory computer-readable medium configured to display a user interface comprising:

profile information of a user;

a user log file generated by an interactive learning appliance toy from user interactions with one or more content packages using the interactive learning appliance toy, wherein the interactive learning appliance toy includes one or more movable rings or movable buttons that a user uses to operate the learning appliance toy, and the interactive learning appliance toy is configured to test one or more skills of the user;

a report showing the user'"'"'s performance based on the user log file and one or more user performance logs; and

content to be included in a content package tailored to the profile information of the user and based on at least one current zone for at least one skill tested by the interactive learning appliance toy and most common errors made by the user determined from the user log file, the content package modifying the operation of the interactive learning appliance toy.

19. The client computer of claim 18 wherein the log file is received via a linker device capable of transferring data between a client computer and many different types of interactive learning appliance toys.

20. The client computer of claim 18 wherein the user interface is displayed via a Web site operating on a server computer.

21. The client computer of claim 20 wherein the client computer is capable of communicating with the server computer via the Internet.