Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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INTERNET-BASED EDUCATION SUPPORT SYSTEM AND METHOD WITH
MULTI-LANGUAGE CAPABILITY
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.
60/382,079, filed May
22, 2002, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60!404,276, filed August 19, 2002,
U.S. Provisional
Application No. 601406,304, filed August 28, 2002, and U.S. Provisional
Application No. 60/449,507,
filed February 25, 2003, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for the
exchange of
information between instructors and students in an educational context. More
specifically, the present
invention relates to systems and methods in which an educational instructor
interacts with one or more
non-collocated students by transmitting course lectures, textbooks,
literature, and other course
materials, receiving student questions and input, and conducting participatory
class discussions using
I $ an electronic network such as a Local Area Network (LAN), a Metropolitan
Area Network (MAN), a
Wide Area Network (WAN), the Internet and/or the World Wide Web (WWV~. The
present
invention also relates to the provision of an infrastructure that allows for
on-line registration and
tuition payment of educational courses.
In addition, the present invention relates to systems and methods that may be
used by system
users at various levels for the distribution and use of information over a
network. More specifically,
the present invention relates to interactive systems and methods that may be
used by system users at
various levels for distributing and using information over a network such that
it is readily adaptable
for more than one language.
BACKGROUND ART
The ability of educators, including educational institutions, private
corporations, and
institutions of higher learning, to reach potential students has generally
been limited by geography. In
most instances, a potential student must physically move to within commuting
distance or onto a
campus in order to have access to course instructors, classes, and materials.
Furthermore, potential
students and persons seeking knowledge of all sorts are generally limited to
proximate sources of
courses of instruction, tutoring, or training. Due to these limitations, a
prospective student must either
seek to learn a given subject from whatever local means of instruction is
available to her or move her
household in order to be able to access her preferred sources of instruction.
Many prospective students
are deprived of receiving instruction from other, possibly better-qualified
instructors or institutions
located outside of their immediate locale. Similarly, educational institutions
have been limited to
serving only those students located within commutable distance of their
campuses. This applies
whether the students) andlor instructors(s) are in the United States, Japan,
Kenya,_Germany, or India.
SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26)
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The advent of networked computers and communications has afforded a partial
solution to
these limitations. In particular, the widespread use and availability of
electronic networks such as the
Internet and the WWW have made it possible for students and educators to
overcome geographic
dispersion and physical location as a barrier to education or training. Using
this electronic medium,
students and instructors are able to exchange information including live or
transcribed classroom
lectures, homework assignments, texts and materials, grading, live or
transcribed question and answer
interaction sessions, and other related information to effect a traditional
learning or educational
experience regardless of physical location.
However, electronic networks, including the Internet, are complex
technological systems
requiring the user to have or acquire specialized knowledge in order to use
them effectively. Even
graphical user interfaces (GUIs) designed to enhance simplicity of use, such
as that provided by the
WWW, may require specialized knowledge of network terminology and technical
aspects. For
example, an Internet user's ability to access information using that medium is
significantly reduced if
the user lacks understanding of how to use Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) to
navigate web
pages. Slow adoption of new technology and lack of technological
sophistication have a chilling
effect on the widespread use of the medium in general. Applied specifically in
an educational context,
these chilling factors apply to instructors who, while possessing high
expertise in their respective
intellectual or educational fields, would be required to further attain
technological knowledge
necessary to effectively use the Internet to educate non-collocated students.
Furthermore, the complexity of using the Internet for educational purposes is
compounded as
the number of user choices required at the user interface increases because
not only must the
instructor and students acquire technological competency in the use of the
medium, but they must in
addition understand the presentation and consequences of large number of
choices required by a
particular user interface such as a web page. The design of the user
interface, therefore, can be critical
in enabling widespread use of the medium in an educational context. Solutions
other than the present
invention may be characterized as having relatively complicated and confusing
user interfaces. Users,
including students and instructors, of these other solutions are confronted
with one or more web pages
that typically require the user to review and select a subsequent web page or
function from among a
large array of potential user choices, thereby complicating the user's task of
interacting with the
system.
Further, many educational institutions have existing or legacy network-based
systems that
students access to obtain various types of information (e.g., class
schedules). The addition of yet
another network-based system requires the host or sponsoring institution to
incur implementation and
maintenance costs associated with the installation, integration,
administration, and maintenance of a
new network-based system. These costs place limits on the achieving the
widespread use of the
medium for educational purposes.
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The exception has been so-called virtual schools. Virtual schools
traditionally charge an
enrollment fee, and then offer free courses. In lieu of paying for each course
taken, a student is
subjected to advertising while viewing on-line course material. While such
billing and income
generation methods may be acceptable for companies providing on-line training,
such methods are
inconsistent with traditional college and university billing practices.
Colleges and universities
typically charge a low enrollment fee and bill students on a per-credit or per
course basis.
There are interactive systems currently being marketed for distributing and
using information
over a network that permit activities by system users according to the level
of the user. A network in
this context may be a LAN, MAN, WAN, intranet, the Internet and/or the WWW.
Applications of
such technology may be in the area of educational or corporate training
systems. In such systems,
system users, entities providing instruction, and system providers will
interact with the system so that
content may be provided to the student or person receiving training over the
network. As stated, the
student or person receiving training may be located at different locations
than the instructor, yet be
interactive with the instructor via a network system. Accordingly, these
systems remove the
geographic limitations that typically attach to typical teaching systems.
The removal of the geographic limitations was conducive to LAN, MAN, WAN,
intranet, the
Internet, or WWW-based system being used as the networking medium for
providers, instructors, and
entities receiving instruction. This also permitted the course of instruction
to accommodate disparate
sources of information that in the past could not be included in the course of
instruction. Moreover,
this model permitted classes of instruction to vary widely in make up. For
example, a class may
include a number of individuals and instructors connected only through the
network system. However,
it may also be configured to be groups of individuals at various locations
connected through the
network system and the instructor may be located with one of the groups of
students. It may further
include the instructor and students located in one location and the materials
being used for instruction
being provided only over the network system because of the rarity of the
source material.
The networked systems that have just been described from a conceptual view are
very
attractive. However, once they are viewed from the practical, user-based
level, there are considerable
challenges to the implementation and use of these systems. Existing systems
have not reached a level
where standards have evolved so that there is some consistency in
nomenclature, structure, or
interfacing to such systems. Each system is technologically complex and
specialized to what system
developers believe are important. Therefore, the system users, regardless of
level, may find it difficult
to use without, in many cases, very specialized training as to the
particularized interworkings of that
specific system. Most of these systems do not lend themselves to rapid use
after a brief introduction.
Although the general populus in the Westernized countries are becoming more
"computer savvy" with
each passing year, this does not mean that the worldwide society that could
make use of these non-
geographically limited educational or training systems would not have
difficulty using them because
of their nonuser-friendly nature. This is magnified given the number of users
types that will access
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and use the system, e.g., instructors, students, and individuals receiving
instruction, system providers
and everything or everyone that may be a hybrid of each of these groups, and
potential language
barriers without very specialized conversion of the systems.
To the extent that current networked educational or training systems exist,
they are configured
S from the institution or company perspective and not to that of the user.
Further, these systems are not
readily adaptable to be converted to favor the individual user's perspectives.
The student or individual
receiving instruction is inextricably tied to the institution's configuration
without the ability to tailor
his/her experience that would better fit his/her individual style in
obtaining, using, and processing
information contributing information.
In a typical conventional system, the student or individual receiving
instruction will access
different locations or web pages of the institution's or company's network
system to obtain the
information that he/she desires or post with the institution or company. In
order to gain such access,
the student or individual may be required to logon a number of networks to
obtain the desired
information or upload it. This can be frustrating to students or individuals
because small errors in the
process can greatly increase the time to perform activities on the system. At
some point, the frustrated
student or individual may give up or be required to seek help. The alternative
of consolidating all the
activities at one web-site may itself cause problems given the institution's
or company's purposeful
segregation of the activities at the various network system sites since the
main idea is to make the
system more institutional or company-centric rather than student- or
individual-centric.
Current networked systems that are used for education or training will require
the instructor to
make lecture and textual information available to the students or individuals.
As can be imagined,
various instructors, whether the educational or company setting, will have
very different teaching
styles. Present-day systems that typically are institution- or company-
centric are not readily adaptable
to accommodate these differences in teaching styles. The best description of
these systems would be
to refer to them as "one size fits all" types of systems. Therefore, there
will exist a constant struggle
between the instructors3 and institutions or companies to derive system
refinements and
customizations to meet the instructors' needs. This creates nightmares for
institutions and companies
from the maintenance and management standpoint.
With regard to maintenance, the institution or company must continue to
provide support for
the ever changing nature of the system, which is very expensive and time
consuming. And, with
regard to management, the institution or company must create customizations on
demand and attend
to the development and testing processes associated with these new and varied
customizations. This
again is expensive and time consuming.
Current LAN, MAN, WAN, intranet, Internet or WWW-based systems that may
accommodate the educational or corporate systems that have been discussed,
slow significantly as the
large numbers of students or trainees stress the network to obtain information
or use the system for its
intended purposes. This adds to user frustration and system dissatisfaction.
If this is one of the major
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initiatives of the educational or company training system, it will reflect
badly on the institution or
company.
Current educational and company-based training systems have difficulty
presenting multiple
functions on-line activities because of the complexity. For example, there are
problems in providing
5 on-line registration for educational courses along with providing tuition
payments. This is due in part
to the incompatibility of billing practices and the continual customization of
the integration of the
registration for courses and payment techniques.
Current educational and company-based systems have difficulty being provided
in various
languages. Typically, in order to obtain a system that will be presented in a
different language, it is
necessary to take the system as created in a native language and translate it
in its entirety to be
presented in the second language. Current-day systems are not particularly
adaptable to be rapidly
changed from one language to another with little effort without the need to
separately translate the
system.
The present invention overcomes the problems of conventional system to provide
a system
that is user friendly and easy to use through a user interface.
Therefore, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a system
and methods that
allow users to interact with a computer network-based education support system
through means of a
simplified, easy-to-use user interface.
A further general object of the present invention is to provide a system that
can be easily
integrated with existing computer network and backend systems with minimal
disruption to existing
operations and systems.
A still further general object of the present invention is to provide a system
that is scalable in
order to accommodate increasing numbers of users, such that system
responsiveness is not materially
degraded as the number of users of the system grows to an increasingly large
number.
A still further general object of the present invention is to provide a system
and methods that
can accommodate a variety of diverse teaching modes without requiring
substantial modifications to
the system.
A further object of the invention is to provide a system that allows multiple
types of users to
access the features of the system as a function of their predefined role
within the framework of the
system, such as, a student, a teacher, or an administrator.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a system that
integrates with the
education platform so that there will be provided therein value added services
and control such as
calendar, task, contact and communication functions.
It is another object of the invention to support multiple locales, and have
multiple locales
display in a user's browser based on an administrative configuration.
An even still further object of the present invention is to provide a system
and method that is
accessible according to the access level of the system user.
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It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a network-
based interactive
system that is readily adaptable to accommodate multiple languages.
These as well as other objects of the present invention are apparent upon
inspection of the
specification and drawings.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with these and other objects, provided is a system for providing
to a community
of users access to a plurality of on-line courses, comprising a plurality of
user computers and a server
computer in communication with each of the user computers over a network that
includes LANs,
MANS, WANs, the Internet, intranet, and/or the WWW. Each user computer is
associated with a user
of the system having predefined characteristics indicative of a predetermined
access level to the
system. Each level of access to data files is associated with a course, and a
level of control over data
files associated with a course. The preferred server computer is capable of
storing data files associated
with a course assigning a level of access to each file, determining an access
level of a user requesting
IS access to a file, and allowing access to a file associated with a course as
a function of the access level
of the user. Accordingly, the level of access preferably is associated with
the ability of a user to access
the file.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the user level
associated with a
student user, an instructor level is associated with an instructor user, and
an administrator level is
associated with an administrator user. However, multiple levels may be
associated particular users.
For example an instructor of one course may also be a student in another
course.
The instructor user is provided with an access level to enable the creation
and editing of a
plurality of course files associated with a course. The course files may
include an announcement file,
a course information file, a staff information file, a course documents file,
an assignments file, a
dropbox file, an asynchronous communication file, and a synchronous
communication file.
The student user is provided with an access level to enable reading of course
files associated
with a course. The student user is also provided with an access level to
enable modification of some of
the files associated with a course. Also, the user may be provided with an
access level to enable
creation of a student file associated with a file for which the student user
is able to read. The file that
the student is able to read may be an assessment file created by the
instructor user, and the student file
created by the student user is a response to the assessment file. The
assessment file may be a plurality
of examination questions selected by the instructor user to assess the
learning level of the student user.
The examination questions may be selected by the instructor user from a
predetermined pool of
available examination questions. The examination questions also may be created
by the instructor user
substantially at the time of the creation of the assessment file and
optionally added to the pool. The
student file may be reviewed by the instructor user and assigned a grade,
which would be made
available on-line to the student user. The instructor user may collate the
grades obtained from
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reviewing a number of student files, and the collated grades may be made
available on-line to all
student users associated with the course.
The "digital dropbox" may contain a plurality of files transferred to the
server computer from
one or more student users associated with the course. The instructor user may
be provided with access
to the files in the dropbox file. The instructor user may download, edit and
upload the files in the
dropbox.
A user may be required to enter a logon sequence into a user computer in order
to be provided
with access to course files associated with that user. The user is then
provided with access to all
courses with which the he/she is associated after entry of the logon sequence.
The user is provided
with a web page that may include a plurality of course hyperlinks. These
course hyperlinks preferably
will be associated with each course that the user has been enrolled either as
an instructor or as a
student. Selection of a course hyperlink will provide the user with a web page
associated with the
selected course. This web page will have content hyperlinks and buttons to
various content areas
associated with the course. The content hyperlinks and/or buttons may include,
for example, an
announcement area hyperlink, a course information hyperlink, a staff
information hyperlink, a course
documents hyperlink, an assignments hyperlink, a communications hyperlink, and
a student tools
hyperlink.
Selection of the announcement area hyperlink provides a web page including a
group of
course announcements. Selection of the course information hyperlink provides a
web page including
information regarding the associated course. Selection of the staff
information hyperlink provides a
web page including data regarding the instructors of the associated course.
Selection of the course
documents hyperlink provides a web page including a listing of documents
associated with the course,
which may be active hyperlinks to the documents. Selection of the assignments
hyperlink provides a
web page including a group of course assignments. Selection of the
communications hyperlink
provides a web page including hyperlinks to a group of communication tools
including an
asynchronous communication tool and a synchronous communication tool.
In another aspect of the present invention, the system and method provide a
community of
users access to on-line courses that will include a server computer in
communication with user
computers over a network. The server computer preferably will be capable of
creating course user
accounts from a file of existing user accounts associated with an external
computer. In this manner,
existing legacy systems that have a large number of user accounts stored in
memory may be
integrated with this system without having to re-enter user data which is
referred to as "batch
enrollment."
The present invention also includes a method for providing on-line education
that further may
include the steps of establishing a course to be offered on-line, offering the
course to be taken on-line
to a group of student users, and providing access over the network to the
course files to student users
who have enrolled in the course. The establishment of the course includes an
instructor user
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generating a set of course files for use in teaching the course, then
transfernng the course files to a
server computer for storage. The stored files will be accessible by a
predefined community of student
users having access to the server computer over a network.
Preferably, at least one of the course files may include a course assignment.
The student user
creates a student file in response to the course assignment and transfers the
student file to the server
computer. The instructor user accesses the student file from the server
computer, reviews the student
file to determine compliance with the course assignment, and assigns a grade
to the student file as a
function of the determination of compliance with the course assignment. The
instructor user also may
post the grade to a file on the server computer accessible only by the student
user with which the
grade is associated. The instructor user may repeat this process for a number
of student users that are
enrolled in a course, and then perform a statistical analysis on the grades
assigned to the student users.
The results of the statistical analysis may be made available to the student
users enrolled in the course.
An asynchronous communication tool accessible to student users enrolled in the
course may
be provided for enabling asynchronous communication amongst the student users.
Likewise, a
synchronous communication tool accessible to student users enrolled in the
course may be provided
for enabling synchronous communication amongst the student users.
The present invention also provides a flexible infrastructure for colleges,
universities, and
other institutions desiring to facilitate on-line registration and tuition
payment. Further, the present
invention can accommodate different billing methods, including, but not
limited to, billing on a per-
credit-hour basis, and billing on a per registrant basis. Tuition may be paid
by credit card, debit card,
check, or other verifiable payment method. Payment verification may be
performed by the present
invention, or the present invention may interface with third-parties providing
payment verification
services. In addition, the present invention allows on-line billing
information to easily interface with a
college, university, or other institution's standard billing practices.
Integrating with existing billing
practices simplifies transition to automated systems.
The present invention may be configured as an open system to which anyone can
connect to a
server over the Internet or WWW, and create a course on-line that may be taken
by anyone else
connected over the network. Thus, anyone may create a virtual classroom
available to anyone else,
regardless of whether they are affiliated with a particular institution. For
example, a lawyer may
create a course in patent law on-line, and configure the system to require
entry of a password to
enroll. The lawyer may then disseminate the passwords to students who desire
to enroll in the course.
Alternately, the lawyer can request the system to require payment to enroll in
the course, such as by
credit card.
In an embodiment of the invention, the system is capable of storing and
displaying multiple
locales, including a locale precedence that permits the locale to be displayed
in a hierarchy. The
present invention can display course materials in a specific locale, for
example, to teach a foreign
language course and/or to teach a course in a foreign language. Similarly, the
present invention can be
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used to serve organizations that have a diverse user populations that require
courses in multiple
locales.
In another embodiment of the invention, the system can be operated to use and
display
information in multiple languages and even display content at different
locations of a web page in
different languages.
The system and method of the present invention will be described in further
detail in the
remainder of the specification, including the claims, referring to the
attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. lA shows an overall block diagram of the system.
FIG. 1 B shows an exemplary high level diagram of the system architecture,
indicating a
logical relationship between various system components.
FIG. 1 C shows a more detailed architectural block diagram of an embodiment of
an education
support system according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows an architectural diagram of an embodiment of the present
invention
implementing load balancing to achieve scalability.
FIG. 3 shows the interaction of an embodiment of an engine/registry model
according to the
present invention.
FIG. 4 shows a segmentation of a user interface according to the present
invention.
FIG. 5 shows a screen shot of the home page according to the present invention
that a user
will view.
FIG. 6 is a screen shot of a web page according to the present invention that
show the course
list and course catalog available to student users.
FIG. 7 is a screen shot of a default view for a course web site according to
the present
invention.
FIG. 8 is a screen shot of an announcement web page provided to a student user
according to
the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a screen shot of a course contents window according to the present
invention.
FIG. 10 is a screen shot of an assignment web page according to the present
invention.
FIG. 11 is a screen shot of a course documents web page according to the
present invention.
FIG. 12 is a screen shot of a communication center s web page according to the
present
mvent~on.
FIG. 13 is a screen shot of an asynchronous discussion board web page
according to the
present invention.
FIG. 14 is a screen shot of a student tools web page according to the present
invention.
FIG. 15 is a screen shot of a student drop box web page according to the
present invention.
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FIG. 16 is a screen shot of an instructor's control panel web page according
to the present
invention.
FIG. 17 is a screen shot of a second announcement web page according to the
present
invention.
5 FIG. 18 is a screen shot of a course information web page according to the
present invention.
FIG. 19 is a screen shot of a course tasks web page according to the present
invention.
FIG. 20 is a screen shot of an instructor library web page according to the
present invention.
FIG. 21 is a screen shot of a digital dropbox web page according to the
present invention.
FIG. 22 is a screen shot of a course gradebook web page according to the
present invention.
10 FIGs. 23A and 23B are screen shots of the course statistics web page
according to the present
invention.
FIG. 24 is a screen shot of an advanced course and portal manager web page
according to the
present invention.
FIG. 25 is a screen shot of a community web page according to the present
invention.
FIG. 26 is a screen shot of a services web page according to the present
invention.
FIG. 27 is a screen shot of a calendar web page according to the present
invention.
FIG. 28 is a screen shot of an email web page according to the present
invention.
FIG. 29 is a screen shot of a create a course web page according to the
present invention.
FIGs. 30A and 30B are screen shots of create user web pages according'to the
present
invention.
FIG. 31 is a screen shot of a web resource web page according to the present
invention.
FIG. 32 is a further screen shot of a web resource web page according to the
present
invention.
FIG. 33 is a screen shot of the virtual chat web page according to the present
invention.
FIG. 34 is a diagram showing information passed from a course registration
server to a
payment server according to the present invention.
FIG. 35 is a sample of a payment form according to the present invention.
FIG. 36 is a diagram showing the interaction between a payment server and a
payment
validation server according to the present invention.
FIG. 37 is a sample of a payment information page according to the present
invention.
FIG. 38 is a diagram showing post-order processing according to the present
invention.
FIG. 39 shows an exemplary user interface according to the present invention.
FIG. 40 shows an exemplary screen display directed to how a system
administrator can
specify a default locale according to the present invention.
FIG. 41 shows an exemplary screen display directed to how a system
administrator and/or
course instructor and/or other individual having privileges can specify a
course locale according to the
present invention.
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FIG. 42 shows an exemplary browser display environment according to the
present invention.
FIG. 43 shows a first exemplary course navigation screen display with a
mandatory locale
according to the present invention.
FIG. 44 shows a second exemplary course navigation screen display without a
mandatory
locale in-part with a multiple language according to the present invention.
FIG. 45 shows an exemplary flow diagram for effecting multiple language use
according with
the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
General System Architecture
Referring to FIG. 1 A, generally at 50, the present invention comprises a
system and methods
for the exchange of course content and related information between non-
collocated instructor users
and student or trainee users. An instructor user, such as at 52, 54, interacts
with one or more non-
collocated student or trainee users, such as at 56, 58, 60, by using the
system and methods of the
present invention to, without limitation, transmit course files including
course lectures, textbooks,
literature, and other course materials, receive student questions and input,
and conduct participatory
class discussions using an electronic network such as a LAN, a MAN, a WAN, the
Internet and/or the
WWW, of which 62 is representative. Access to the course file is controlled by
access levels assigned
to system users and control logic, which helps ensure the integrity and
security of the system. Also,
administrator users, such as at 64, 66, have access to the system to perform
administrative tasks as
defined herein. Web resources 68 connect to the system to provide additional
services and or
functionality. Finally system server 100 also connects to the network 62. As
shown at 70, a system
user may have multiple access levels. Here, the user is an instructor/student
user.
Figure 1B at 1000 is a further detailed view of Figure lA and shows an
exemplary component
architecture that (i) indicates logical relationships between various
components, and (ii) can be used to
implement multiple locales in a web -based implementation. FIG. l B shows a
three tier architecture.
These tiers are user interface tier 1002, platform tier 1003, and data tier
1005. Other numbers of tiers
can also be used and are encompassed within the scope of the present
invention.
User interface tier 1.002 includes components from an end user perspective.
They may be
used, for example, for a user to logon to server 1040 and conduct subsequent
interactions. User
interface tier 1002 will permit the system user to access, interact with, and
retrieve information. For
example, user interface layer 1002 can generally be used to create, revise,
and/or delete content from
system 1000. In particular, at user interface layer 1002, system 1000 can
generate, access, retrieve
and/or receive hypertext mark-up language (HTML) pages, optionally in an
extensible mark-up
language (XML) environment. Applets 1006 can be used in a conventional manner
to enhance
browser 1008 functionality. Portal unit 1010 can utilize portal classes 1016,
for example, to render
and/or aggregate the actual data displayed on portal pages, such as shown in
FIGS. 5, 6, 12, 24, 25, 26
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and/or 28. Portal classes 1016 represent software code that can be used to
rendering data that can be
displayed by or at user interface 1008. The portal classes are preferably
implemented as object-
oriented code, e.g., Java.
Authentication user interface 1012 can be used to verify user credentials, for
example, at
logon to determine if access to system 1000 will be granted. Plug-in manager
1014 can be used as a
run time component, for example, to add and/or delete extensions to system
1000. Plug-in manager
1014 can thus be used to integrate new features and/or functionality,
optionally made available from
or by third party vendors. Plug-in manager 1.014 can utilize, for example,
Java *.war files to
accommodate system 1000 extensibility. In addition, programming developed that
could be viewed as
a standard programming component could be uploaded to system 1000 via plug-in
manager 1014.
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) Directory Server 1048 can
optionally be used to
provide centralized authentication services, optionally as a platform tier
1003 component.
Learning Management System (LMS) classes 1017, persistence classes 1018, and
snapshot
classes 1024 can optionally be considered a fourth tier known as the
application tier. LMS classes
1017 can include code components that define the semantic structure of the
application. LMS classes
1017 can be implemented as object-oriented code, organized around concepts
that "map" to real world
objects. In an educational context, real world objects can be a course,
identification of the course, the
dates) of the course, and/or a description of the course.
Persistence classes 1018 can be used to store data in database 1020. As shown,
plug-in
manager 1014 can utilize persistence classes 1018 to provide various user
interfaces and application
programming interfaces (APIs). Examples of persistence classes 1018 is a set
of objects, classes
and/or methods that third party developers can use.
Snapshot 1024 can be implemented to utilize event APIs 1026 in a conventional
manner to
import data into system 1000. Snapshot 1024 can interface with persistence
classes 1018. For
example, if system 1000 is utilized by a university, there may be a large
amount of information stored
pertaining to various students. Conventional systems can run programs,
databases, and the like with
regard to enrollment, staff assignments, room scheduling, etc. Snapshot 1024
can generate data files
from the captured information for use in conjunction with system 1000.
Snapshot 1024 can
advantageously create data and/or sets of data grouped in a particular way. As
such, data may be
grouped semantically around terms or types of data. Snapshot 1024 can
optionally be run from, for
example, an operating system, e.g., DOS and/or Unix, command line and/or
shell. This will permit a
user to write programs that can be processed as application tier data.
An embodiment of platform tier 1003 can include and/or utilize, for example,
server 1038,
server 1040, LDAP server 1048, and/or associated scripting or interfaces 1030,
1032, 1034, 1036,
1046, 1016, 1018 and/or 1042. PerlEx 1030 (a known plug-in for Windows NT Web
servers), and
ActivePerl 1032 (JScript or ActiveState can also be used in lieu of
ActivePerl) are used in connection
with scripting services. ActivePerl 1032 also utilize database interface (DBI)
1034, which can
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interface e.g., locate and load, Database Driver-Open Database Connectivity
(DBD-ODBC) 1036
which, in turn, can communicate with database 1020. DBD-ODBC 1036 is a known
set of APIs,
created by Microsoft, Inc. that defines how to move information in and out of
a personal computer
database. A different DBD-ODBC can be utilized for each different database.
PerlEx 1030, ActivePerl
1032, DBI 1034, and DBD-ODBC 1036 can reside in or run on server 1038. In an
embodiment, server
1038 can be a conventional Internet Information Server (IIS) (Microsoft
Corporation, Redmond, WA)
that is used to implement server-side scripting.
Server 1.040 centralizes application services, such as web server
functionality, and provides
access to data tier 1005. Server 1040 can also optionally provide enterprise-
level security. Java
Database Connectivity (JDBC) 1046 is a standard Java API that consists of a
set of classes and
interfaces written in the Java programming language. JDBC 1046 can be used to
write database
applications and execute System Query Language (SQL) statements for use in
connection with
database 1040, which can store various locales. Accordingly, various views
1054 and stored
procedures 1056 can be utilized and associated with database 1020 to associate
and/or store locales
with respective web pages. In an embodiment of the present invention, database
1040 can also utilize
a separate server (not shown).
Triggers 1050, e.g., procedures, can be used to interface database 1020 with
an epicentric
database 1052, which can be used to store, various views, data and/or
procedures used to render portal
pages, such as shown in FIGS. 5, 6, 12, 24, 25, 26 and/or 28. Accordingly,
various views 1054 and
stored procedures 1056 can also be utilized and associated with database 1052.
Although FIG. 24
shows that there are six portal modules, i.e., "My Institution" tab 2422,
"Course" tab 2424,
"Academic Web" tab, "Community" tab 2426, "Services" tab 2428, and "The Web"
tab 2429, in
Portal Areas 2406, system 1000 may include other numbers of portal modules.
Preferably, Chameleon 1058 is a Java-based impoNexport utility that can
translate a course
created on one server 1040 to an intermediate format such as an IMS Content &
Packaging format
(IMS Global Learning Consortium, Burlington, MA) which can be XML 1060 format,
so it can be
exported to another server (not shown).
Now that the general system has been described, beginning with Figure 1C, the
system will be
described in detail.
System and Architecture of Figure 1C
The system architecture shown at FIG. 1 C, generally at 100, represents an
embodiment of the
present invention relating to the web browser, web server, application and
database components.
What is shown in FIG. 1C may be incorporated as part of FIG. lA. Moreover, it
is also an
embodiment that utilized the components described in Figure 1B.
Referring now to FIG. 1 C, education support system 100 comprises application
subsystems
I 10, a web browser 120, a web host server 130, a database subsystem 140, and
core subsystems 150.
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Web host server 130 further includes a shell service 131. Applications
subsystems 1 10 further
includes a content registry 111, a tool registry 112, a course registry 113,
one or more content engines
114, one or more tool engines 1 15, and one or more course engines 116. Core
subsystems 150 further
includes a core engine 151, an access manager 152, a user interface (UI)
manager 153, a user manager
154, a group manager 155, an event manager 156, a log manager 157, and a
connection manager 158.
In an embodiment of the present invention, education support system 100 is
implemented in a
client-server network topology. Users who may have one or several roles, such
as a student,
instructor, teaching assistant (TA), or administrator, access and interact
with education support system
100 via web browser 120. More specifically, a user accesses application
subsystems 1.1.0 and core
subsystems 150 through shell service 131 servlet providing a standard Internet
interface including, but
not limited to, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP),
HyperText Transport
Protocol (HTTP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), and File Tranfer
Protocol (FTP) to the user
via web browser 120 running on a standard computing platform such as a
personal computer or
workstation. Specifically, shell service 131 servlet uses the URL-encoded
information contained in
HTTP requests received from web browser 120 clients to invoke the
corresponding requested
application subsystem 110 or core subsystem 150. Shell service 131 servlet
also provides user
authentication and session management.
Application subsystems 110 function in conformance with an engine/registry
model 300 as
described in FIG. 3. Referring to FIG 3, engine/registry model 300 includes
one or more engines 301,
a registry 302, and a context factory 303. Context factory 303 contains
information mapping a user to
one or more courses associated with that user.
Engines 301 include, but are not limited to, content engines) 114, tool
engines) 115, course
engines) 116, and core engine 151. Registries 302 include, but are not limited
to, content registry
111, tool registry 112, and course registry 113. Course engines) 116 creates a
course by associating a
set of educational materials to which a student user has access, by organizing
references to these
informational items as contained in content registry 111. Course engines) I 16
queries content
registry 111 for an index of content engine 114 associated with a particular
resource being requested
by a user.
Content engines) 11 1 includes an assessment engine that generates quizzes to
assist and
instruct users in the use of education support system 100. For example, one
such quiz provided by an
assessment engine of education support system 100 provides step-by-step
instructions to an instructor
for building a course. The quiz is then administered on-line to the instructor
to allow him to build a
customized course to be provided using education support system 100.
Unlike content engines 111, which represent actual course content, tool engine
(s) 115
generally includes installable programs that provide capabilities available
for use with a plurality of
courses and not permanently associated with any particular course or courses.
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Instructors have different modes of teaching. Further, the same instructor may
emphasize
different modes of teaching depending upon the subject being taught. For
example, some instructors
emphasize individual homework while others prefer a group or collaborative
approach. Education
support system 100 supports a variety of teaching methods. By invoking a
particular set of tool
5 engines 115 during interaction with the assessment engine, an instructor can
customize a course
offering to conform to his/her preferred mode of teaching. An example of a
tool engine I L5 is a
chat/whiteboard communication tools (synchronous and/or asynchronous) provided
by education
support system 100 that allows for student group interaction and collaboration
associated with a given
course. Other tools include, but are not limited to, announcements for
broadcast of group oriented
10 messaging, a calendar mechanism for storing date related events and
information, a discussion board
for posting questions and answers in a threaded discussion format, notes-
editing, group pages, and
email services. Further capabilities provided by education support system 100
include, but are not
limited to:
(i) a catalog listing of all courses available,
15 (ii) a method for student users to enroll in either open enrollment or
closed enrollment
situations,
(iii) a method for course creation including course templates and course
themes, a course/page
editor and viewer, a site page editor and viewer,
(iv) a method for making and disseminating announcements, a calendar function,
a chat board
in the nature of an on-line discussion, a white board allowing group
interaction and display of free-
form information using, for example, Microsoft PaintTM,
(v) a method for sending email between instructors and students and groups of
students, a list
of course members and links to their web pages, a list of groups and links to
their web pages, a file
sharing area, means for providing assignments to student users,
(vi) a method for conducting a variety of types of student assessments (e.g.,
testing),
(vii) a method for providing lesson material in sequential format, means for
adding and
removing users, help documents, maintaining a grade book and progress
tracking, links to personal
web pages or home pages, and a resource library containing references to all
uploaded content.
Course templates allow instructors to easily reuse a course structure for
subsequent courses.
Course themes allow the instructor to affect the look and feel of the course
site.
Referring to FIG. 4, a preferred embodiment of education support system 100
supports a
plurality of environments 400 in a single application. Examples of different
environments 400
supported include a personalized web page of student -centric information
accessed by a student user
and the administrator's environment used for maintenance of the system.
Certain parts of the
education support system 100 application are consistent across all supported
environments 400, while
the appearance to the user may vary for different environments 400. An
environment 400 is defined
by console frames that surround the application areas. An example of an
environment 400 defined by
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a four-frame page is shown in FIG. 4. The environment includes console navbar
401, and console top
402, a toolbar 403, and content 404. Console navbar 401 and console top 402
may be controlled by a
console frameset, while toolbar 403 and content 404 may be controlled by a
separate frameset. For
example, toolbar 403 "buttons" are generally located in the top frame of an
application area. This
approach allows users, and especially instructors, the ability to customize
their course offerings while
conforming to consistent user interface features that allow application areas
to be shared across
environments 400. Student users and instructors interact with education
support system 100 via the
same basic environment 400 format.
Again, referring to FIG. 1C, access control manager 151 creates an access
control list (ACL)
for one or more subsystems in response to a request from a subsystem to have
its resources protected
through adherence to an ACL. Education support system 1.00 provides multiple
levels of access
restrictions to enable different types of users to effectively interact with
the system, such as, access
web pages, upload or download files, view grade information, while preserving
confidentiality of
information.
User manager 154 integrates the student-centric information with existing
network-based
systems of an associated educational institution. In an embodiment of the
present invention, user
manager 154 includes a runtime component and a batch component that
periodically access and
extract information contained in external institution databases in order to
maintain current student-
centric information. User manager 154 facilitates integration of education
support system 100 with
existing or legacy network-based systems, including proprietary institutional
electronic networks and
systems related to grades, registration, course schedules, financial aid,
etc., without requiring
modifications to existing systems or security procedures.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, application subsystems
110 and core
subsystems 150 interface with database subsystem 140 using, for example, the
Java Database
Connectivity (JDBC) standard interface to allow use of any relational database
including, but not
limited to, SQL and DB2 Universal Database standards.
Scalability is provided by the modular system architecture described in FIG.
lA, and, in an
embodiment of the present invention, through use of a load balancing server
200 as shown in FIG. 2.
As users are added to the system and access the system as web browser 120
clients, additional web
server hosts 130 may be added to the overall system to provide a matching
increase in system
capacity. Load balancing server 200 allocates new web browser clients 120 to
the least-busy web
server host 130 for servicing. By balancing the load across all web server
hosts 130, education support
system 100 prevents response times from become unacceptably long for any one
given user. In an
embodiment of the present invention, load balancing server 200 maintains one
or more metrics
concerning the percent utilization for each web server host 130 and selects
the least-busy web server
host 130 based upon application of a load balancing algorithm to these
utilization metrics.
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In an embodiment of the present invention, upon logging onto education support
system 100,
shell service 131 servlet renders and presents to the user via web browser 120
a personalized web
page that includes a student-centric aggregation of data that may include,
without limitation, personal
class schedules, grades, a rolled-up or consolidated calendar, links to
related tools, student group
events for groups of which a particular student is a member, and class
announcements.
Education support system 100 executes on a variety of computing platforms
including, but
not limited to, UNIXTM servers, NTTM servers, SolarisTM, HPTM, and LinuxTM.
Education support
system 100 supports popular web browsers including, but not limited to,
Netscape NavigatorTM and
Microsoft Internet ExplorerTM, and, in an embodiment, does not require plug-
ins at the web browser
client.
In an embodiment of the present invention, an automated upload or import
capability is
provided in which a user may upload a file to the system and system presents
or displays the
information contained in the uploaded file in a manner that preserves the
grouping of the information,
including fields and other categorization, based on the file type. Education
support system 100
provides a standard import file format to accomplish this preservation of
native grouping of
information. In an embodiment of the present invention, an automated upload
capability imports an
uploaded file in both native and HTML formats, maintaining the file formats
associated with the
native format for the native formatted file and converting the native format
into HTML formats for
the HTML formatted file.
Education support system 100 supports a variety of business model. For
example, an
institution may charge each student for courses taken via education support
system 100, or an
instructor may use education support system 100 to process individual student
tuition payments by
providing links to e-commerce facilities.
The present invention allow users to interact with a computer network-based
education
support system through a simplified, easy-to-use user interface, and that can
be easily integrated with
existing computer network and backend systems with minimal disruption to
existing operations and
systems. The disclosed system and method is scalable in order to accommodate
increasing numbers of
users, and can accommodate a variety of diverse teaching modes.
Three Tier Emhodiment
The embodiment in FIG. 1C is a three-tier structure. The "first tier"
functionality that
incorporates the basic system, referred to as the Course Manager. The Course
Manager provides
course management system tools to enable instructors to provide their students
with course materials,
discussion boards, virtual chat, on-line assessments, and a dedicated academic
resource center on the
Web. As explained further below, the Course Manager includes personal
information management
tools, course content management tools, course communication and collaboration
tools, assessment
tools, academic Web resources, course management tools, and system management
tools.
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The "second tier" can incorporate all of the functionality of the basic
embodiment in an
epicentric or portal model, also known as the Course & Portal Manager. The
second tier provides
customized institution-wide portals for faculty, students, staff, and alumni
with access to numerous
personalized news and information services from across the Web. The platform
can be customized
with institutional branding and a tailored look and feel. It enables
institutions to develop on-line
communities, Web based email, calendar, announcements and tasks. It also
allows for a central access
point to all of the institution's on-line services. In addition to the
features of the Course Manager, the
Course & Portal Manager includes enterprise database support, customizable
portal modules and
information services, web-based e-mail system, community management,
institutional services
management, extended customization for institutional branding, institution-
wide content sharing and
management, and course e-commerce management.
The "third tier" can be called the Advanced Course & Portal Manager. This tier
incorporates
the complete end-to-end "e-Learning" solution. In addition to the Course and
Portal Manager, this
third tier provides advanced Java-based APIs for unifying diverse on-line
campus systems into one
integrated platform allowing for user-driven single log-in service delivery,
as well as capabilities that
allow each school, department or campus within the institution to maintain its
own customized
environment. Thus, this is the fully functional embodiment that includes all
the features and
functionality of the first and second tiers and adds certain integration
technologies that allow
integration of the present invention with existing enterprise systems, such as
for downloading student
databases, etc., as defined subsequently. This includes a snapshot user
management API, an event-
driven (real-time) user management API, an end user authentication (security)
API, and a network
protocol for passing user authentication data.
An embodiment of the invention that utilizes the general structure shown in
FIG. 1B and the
refinement in FIG. 1C can be operated as a publicly available web site on the
Internet or WWW, that
may be accessed by anyone, whether they are affiliated with an institution or
not. In this embodiment,
anyone on the web can create a course, or enroll in a public course as
explained subsequently. This
provides for widespread dissemination of tools and utilities that enable
anyone to generate his own
course that can be taken by virtually any student.
The course management tools of the present invention allow instructors to
monitor, control
and customize their course web sites from a web browser interface. The Course
Control Panel
provides a robust and easy-to-use interface for such course management. The
system allows
instructors to customize the names of course web site navigation buttons to
suit their needs and
requirements. The system also allows the instructor to add or drop individuals
or groups of students
from a course as required. The system features extended student enrollment
option, such as a limited-
time self-enrollment, e.g., certain dates only for the self-enroll feature,
password-protected
enrollment, and defined course duration. This will allow self-paced study.
Courses may be recycled
between academic terms by automatically resetting discussion boards,
assessment, and other content
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areas. In addition, the instructor can track student progress, grades and
content usage through the
system.
As further explained herein, the content management tools featured in the
present invention
allow instructors to post course documents, staff information, and
assignments. Text may be typed
directly into a form, or existing files may be accessed and uploaded
automatically. Documents, such
as word processing files, spreadsheets, slide presentations, graphics, audio
and video clips, may be
uploaded in this manner. Streaming multimedia may be provided interactivity
between the student and
the course. Pop-up maps provide easy course site navigation that enriches the
teaching and learning
experiences.
The communication and collaboration tools enhance the interaction between the
students and
instructors with asynchronous discussion boards as well as synchronous chat
tools. On-line
discussions may be managed wherein messages are sortable by date, author,
title and may be archived
and printed. A digital dropbox is a file sharing utility that allows sharing
of documents between users.
Virtual office hours may be held and even field trips conducted on-line with
these tools.
The assessment tools in the present invention increase student preparedness,
measure student
progress, and customize lessons by creating and administering quizzes and
surveys. As such, there is
an easy to use, step by step process to create the quizzes and surveys. The
instructor, as desired, may
mix and match multiple question types, such as multiple choice, multiple
correct, true/false, matching,
ordering, fill in the blank, and essays. Multimedia or other attachments may
easily be included with
the assessment questions. Questions may be randomized and re-used from
assessment pools. Tests
provided to students may be password protected and timed, and may provide
instant feedback to
students. Advantageously, statistical reports may be created from the
assessments and student
answers.
The personal information management tools in the present invention allow
students,
instructors, administrators and all other users to access basic course,
personal, and institutional data
through a user-centric "My Institution" screen. The user may view
announcements from multiple
courses in one central location, and maintain personal calendar, address book,
user directory and to-do
lists.
The present invention also provides for access to a great number of academic
resources that
supplement the student's on-line education experience. The user may browse
discipline-specific
information, resources, and communities linked to each course web-site. These
academic resources
may be customized and personalized to fit the users' needs.
The system management tools available with the present invention allow system
administrators to monitor, control and customize an institution's on-line
teaching and learning
environment from a web browser. The system administrator may control security
permissions and
enable/disable features for numerous user access levels. Batch user enrollment
and unenrollment may
be performed system wide. Preferences and options may be managed on multiple
courses from within
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a central system administrator panel. The system administrator may (i) track
and report faculty,
student, and course statistics, (ii) plan and manage system hardware
requirements by assigning
instructors with pre-assigned disk quotas for content storage, and (iii)
employ system-wide
announcements to broadcast messages to users about system maintenance or
institutional
5 announcements.
In the Course & Portal Manager embodiment, enterprise database support
provides support
for tens of thousands of users across an entire institution or network of
institutions. User and course
data may be managed efficiently and effectively. Moreover, large volumes of
transactions may be
managed efficiently and effectively. The "My Institution" interface includes
portal and community
10 functionality along with quick access to web email, course and
institutional announcements, and links
to other campus departments. Administrators may enable or disable portal
modules and establish
required and optional modules from the portal options menu bar. Administrators
may also assign
different portal default settings to different user access levels, e.g.
students get different portals than
instructors.
15 Course e-commerce management functionality allows institutions to set
prices and charge
fees for course enrollment directly through the "e-Learning" platform.
In the Advanced Course & Portal Manager embodiment, the snapshot user
management tool
allows scheduling of one-time or periodic (e.g., hourly, daily, weekly) data
integration from existing
student information systems, automating course population and keeping the "e-
Learning"
20 environment is synchronized with administrative and student data. Moreover,
the end-user
authentication enables a single logon environment for the institution portal
for all students, instructors,
administrators and staff. This streamlines all campus services into a single
web portal environment.
The present invention will now be described in further detail and embodiments.
FIG. 5 shows
a screen shot of the home page 500 that a user will view. This view is
customizable in accordance
with the requirements and desires of any user. The home page may also be
institutionally branded, so
that the "Your Institution" logo 504 shown in FIG. 5 would display the name of
the institution that has
licensed the product. The home page also provides the user with direct access
to personal, course, and
institutional tools. As an added feature, the system enables each user to
select from a large number of
news and information services, so that everyone who uses the system will have
access to the most
recent and relevant information for them. All of this functionality is
provided in one place, the home
page, so that the institution can provide a sense of community on campus, with
courses, and with a
view to the external information sources.
By selecting the "Courses" tab 502, the user will be linked to a Course page
600 as shown in
FIG. 6. Course page 600 provides direct links to the courses that they teach
(602, 604) and/or are
enrolled in (606, 608, 610). To access the course web-site, the user will
click on the course title, such
as at 602, 604, 606, 608 or 610, and he/she will be automatically linked to a
web page associated with
that course. The user also has the opportunity to browse the course catalog
612 by selecting the links
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on the right side of the page 600, where courses are listed according to
category. The user may also
search through the course search engine by selecting the Browse Course Catalog
Link 614.
For example, by selecting the link 602 for the Introduction to Music course,
which the user in
this example is teaching, the user is shown the web page 700 illustrated in
FIG. 7. The default view
for the course web site 700 in this embodiment is the Announcements page 702,
as shown in FIGs. 7
and 8. As seen at the lower part of the screen in FIG. 8, the user has the
option of selecting various
types of views by filtering out certain time-based announcements, i.e., today,
last 2 weeks, last month,
or all, by selecting button 802. The Announcements section can also be linked
to after the user has left
that page by simply clicking the Announcements button 804 on the navigation
toolbar 806 on the left
of the web page.
Within the course web-site environment, the user is able to access all of the
relevant course
material and communication features as shown herein. The entire course outline
may be displayed in a
separate browser window 900, as shown in FIG. 9. At the browser window, the
course contents are
available for perusal and hyperlinking as desired. FIG. 8 shows the entire web
page for Introduction to
Music in two parts: an upper part and a lower part, which is scrollable as
desired. One of the function
buttons provided is labeled "Course Map" 808, which upon being clicked will
pop-up the Course
Contents window 900. The user will be able to expand or collapse the various
headings provided in
order to drill down into the entire course contents as currently configured.
So, for example, the user
can expand the Assignments section 902 and get a linkable list of all the
assignments that have been
created for the course to date. Any of the assignments may then be clicked for
easy access. This
separate window 900 is especially advantageous since it allows users to browse
the entire course,
regardless of their current location in the web-site.
By selecting any of the Assignments links 902, the user would be linked to the
web page 1070
set forth in FIG. 10. This web page lists each assignment that has been
compiled for the course, each
of which can be linked to web pages that contain the full details of the
particular assignment. The
assignment page 1070 shown in FIG. 10 may be viewed by clicking the
"Assignments" button 804 on
the toolbar at the left of the course home page shown in FIG. 8. In general,
any of the functions that
are provided by toolbar buttons on the navigation bar at the left of the
course home page will be
available in any page accessed for that site, so that easy navigation may be
had and the user may jump
around and visit any desired portion of the course web site no matter where
the user is currently
located. Likewise, the Course Contents window provides similar functionality
as described above.
As shown in FIG. 10, folders that have quizzes and surveys may be linked to by
viewing the
assignments web page. Clicking on these folders will present the student
and/or instructor with a quiz
that may be taken on-line. The answers may be graded automatically, in real
time, as soon as the
student has finished the quiz. This assessment functionality will be explained
in greater detail
subsequently.
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In general, assignments may be provided in virtually any type of media that he
instructor has
at his disposal. For example, shown in FIG. 10 is a link 1072 to a multimedia
presentation for
"Physics in Music" that will give the student a content-enriched lesson that
will be useful prior to the
next lesson. Assignments may also be as simple as a text -based file that the
student would read in
S preparation for the required class session.
In addition to selecting the Assignments page 1070 or the Announcements page
700, the user
may select the Course Information button 1074 on the toolbar. This will link
the user to a web page
that will list information provided by the instructor that is useful to the
student, such as an
introductory welcome message or links to helpful resources. Resources
otherwise found on other parts
of the course web site may also be shown here if desired by the course web
site developer. Links may
be in the form of URLs to other web pages or resources or to folders that
include groups of logically
related resources.
Selection of the Staff Information navigation button 1076 will provide the
user with a web
page that will list each instructor, TA, or professor, along with an abstract
listing office hours,
address, telephone number for each, as well as a link that be clicked to send
an email. This gives the
student with quick, easy access to any instructor as may be desired throughout
the course. Images and
other types of multimedia files may also be made available at this page for
enhanced content viewing.
The user may select the "Course Documents" link 1078 shown in the navigational
toolbar,
after which the web page 1100 on FIG. 11 is provided for that course. This
provides the user with
immediate access to all documents relevant to the course. As a student, the
user has access to all of the
course materials, including additional links to information on the web that
will enhance the
instructional experience. As an instructor, the user has the ability to post
documents of numerous file
formats and from disparate locations.
By selecting the "Communication" tab 1080 shown in FIG. 10, the student is
provided with
the Communication Center web page 1200 as shown in FIG. 12. In this area, the
user has at his/her
disposal many different ways of establishing communications with other users
of the system as well
as accessing other areas of the system for various types of information. The
user has access to an
email utility 1202, a student roster list 1204, a list of student homepages
1206, a discussion board
1208, a virtual classroom chat 1210, and a group pages link 1212.
Selection of the Send E-Mail link 1202 loads a web page with various links
that allow the
user to send email to individuals registered for the course, or to students
only, or to instructors only.
The email function is accomplished via web-based email and allows for users to
send attachments, as
in many existing email packages available today. Selection of the Student
Roster link 1204 displays a
web page that lists all of the students registered for the course, along with
contact information if
allowed by the student, such as phone number, address, and email address.
Selection of the Student
Pages link 1206 provides a web page with links to the homepage for each
student in the class.
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Another very effective communication tool is the asynchronous Discussion Board
1.300, as
shown in FIG. 13, which is displayed by the student selecting the Discussion
Board link 1208.
Students can access this for threaded discussions that are archived for easy
retrieval. By using the
discussion board, students can help each other learn even more easily outside
of regular class hours. It
can also be used as an effective method for instructors and TAs to provide a
tutorial tool for out-of
class questions and discussions that need to be saved for the purpose of
sharing with the rest of that
class. This utility operates in accordance with techniques well known in the
art.
By clicking on the Virtual Chat link 121.0, the student is provided with a web
page 3300 as
shown in FIG. 33, labeled "virtual chat". Each course has its unique chat area
built into the course
site. Students can engage in chats about the course, collaborate on
assignments, and share information
beyond the boundaries of the classroom or posted materials. The instructor can
monitor the chats or
actively engage in discussions. This real-time virtual chat is a feature that
can also accommodate a
whiteboard mode.
Selection of the Group Pages link 1212 displays a web page that lists various
groups of users
that are grouped by special interests, such as music lovers, bookworms, sports
fans to name a few.
Access to these groups is a definable parameter that is set by the system
administrator.
Selection of the External Links button 1082 will display a web page that is
provided with
URLs for relevant content that the instructor deems may be useful to the
student community. For
example, in a law course, links may be provided to various legal research web
sites, or a
Congressional web page.
Selection of the Student Tools button 1084 will display a web page 1400 of
associated links
as shown in FIG. 14. These links include various tools needed by the student,
such as the Student
Drop Box 1402, Change your Information 1404, Check Your Grade 1406, Edit Your
Homepage 1408,
Student Calendar 1410, and the Student Manual 1412.
By clicking the Student Drop Box link 1402, the student is provided with a web
page that will
allow control and access to the student's digital dropbox, that is a folder of
files that the student can
exchange with the course instructor. As shown in FIG. 15, dropbox web page
1500 allows the student
to type in box 1502 the resource location of a file that he wishes to provide
to the instructor, or to
browse his computer's hard drive with button 1504 or network drive in
accordance with well known
techniques to locate the file and insert the appropriate pointer. Clicking
Send File button 1506 will
finish the task of uploading the file. List 1508 of uploaded files that exist
in the student's dropbox is
also set forth in this page, along with a control link 151.0 that enables the
removal of files. By using
this utility, the student can submit documents such as term papers to the
instructor, who can then read
and post comments to the file for return to the student and review.
Selection of the Change Your Information link 1404 provides the student with a
web page
that sets forth his personal data, such as name, address, email, phone number
and password. In
addition, certain system preferences may be set at this location. Similar to
this link is the Edit Your
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Homepage link 1408, which will allow the student to access his homepage and
make modifications as
he desires.
Selection of the Check Your Grades link 1406 will deliver a web page that
shows the grades
that the student has been assessed in the course, such as for exams, quizzes,
term papers, projects, and
assignments. The student may be able to link to the specific exam or paper
through this utility in order
to review the exam again that may be useful for example in preparing for a
final exam. The instructor
may also provide to the student a statistical review of the entire class so
that the student has a better
feel for the grade he may receive: the class median, mean, curve data.
The Student Calendar button 1410 will provide well known PIM (personal
information
management) functionality to the student. The Calendar web page can display
calendar events in a
graphical display for that course, all the student's courses, all institution
events, as well as personal
calendar events programmed by the user. Different entities can program
calendar events that can be
selectively displayed by the student by selection of display functions on the
page. For example, the
instructor can program the calendar events for the course, and an
administrator can program calendar
events for the entire campus, and these will be displayed on the student's
calendar since he is
registered for the course. This provides the student with a greater ability to
manage his calendar than
has been available in the past.
The final button on the Student Tools web page is the Student Manual link
1412, which when
selected provides the student with access to an on-line manual that may be
used for a "help" reference
in navigating the web site.
Located below the navigation button toolbar is a group of control buttons
1420. The
Resources button 1422 links directly to a web page of related on-line
resources to assist with course-
related issues, as described further below. The Course Map button 808 gives a
separate browser
window with direct access to the course contents, as explained above. The My
Blackboard button
1424 gives access to "My Blackboard" functionality as explained below. The
Search button 1426
enables the user to search all course materials by criteria and keyword(s).
The Logout button 1428
logs the user out of the current course. There may also be an Enroll in this
Course button to allow
students to register themselves in courses. Preferably, this button is only
visible when the student
accesses as a guest a course in which he is not enrolled.
Instructor Functionality
The instructor is provided with essentially the same functionality and control
as is the student
user, with additional functions defined herein. The instructor is provided
with a complete set of
navigational buttons for accessing announcements, course information, staff
information, course
documents, assignments, communication tools, external links, and student tools
for a given course that
he/she is teaching. The control panel also is given to the instructor to
enable display of a set of links to
course management and development tools that are available to an instructor.
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An exemplary instructor's control panel web page 1600 is shown in FIG. 16.
This control
panel 1602 provides the instructor with many features that are useful in
managing the course he/she
instructs. The control panel is divided into Content Areas 1604, Course Tools
1606, Course Options
I 608, User Management 1610, Assessment 1612, and Assistance 1614, as
described in detail
5 subsequently below.
Content Areas
The Announcement link 1616 displays a web page 1700 as shown in FIG. 17 that
will set
forth all of the announcements that have been posted for the course, the
author (e.g., which instructor,
10 if there are more than one3 authorized to access this area) of the
announcement, and a modify button
1702 and a remove button 1704. An add announcement button 1706 is also
provided, which displays a
web page with a blank message field that he instructor fills in and submits to
the server. The newly
added announcement will then be posted to all students registered in the
class.
The Course Information link 1618 displays a web page 1800 as shown in FIG. 18
that will set
15 forth all of the course information documents or folders that have been
posted for the course, and a
modify button 1802 and a remove button 1804. An add item 1806 or add folder
button 1808 is also
provided, which displays a web page with various fields that the instructor
will fill in to define the
course information entry. After submitting the new entry to the server, the
new course information is
posted to all students registered in the class.
20 The Staff Information link 1620 displays a web page that will set forth all
of the staff entries,
e.g., instructors, Tasks, that are involved with the course, and a modify
button and a remove button for
each entry similar to those shown in FIG. 18. An add item or add folder button
is also provided, which
displays a web page with various fields that the instructor will fill in to
define the new staff item
entry. Fields are also provided for links to each staff member's email address
and web page. Images
25 of the staff member may also be inserted in the entry. After submitting the
new entry to the server, the
new staff information is posted to all students registered in the class as
described above.
Similarly, the Course Documents link 1622 displays a web page that will set
forth all of the
course documents or folders that have been posted for the course, and a modify
button and a remove
button as discussed above. An add item or add folder button is also provided,
which displays a web
page with various fields that the instructor will fill in to define the course
documents entry. The
document may be uploaded directly to the server for later access by the
student, or a link to an
external referenced resource may be provided, e.g., a URL. After submitting
the new entry to the
server, the new course information is posted to all students registered in the
class as described above.
Likewise, the Assignments link 1624 displays a web page that will set forth
all of the course
assignments or folders that have been posted for the course, and a modify
button and a remove button.
An add item or add folder button is also provided, which displays a web page
with various fields that
the instructor will fill in to define the course assignment entry. The
assignment entry may be uploaded
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directly to the server for later access by the student. After submitting the
new entry to the server, the
new course assignment is posted to all students registered in the class as
described above.
Also, the External Links link 1626 displays a web page that will set forth all
of the external
links or folders that have been posted for the course, and a modify button and
a remove button. An
add item or add folder button is also provided, which displays a web page with
various fields that the
instructor will fill in to define the external links entry. The external links
entry may be uploaded
directly to the server for later access by the student. After submitting the
new entry to the server, the
new external link page is posted to all students registered in the class as
described above.
Course Tools
Under the Course Tools section 1606, the Course Calendar link 1628 displays a
web page that
will set forth all of the calendar events that have been posted for the
course, and a modify button and a
remove button. An add item button is also provided, which displays a web page
with various fields
that the instructor will fill in to define the new calendar item entry, e.g.,
description, date, and time.
The calendar entry may be uploaded directly to the server for later access by
the student. After
submitting the new entry to the server, the new calendar page is posted to all
students registered in the
class as described above.
The Course Tasks link 1630 displays a web page 1900 as shown in FIG. 19 that
will set forth
all of the tasks that have been posted for the course, and a modify button
1902 and a remove button
1904. An Add Task button 1906 is also provided, which displays a web page with
various fields that
the instructor will fill in to define the new task entry, e.g., description,
date, and time. The task entry
may be uploaded directly to the server for later access by the student. After
submitting the new entry
to the server, the new tasks page is posted to all students registered in the
class as described above.
The Send Email link 1632 displays a web page that is similar to the one the
user will be
provided with in his email function, e.g., allows selection of individual
users associated with the
course, certain predefined groups of users such as all students.
The Instructor Library link 1634 displays a web page 2000 as shown in FIG. 20
that will set
forth all of the folders and files that have been posted by the instructor for
the course, and a modify
button 2002 and a remove button 2004. These materials are accessible to
instructors only and not to
students directly. An Add File button 2006 and an Add Folder 2008 button is
also provided, which
displays a web page with various fields that the instructor will fill in to
define the new entry. In
addition, the instructor is able to select the Add From Institution button
2010 to select a new reference
that is available from a pool of references made available to all instructors
from the institution. The
new entry may be uploaded directly to the server for later access by the
instructors associated with the
course. After submitting the new entry to the server, the new Instructor
Library page is posted to all
instructors associated with the course.
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The Virtual Classroom link 1636 displays a web page that provides a link to
either launch a
virtual classroom and participate in real-time, synchronous classroom
sessions), or to view the
classroom archives, where are previous classroom session views and/or download
these sessions to
the instructor's computer. Each course includes a virtual Classroom, which is
a synchronous chat
room for student and group communications. The Virtual Classroom can be used
to hold "live"
classroom discussions, TA sessions, and office hour type question/answer
forums. One can even have
guest speakers and subject matter experts talk with the class in the Virtual
Classroom.
A Virtual Classroom contains several distinct areas. The Whiteboard Space is
where web
pages are displayed, which is the large center area. One can also write or
draw on this space using the
drawing toolbar. The Menu Bar is used to change the information that appears
on the whiteboard
space, such as selecting a font to use on the whiteboard space and moving an
object on the whiteboard
space behind another object. One can also prepare lessons, navigate slides
displayed on the
whiteboard space, and clear the Group Discussion tab and Questions and Answers
tab. The
Application Tool Bar contains tools for navigating web pages. The Location
Field is used to enter the
URL of a web page the user would like to use during the Virtual Classroom
session. The web page is
then displayed on the whiteboard space. Users can also write or draw on the
web page with the
drawing toolbar. The Drawing Toolbar is used to write and draw on the
whiteboard space. The Status
s Region is where status messages are displayed at the bottom of the Virtual
Classroom window. The
Tab Panel is used to chat with students, respond to students' questions,
control classroom behavior,
and view information about the students in the Virtual Classroom.
The following panels are available:
Name of Tab Purpose
Group Discussion Use this tab to talk with the students in the
Virtual Classroom.
Questions and Answers If a student uses his/her Questions tab to
submit a question to the instructor, the
instructor can then answer the question using
the Incoming Questions tab. Thereafter, the
instructor can view a log of their dialogue
regarding the question on the Questions and
Answers tab.
Participant Information Use this tab to learn about the students in the
Virtual Classroom, such as their names.
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Slides Use this tab to prepare and present a series of
slides. (See Options in Preparing Lessons).
The tab is only available to the Instructor.
Incoming Questions If a student uses his/her Questions tab to
submit a question to the instructor, the
instructor can then answer the question using
the Incoming Questions tab. Thereafter, the
instructor can view a log of their dialogue
regarding the question on the Questions and
Answers tab. The Incoming Questions tab is
only available to the instructor.
Access Control Use this tab to control students' ability to
conduct the four Virtual Classroom
activities: Question, Chat, Drawing, and
Navigating. The tab is only available to the
instructor.
Selection of the Discussion Board link 1638 displays a web page that provides
links to the
available discussion boards that are associated with the course. A discussion
board is another
communication tool to use in a classroom setting. This feature is similar to
Virtual Chat, but is
designed for asynchronous use, so users do not have to be available at the
same time to have a
conversation. An additional advantage of the discussion board is that user
conversations are logged
and organized. Conversations are grouped into forums that contain threads and
all related replies.
Selection of the Digital Dropbox link 1640 displays a web page 2100 as shown
in FIG. 21
that lists the files that exist in the digital dropbox. The Digital Dropbox is
a tool that the instructor and
students can use to exchange files. The Dropbox works by "uploading" a file
from a disk or a
computer to a central location. A participant can then come and "download" it
to work locally. The
Digital Dropbox is used to exchange materials between a single student and the
instructor.
Information that needs to be posted for all students should be placed in the
Course Documents area
using the Page Editors.
Individual student access to the Dropbox is available from the File Transfer
Area located in
Student Tools area on the Course. Students also have group access to a private
dropbox from a group
homepage.
The web page 2100 displayed lists the current files in the dropbox, which are
the files that
participants have sent to the user. Files posted here can be accessed and
saved. The Send File 2102 to
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the s Student area is where files are uploaded and sent to specific students.
The user can also delete
files that are no longer needed.
Course Options
The Course Options area 1608 includes a Course Options link 1642 that will
display a web
page to the instructor that has the links for Button Availability, Tool
Availability, Course Availability,
Course Duration, Enrollment Options, Enrollment Fees, and Guest Access.
Selection of the Button
Availability link will display a web page that will allow the user to set and
configure the buttons that
are used by students in that course, including enabling or disabling them, or
making them secure (i.e.,
only accessible by enrolled students). Selection of the Tool Availability link
will display a web page
that will allow the instructor to enable or disable the student tools and
communication functions for
that course, e.g., email, discussion board, virtual chat, student roster,
group pages, student dropbox,
edit homepage, personal information, calendar, grades, tasks, electric
blackboard, student manual, and
course search). Selection of the Course Availability link will display a web
page that will allow the
instructor to enable or disable the availability of the course to students,
i.e., it can be kept unavailable
until the course site is finished). Selection of the Course Duration link will
display a web page that
will allow the instructor to select the duration of the course, e.g.,
continuous, start and end dates, or
number of days from the date of enrollment. Selection of the Enrollment
Options link will display a
web page that will allow the instructor to select the enrollment options as
either "instructor led",
which allows students to email enrollment requests to the instructor, or "self-
enrollment", which also
will specify the start and end dates and optionally require entry by the
student of an access code to
enroll. Selection of the Enrollment Fees link will display a web page that
will allow the instructor to
specify if fees should be charged for enrollment in the course, and what the
fees should be. Selection
of the Guest Access link will display a web page that will allow the
instructor to specify if guests may
access the course.
Selection of the Course Properties link 1644 in the Course Options area 1608
displays a web
page that enables the instructor to add and/or edit course properties,
including the course name, a
description of the course, and a subject area for categorization purposes.
Selection of the Course Utilities link 1646 in the course options area 1608
displays a web
page that enables the instructor to select a Course Recycler link, an Export
Course Link, or an Import
Course Cartridge link. The Course Recycler link enables the instructor to
recycle the course by
selectively removing areas of the course, which are displayed as check boxes
next to various content
categories, e.g., course documents, course information, textbooks,
assignments, etc., various staff
areas and external web links. The instructor can also choose to recycle other
areas such as discussion
boards, gradebook, assessments, etc. The Export Course link enables the
instructor to export all, or
specific sections, of the course, e.g., content, users, assessments, and/or
discussion boards. The Import
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Course Cartridge link enables the instructor to download and install a course
cartridge, if they have an
access key.
Selection of the Course Images link 1648 in the course options area displays a
web page that
enables the instructor to select a Button Style link (to set the button styles
for the course) and to select
5 a Course Banner link (to add or remove a course banner on the first page of
the course).
Selection of the Academic Web Resource link 1650 in the course options area
displays a web
page that enables the instructor to select an Enable/Disable Academic Web
Button link (to enable or
disable the resources button the course homepage) or a Customize Academic Web
Button link (to
designate the Academic Resources for the course, wherein the instructor can
customize the number of
10 links and the content that is available for the students).
User Management
Selection of the Add Users link 1652 in the user management area 1610 displays
a web page
that enables the instructor to select a Create User link, an Enroll Existing
User link, or a Batch Add
15 User link. The Create User link displays a web page that will enable the
instructor to create a new user
account and enroll him in the course, by inputting name, address, and other
information regarding the
user, designating the user's access level and providing a password if desired.
The Enroll Existing User
link displays a web page that enables the instructor to enroll a user in the
course. The Batch Add
Users link displays a web page that enables the instructor to create all of
the user accounts by
20 uploading a text file containing the user data.
Selection of the List/Modify Users link 1654 in the user management area 1610
displays a
web page that enables the instructor to list and/or modify the users of the
course, while selection of
the Remove Users link 1656 displays a web page that enables the instructor to
remove a user if
desired from the course. Selection of the Manage Groups link 1658 enables the
instructor to create
25 and edit certain user groups, e.g., gifted students or remedial students.
Assessment
Within the course, instructors are able to provide quizzes, tests, and surveys
on-line. Included
may be essay, true/false, multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, or matching
questions. The questions can
30 include text, graphics or multimedia. For the student, instant feedback is
provided through automatic
grading functionality. For the instructor, there is the ability to randomize
the tests, time them, and
create statistical reports of outcomes. Assessments within this system are an
optimal way to increase
student preparedness for class and to track and compare student progress over
time. The Assessment
area 1612 of the control panel 1602 allows the instructor to select an
Assessment Manager link 1660,
a Pool Manager link 1662, an On-line Gradebook link 1664, or a Course
Statistics link 1666.
Selection of the Assessment Manager link 1660 in the assessment area 1612
displays a web
page that enables the instructor to create, edit and otherwise manage the
assessment content areas. For
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example, the instructor may create an assessment by entering an assessment
name, a description, and
setting certain parameters including Show Detailed Results, which shows the
students the results for
each question instead of simply their final grade, Reveal Correct Answer,
which shows the students
the correct answer for each question, Feedback Enabled, which allows students
to view the feedback
that the instructor has entered for each question, Allow Multiple Attempts,
which allows students to
take the assessment more than once, Set Time for Quiz, which sets a timer that
is shown to the student
during the exam, and Password Protect, which allows only those students with
the entered password
to take the test. By clicking the Modify option, a web page is displayed that
enables the instructor to
modify the assessment by adding items. An item is added by selecting the type
of question, e.g.,
multiple choice, true/false, or fill in the blank, typing in the question text
and possible answers with an
indication of the correct one, specify the order of answers. The order of the
questions also can be
changed in this web page as well.
Selection of the Pool Manager link 1662 in the assessment area 1612 can
display a web page
that enables the instructor to Add Pool, Import Pool, Search Pool, or Export
Pool. Pools are
predefined groups of questions and answer sets that are logically linked,
usually by subject matter, so
that an instructor may draw from a pool to obtain existing questions and
answers sets from other
courses, instructors, semesters, etc. and not have to "recreate the wheel"
every time they generate or
modify a test. By clicking the Add Pool button, the instructor can add a new
pool to the list of pools
displayed on the Pool Manager web page. He will have to type in the name of
the new pool and a
description of it on this form. By clicking the Import Pool button, the
instructor will enter the name of
an existing pool to import, or alternatively browse a disk drive to find the
pool to import. By clicking
the Search Pool button, the instructor is presented with a web page that will
enumerate various
available pools that can be searched for questions of interest for importing.
The entire pool can be
previewed by selecting a preview mode, and all of the available questions in
that pool may be viewed.
By clicking the Export Pool button, a pool may be selected for exporting
purposes. For the list of
available pools set forth on the Pool manager page, the instructor may modify
the pool, in which case
a web page is displayed that lists all of the questions (and associated answer
sets) that are in the pool.
Each question in the pool may be modif~~ed in the same manner as explained
above with respect to the
assessment manager. Likewise, questions may be deleted entirely from a pool,
and new questions may
be added to the pool as described above with respect to the assessment
manager.
Selection of the on-line Gradebook link 1664 in the assessment area displays a
web page that
enables the instructor to perform various functions with respect to the on-
line course gradebook. FIG.
22 illustrates a web page 2200 entitled "Course Gradebook", which provides a
variety of information
including consolidated grades, individual assignment/test scores, direct
access to specific assignments
or tests by student, or a look at a specific test with aggregated results.
This allows the instructor to
organize the grade information so that it is meaningful. It provides insight
into the effectiveness of
certain assignments and provides a bridge for allowing instructor assessment
of assignment and class
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content. The functions is provided on the On-line Gradebook web page in the
assessment area of the
control panel include Report By User, which is used to find a specific user
and view statistics,
assessment results, and modification of any scores for a user), Report By
Item, which is used to view
information about a specific gradebook item, Spreadsheet View, which is
standard gradebook view as
shown in FIG. 22, the instructor can modify, add or remove gradebook entries
as well as view
assessment results, and Export Gradebook, which is exported as a comma-
delimited file.
Selection of the Course Statistics link 1666 in the assessment area displays a
web page that
enables the instructor to set parameters and view certain statistics for their
course. Most instructors
want to analyze their class by how much their on-line materials are being
accessed, but very few have
the opportunity to take the time or the effort to determine these numbers. By
using the course statistics
web page 2300 shown in FIGS. 23A and 23B, the system provides a rich tool set
for instructors to
evaluate the relative statistics of their courses. These statistics may be
valuable for evaluating on-line
versus non-on-line courses to determine the relative efficacy of on-line
materials and how they are
enhancing the course. The Course Statistics web page has input fields for
selecting a report filter,
which will yield a report with Overall Summary of Course Usage, Main Content
Areas report,
Communication Areas Report, Group Areas Report, or Student Areas Report. A
time period must be
specified, which may be all dates or between a begin and an end date. The
users must be selected,
which will be either all users or a selected subset thereof. Other options
include Total Number of
Access per Area 2302, Number of Accesses over Time 2304, User Accesses per
Hour of Day 2306 or
Day of Week 2308, and Total Accesses by User 2310. The data, charts and graphs
as shown in FIGS.
23A and 23B will then be displayed to the instructor.
Assistance
Finally, there is an Assistance area 1614 defined in the Control Panel, which
sets forth links
that will provide the instructor with various types of help. Selecting the On-
line Manual link 1668 will
retrieve an HTML based Instructor Manual in a separate browser window. The On-
line Support link
1670 will retrieve a web page with contact info for sending an email to a
support person, and the
Contact Admin link 1672 will bring up a web page with contact info for sending
an email to an
administrative contact.
Administrator Functionality
The Administrator Panel 2402, shown in FIG. 24, gives the system administrator
complete
access to all of the features of the system including portal features, course
and club creation and
management, institution and system tools, e-commerce features, user
management, and other various
institutional options. This is accessed by selecting the Enterprise
Administration tab 2404 shown on
the homepage.
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The Administrator panel 2402 includes a Portal Areas group 2406 of functions,
a System
Tools area 2408, an Enterprise Tools Area 2410, a System Options Area 2412, a
Course and
Community Management area 2414, a User Management Area 2416, an E-Commerce
Area 2418, and
an Assistance area 2420, as explained further below.
Portal Areas
Selection of the My Institution tab 2422 in the Portal Area 2406 provides a
web page that
lists four hyperlink selectable options: Customize Institution Tab,
Institutional Module Options, All
Module Options, and Off-Campus Institution Partnerships. The Customize
Institution Tab link will
provide a web page that allows the user (an enterprise administrator, in this
case) to enable/disable the
appearance of the "My Institution" tab for all users, as well as
enable/disable a Welcome Message that
may be displayed at logon. The user may also select an image for the tab, as
well as the name, and
provide a predefined URL that will be associated with the tab when selected by
the end user.
The Institutional Module Options refers to the default layout is the set of
modules that new
users sees the first time they log in to the portal. This allows the
enterprise administrator to
enable/disable and/or set as required the following modules: My Courses, My
Organizations, Today's
Announcements, Today's Tasks, Today's Calendar, School Services, Student
Module, Faculty
Module, Staff Module, Alumni Module, Perspective Student Module, Guest Module,
Other Module,
Institution Newspaper Module, and Blank Module, which may be customized.
The All Module Options link allows the user to enable/disable and/or set as
required the
following modules: Bookmark, Calculator, Channels, Clip, Comment Clip, Custom
is Search,
Directory, Discussion Boards, various co-branded portal links, such as EXCITE
news, entertainment
features, stock prices, sports updates, maps, and shopping site links, yellow
pages links.
The Off-Campus Institution Partnerships link allows the user to add, modify,
and edit
hyperlinks to web sites with which the institution has formed various partner
or other types of
arrangements. This could be a partnership with an off-campus bookstore may be
provided as a means
for supplementing the on campus bookstore.
Selection of the Course tab 2424 in the Portal Area provides a web page that
lists four
hyperlink selectable options: Customize Courses Tab, Enable/Disable Course
Creation, Course
Catalog Options, and Off-Campus Learning Partnerships. The Customize Courses
Tab link will
provide a web page that allows the user, again an enterprise administrator, in
this case, to
enable/disable the appearance of the "Courses" tab for all users. The user may
also select an image for
the tab, as well as the name, and provide a predefined URL that will be
associated with the tab when
selected by the end user.
Selection of the Enable/Disable Creation Option link provides a web page that
allows the
enterprise administrator to select an option to not allow users to create
courses, to allow users to
create courses, or to allow the user to send an email request for course
creation. Selection of the
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Course Catalog Options link provides a web page that allows the enterprise
administrator to select the
use of a default course catalog or to specify the use of an internal course
catalog and the URL of its
location. The Off-Campus Learning Partnerships link allows the user to add,
modify, and edit
hyperlinks to web sites with which the institution has formed various learning
partner arrangements.
Examples are a link to the KAPLAN or TUTORNET web sites.
Selection of the Community tab 2426 in the Portal Area provides a web page
that lists five
hyperlink selectable options: Customize Community Tab, Enable/Disable User
Creation of
Organizations and Discussion. Boards, Organization Catalog Options, Manage
Discussion Boards,
and Off-Campus Community Partnerships. The Customize Community Tab link will
provide a web
page that allows the enterprise administrator to enable/disable the appearance
of the "Community" tab
for all users. The user, may also select an image for the tab, as well as the
name, and provide a
predefined URL that will be associated with the tab when selected by the end
user.
Selection of the Enable/Disable User Creation of Organizations and Discussion
Boards link
provides a web page that allows the enterprise administrator to select options
to allow or disallow
instructors and students to generate general organizations and discussion
boards from the Community
Tab or limit organization/discussion board creation to the system
administrator.
Selection of the Organization Catalog Options link provides a web page that
allows the
enterprise administrator to select the use of a default club catalog or to
specify an internal club catalog
and the URL of its location. The Manage Discussion Board link provides a web
page that allows the
user to set various parameters and otherwise add and manage various discussion
boards on the system.
The Off-Campus Community Partnerships link allows the user to add, modify, and
edit hyperlinks to
web sites with which the institution has formed various arrangements.
Selection of the Services tab 2428 in the Portal Area provides a web page that
lists three
hyperlink selectable options: Customize Services Tab, Institution Services,
and Off-Campus Service
Partnerships. The Customize Services Tab link will provide a web page that
allows the enterprise
administrator to enable/disable the appearance of the "Services" tab for all
users. The user may also
select an image for the tab, as well as the name, and provide a predefined URL
that will be associated
with the tab when selected by the end user.
Selection of the Institution Services tab allows the user to create and manage
links to other
relevant parts of the campus intranet. The Off-Campus Service Partnerships
link allows the user to
add, modify, and edit hyperlinks to web sites with which the institution has
formed various service
arrangements.
Under the System Tools area 2408 of the Portal Manager web page, various links
are
provided to web pages that allow the enterprise administrator to manage
Announcements 2411, the
Institution Calendar 2413, the Institution Tasks 2415, and Send E-Mail 2417 in
a manner similar to
what was described with respect to similar tabs in the previously described
sections above.
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Under the Enterprise Tools area 2410 of the Portal Manager, links are provided
to web pages
that allow the enterprise manager to manage Institution Library 2419, and View
Published Requests.
The Manage Institution Library web page allows the user to add new items from
local disk or his
inbox into the institution library, edit items, or remove items. The View
Published Requests web page
5 allows users to view, approve and reject instructor published files for the
Institution Library. Under
Enterprise Tools 2410, there is also Web Email Management 2421 and Advance
Domain
Management 2423, which provide conventional email and domain name management
services.
Under the System Option area 2412 of the Portal Manager, the user is provided
with links to
Gateway Options 2425, System Settings 2427, System Statistics 2431,
Institution Properties 2430,
10 Colors and Images 2432, and Course Marketing 2434. The Gateway Options link
2425 provides a
web page that will determine whether the login button, course catalog, and new
user account button
appears on the gateway page. The System Settings link 2427 provides a web page
with links to Button
Overrides, which sets which button areas can be used throughout the system),
Tool Overrides, which
sets which tools can be used throughout the system), System
Settings/Overrides, which set overrides
L5 for course and club tools and properties across the entire system), and
Course Disk Quotas, which sets
file system disk quotas for courses.
The System Statistics link 2431 provides a web page with links to a System
Reports web
page, which allows the enterprise administrator to view reports covering the
system and its usage, an
Auto-Reporting Options web page, (which sets various options for automatically
reporting statistics to
20 a service provider), and a Send System Statistics web page, which will send
the statistics to the
service provider on demand.
The Institution Properties tab 2430 provides a web page that allows the
enterprise
administrator to view system information such the current version of the
software, the registration
page, and email contacts. The Colors and Images link 2432 allows access to a
web page that allows
25 the administrator to modify the aesthetic properties of the web site.
The Course and Community Management area 2414 of the Portal Manager provides
hyperlinks for Create Course 2436, Manage Courses 2438, Course Utilities 2440,
Course Catalog
2442, Create Organization 2444, Manage Organization 2446, organization
Utilities 2448, and
Organization Catalog 2450.
30 The Create Course web page 2900 is shown in FIG. 29. The administrator will
enter the
requested information about the desired course; e.g., the course name, and ID,
and a textual
description on the web page. The administrator can then specify properties of
the buttons that will be
used along with the course to match his aesthetic concerns. The administrator
can then specify various
options, such as the subject area of the course, whether guests may access the
course, if the course is
35 currently available, if a course cartridge may be obtained and its URL and
access key, and the
instructor ID for the course.
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The Manage Courses web page allows the administrator to list and/or modify
courses, remove
them from the system, and set certain default tools, e.g., email, Discussion
Board, Virtual Chat,
Roster, and buttons, e.g., Announcements, Course Information, Staff
Information, Virtual Classroom,
etc.) to be used with each course in the system. The Course Utilities web page
allows the
administrator to select a Copy Course link (to make a copy of a course with a
new course ID), an
Import Course link, an Export Course link, and a Batch Create Courses link.
The Course Catalog link
allows the user to categorize course and otherwise manage the course catalog.
The Create Organization, Manage Organization, Organization Utilities, and
Organization
Catalog links allow the user to obtain similar control and functionality with
organizations as with
courses as described above.
The User Management area 2416 of the Portal Manager provides hyperlinks for
Create User
2452, Manage Users 2454, and User Utilities 2456. The Create User web page
3000 (FIGS. 30A and
30B) allows creation of a user entry by entering personal information, such as
name, address, etc., and
a user name and password. The access level of the user is set at this time,
which may be a Student,
IS Faculty, Staff, Alumni, Guest, etc. Also, the user may be given an
administrative access level at this
point by selecting the appropriate option that is available, such as, None,
System Admin, System
Support, Course Creator, Account Admin). The role of the user will determine
the access and control
of the system that the user will have as explained throughout this document.
Once a user is created,
the Manage User web page allows listing, modification, and/or removal of
users. The User Utilities
link 2456 allows the system administrator to Batch Create Users, which will
cause the uploading of a
file of user data in predefined formats compatible with the system), Batch
Enroll Users, which will
cause the importing of a file to enroll users in courses and clubs that exist
in the system), and Batch
Remove Users, which will cause the importing of a file to remove users from
the system).
The E-Commerce area 2418 of the Portal Manager provides links to web pages for
Sponsorships 2458, Partnership Program 2460, and Course E-Commerce 2462. The
Sponsorship web
page has links to Primary Site Sponsor web page a "My Institution" Area
Sponsor, a Course Area
Sponsor, a Community Area Sponsor, and a Services Area Sponsor. These links
allow the user to
designate if a sponsor is used in each of these capacities and an image of the
sponsor link. The
Partnership program page allows the administrator to enroll the institution in
the service provider
partnership program, which can bring additional a commerce opportunities to
the portal environment.
The Course E-Commerce page provides links to Enable/Disable Course and Club E-
Commerce,
which permits the selection of e-commerce options for charging fees for the
courses or clubs, allow
administrators to set prices and allows club leaders or instructors to set
prices, and a Price Course link
to manage or set the cost of enrolling in courses or organizations.
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Other Utilities and Functions
One of the key elements to college and university life is the ability to
socialize and take
advantage of the human element on campus. The system's "Community" tab 2502
provides the web
page 2500 shown in FIG. 25, which allows students to interact and be involved
in all aspects of
campus life from fraternities and sororities to off-campus communities that
enhance the learning
experience. Many campuses also provide rich services such as job availability
through the community
function. The Community center is the web equivalent of the student union
building.
Most students are so conversant in on-line services that they prefer to have
all campus
administrative services available on the web. The system provides an
enterprise level teaching and
learning system that allows tight integration into student information systems
and other campus
systems to provide anytime, anywhere administrative services. The Services web
page 2600 shown in
FIG. 26, selected by tab 2602, enables users to register, add, drop, check
records, or even pay parking
tickets while on-line at anytime.
The system also provides a calendar 2700 that incorporates personal as well as
institutional
information in a single view, as shown in FIG. 27. The calendar utility gives
students and teachers
access to all calendar events for each of the courses they are enrolled in, as
well as institutional
calendar events.
Since email is the single most popular application on the Internet today, and
the leading
reason that most people purchase personal computers, email has been integrated
with the system, as
shown by the web page 2800 in FIG. 28. Within a personalized home page, the
user will be able to
access complete email capabilities. The email system sits on top of the
existing POP or IMAP server
and offers a web based front end so that the user may access messages from any
machine at any time.
FIGs. 31 and 32 show web pages 3100 and 3200 that can be accessed by tab 3102
to provide
links that allow students and teachers to find and access academic resources
and content. These
resources are also context-sensitive to the course discipline. For example, if
one accesses the
academic web resources from an accounting course, he/she is automatically
directed to news and
information sources that are relevant to accounting. The user has access to
news, web links, reference
works, and search engines that enhance the ability to locate relevant
information quickly.
In another aspect of the invention, provided is a system and method for
applying E-commerce
to education. Specifically, this aspect of the invention allows users visiting
a web site to register and
pay for courses provided by a college, university, or other institution.
FIG. 34 is a diagram illustrating information passed from a course
registration server to a
payment server. As a current or prospective student reviews courses offered by
a college, university,
or other institution, a student may add courses of interest to a list, or
"shopping cart".
When a student has selected courses for which they would like to register, a
student may
proceed from a registration or review area (Block 100) to a "checkout" area
(Block 110), as illustrated
in FIG. 34. When a student proceeds to a checkout, information, such as, but
not limited to, name,
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address, cost of courses, order identifier, order description, and a page to
which a user is to be
returned when an order is complete, is passed on. Information passed from a
registration or review
area may be used to generate a payment form.
FIG. 35 at 205 shows a sample of a payment form. A payment form may consist of
an
introductory paragraph 210, a purchase summary 220, and a payment information
area 230. An
introductory paragraph 210 may be used to instruct a student in requirements
at each stage of the
payment process. A purchase summary 220 may include services and products
selected, per-unit
prices, quantities requested, inventory numbers for each product or service
selected, an invoice or
purchase number, a total price, and other, similar information.
A payment information area 230 can be used to collect payment information from
a student.
A student may be required to enter some information manually, such as, but not
limited to, credit card
type, credit card number, credit card expiration date, name on credit card,
credit card billing address,
check number, checking account number, bank routing number, debit card number,
and personal
identification number ("PIN code").
If a student has previously used the present invention, some information may
be automatically
entered based on previously submitted forms. Information transferred from a
registration server may
also be used to fill in some form fields. When a student has reviewed entered
information, a form may
be submitted for processing by activating a button or other interface element.
FIG. 36 at 3600 shows a block diagram illustrating interaction between a
payment server and
a payment validation server. After a student has entered necessary information
into a payment form
and submitted the form (Block 300), some information, such as, but not limited
to, amount of
purchase, credit card number, name on credit card, check number, bank routing
number, or billing
address, may be transmitted to a payment validation server (Block 310). A
payment validation server
may be maintained as part of the present invention, or payment validation
servers may be maintained
by one or more third parties, such as, but not limited to, CyberCash, Inc.
A payment validation server processes transmitted information, contacts a bank
or other
institution issuing the credit card or other payment form, and verifies that a
payment of the amount
requested is authorized. If payment of the requested amount is authorized,
authorization information,
including, but not limited to, a confirmation number, may be transmitted to a
payment server. If
payment of the specified amount is not authorized, other information, such as
a declination code, may
be transmitted to a payment server. If payment is not authorized, a payment
error message similar to
that shown at 320 may be displayed. FIG. 37 at 3700 shows a sample of a
payment information page.
A student may print or otherwise record information displayed on a payment
information page for his
or her records. A payment information page can include a thank you,
confirmation, or other message
as shown at 3702. A payment information page may also include information such
as, but not limited
to, confirmation or declination information; goods, services, and classes
purchased;, and total price
charged as shown at 3704. In addition, a payment information page may include
a button or other
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interface element which a user can activate to continue processing. The exact
behavior of this
interface element may be determined by the referring system through the UIRL
or other data element
which is illustrated in FIG. 34.
FIG. 38 at 3800 shows a block diagram illustrating post-order processing. As
previously
stated, a payment information page may also contain a button or other
interface element which, when
activated, causes a web page to be displayed or performs other processing
steps. Activating the button
or interface element may also cause some authorization/ declination
information to be transferred to a
college, university, or other institution's accounting department for
processing as shown at 3802.
Open Web Environment
The present invention may be used as an open platform environment, where
anyone with
access to the Internet may register as an instructor to create, administer,
and make available a course
to anyone else with Internet access. Thus, by entering a publicly available
web-site such as
www.blackboard.com, a user may register as an instructor and be provided with
an instructor control
panel for creating course as described herein. To create the course, the user
will define course
parameters, such as a description, enrollment options, announcements,
assessments, and course
materials, etc., and provide them in the various web pages as described above.
The user can then let
others know about the availability of the course on-line, and a potential
student may access the
publicly available web site to enroll in the course. In this manner, anyone
can create a virtual
classroom without the need to be affiliated with an institution, and
disseminate knowledge through the
course as previously unavailable.
Implementing Multiple Locales in a Course Management System
The multi-language (ML) embodiment of the present invention provides an
interactive system
and method that may be used by system users at various levels for distributing
and using information
over a network such that it is readily adaptable for more than one language.
This embodiment may be
implemented through the system shown, for example, in FIG. 1B. The ML feature,
or embodiment, of
the present invention can be used in various settings, such as the delivery of
academic course work
and/or corporate training. The system and method accommodate system users such
that users at
different levels will have different types of system access and control,
particularly in the context of
the multi-language capabilities and/or functionality.
In particular, the ML embodiment of the present invention can utilize two or
more languages
in conjunction, for example, with recognizing and displaying multiple locales
at run-time. As used
herein, a "locale" can include, for example, a collection of translated text
(e.g., English to Italian)
and/or text formats (e.g., currency, numeric formats, dates) that are used to
display the text of an
application. The locale can be specified by a user, a course instructor,
and/or a system administrator.
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Turning now to FIG. 39, an exemplary gateway screen display is shown that can
facilitate the
use of various locales. When a user types in or selects a URL in address field
3904, server 1040 (FIG.
1B) determines which locale to display by, for example, examining HTTP headers
and/or one or more
cookies from a web browser 1008. For example, the HTTP header
<html><head><meta HTTP-
5 EQUIV="content-type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=UTF-8" can be used to
invoke the UTF-8
character set in a user's browser 1008. The UTF-8 charset set is
representative of an encoding of
International Standards Organization / International Electrotechnical
Commission (ISO/lEC) 10646,
using a different number of bytes for different characters. ISO/IEC 10646-1
(1993), ISO/IEC 10646-1
(2000), and ISO/IEC 10646-2 (2001 ) are incorporated herein by reference. The
following exemplary
10 header <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Language" CONTENT="en-GB"> sent by browser
1008
can cause server 1040 to select an appropriate natural language document. In
this case, the
CONTENT="en-GB" indicates that the natural language is English, and that the
dialect is British.
As indicated by the header(s), the Unicode Standard can be used for character
encoding. The
Unicode Standard, Version 4Ø0, defined by: The Unicode Standard, Version 4.0
(Reading, MA,
15 Addison-Wesley, 2003. ISBN 0-321-18578-1), is incorporated herein by
reference. The basic
encoding scheme is called Universal Character Set-2 (UCS-2), which stores each
character as a 16-bit
value. This 16-bit value corresponds directly to its value in the Unicode
Standard. Universal
Transformation Format-8 (UTF-8) is a format that breaks Unicode values into 8-
bit sequences that
work well on the WWW. UTF-8 is supported by Internet Explorer (Microsoft
Corp., Redmond, WA)
20 and Netscape Communicator (AOL-Time Warner Inc., New York, NY).
Referring again to FIG. 1B, in an embodiment of the invention, user interface
1008, which
may be a browser, can utilize UTF-8, and database 1020 and/or database 1052
can utilize UTF-8 or
UCS-2. In an embodiment of the present invention, the UTF-8 and UCS-2 encoding
can be facilitated
by the underlying relational database technologies (e.g., database 1020).
Microsoft SQL Server and/or
25 Oracle databases can be utilized. Data structures which are to store locale-
dependent data should be
encoded using the proper encoding supported by the particular database 1020
utilized.
If the selected locale matches an available locale made available, for
example, by server 1040,
that locale is used to display the gateway page 3901. The list of installed
locales 3902 is displayed on
gateway page 3901, using the negotiated locale. Exemplary pseudo-code that can
be used to
30 implement the gateway negotiation is as follows:
Locale = GetBrowserLocale()
If Locale != null
SetSessionLocale(Locale)
Else
35 SetSessionLocale(SystemDefauItLocale)
In the above pseudo-code, the browser locale will be obtained. If the browser
locale is
identified (or specified), then the obtained browser locale is used as the
session locale. If a browser
locale is not identified, then a system default locale can be used.
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FIG. 40 shows an exemplary screen display 4000 that demonstrates how a system
administrator can specify a default locale. Locales 3902 are displayed with
corresponding locale codes
4004. Column 4002 allows the administrator select a locale as the default
locale. Column 4006 can be
selected to determine whether the default locale selected is allowed for
users. For example, if locale 4)
Franpois (France) was not checked, the Francais (France) locale would not
appear in locale
display 4102. Similarly, column 4008 can be selected to determine whether the
default locale selected
is allowed for course use. For example, if locale 7) Espanol (Espana) was not
checked, courses
being offered taught could not utilize the Espanol (Espana) locale.
FIG. 41 shows an exemplary screen display 4100 that demonstrates how, for
example, a
system administrator and/or course instructor and/or other individual having
privileges can specify a
course locale. Pulldown menu 4102 can be used to select the course locale. The
pulldown menu will
include those locales that have been checked in column 4008 (FIG. 40). Once
the desired locale has
been selected, the instructor, administrator, or other authorized user, can
select, using, for example, a
conventional mouse, the Submit icon 4104 to invoke the locale. The Cancel icon
4106 can be
selected, for example, to return to the previous menu. Box 4108 can be checked
to make the locale
mandatory, in which case the course menu frame 4206, and navigation frame 4204
will be displayed
in the selected locale, as will be described subsequently.
An exemplary browser display environment 4200 that can be used in connection
with a locale
is shown in FIG. 42. The browser display environment can include a top frame
4202, a navigation
frame 4204, a course frame menu 4206, and a course content frame 4208. Top
frame 4202 may
include, for example, the File, Edit, View, Favorites, Tools, and Help
selections, as well as, for
example, Back, Forward, Stop, Refresh, Home, Search, Favorites, Media,
History, Mail, Print,
and/or Edit icons that typically appear on conventional web browsers. Top
frame 4202 can also
include, for example, a location (or address) bar, where a user can type in
the location, e.g., a URL of
a desired web-site. A Go icon, for example, can then be pressed or selected to
go to the web-site. Top
frame 4202 can also optionally include various WWW search tools.
Course menu frame 4206 can include various course related icons, such as:
Announcements, Course Information, Course Documents, Assignments, and the
like. Finally,
course content frame 4208 can display information associated with a selected
icon from the course
menu frame 4206. Navigation frame 4204 can be used to display the current
course.
FIG. 43 at 4300 shows an exemplary screen display of an offered course. An
exemplary top
frame 4202, navigation frame 4204, course menu frame 4206 and course content
frame 4208 are
shown. In FIG. 43, the associated Enforce Course Locale: box 4108 (FIG. 41 )
has been checked, as
indicated by navigation frame 4204, course menu frame 4206 and course content
frame 4208, each of
which are displayed in the selected locale, in this case, Italian. The user's
selected locale, in this case,
English, for navigation frame 4204 and course menu frame 4406 has been
overridden, but remains for
top frame 4202.
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In an embodiment of the present invention, course content frame 4208 (FIG. 42)
can include
material that does not conform with the selected locale. In this embodiment,
no translation, e.g.,
English to Italian, is performed for material submitted for course content
frame 4208. This
advantageously allows, for example, a course instructor to provide material
that can be displayed in
course content frame 4208 that is not of the selected locale (e.g., Italian).
That is, an instructor can
provide course material in Italian in course content frame 4208, as well as
material in one or more
languages other than Italian.
FIG. 44 at 4400 shows an exemplary screen display of an offered course. Top
frame 4202,
navigation frame 4204, course menu frame 4206 and course content frame 4208
are shown. In FIG.
44, the associated Enforce Course Locale: box 4108 has been not been checked,
which causes the
navigation frame 4204 and course menu frame 4206 to be displayed in the user's
default locale, in this
case, English. Top frame 4202 is also displayed in the user's default locale.
If a user clicks on
Announcements in course menu frame 4206, a first person 4209 can post material
4210 in Italian,
and a second person 4211 can post material 4212, for example, in Chinese.
Other people can post
other material in one or more languages of their choice.
FIG. 45 at 4500 shows an exemplary method of operation of a ML embodiment of
the present
invention. At step 4502, server 1040 can examine headers contained of a
browser transmission to
determine if the server 1040 supports the specified locale in the header. If,
at decision step 4504, it is
determined that the locales match, then the gateway screen (FIG. 41 ) is
displayed in the locale
specified in the header at step 4508. If the locales do not match, then server
1040 can display a default
locale on browser 1008 at step 4506.
At step 4510, the list of installed locales (FIG. 39, 3902) is displayed on
the gateway page,
using the locale negotiated at decision step 4504. When the user selects a
locale from list 3902, at
decision step 4514 a determination is made to verify that browser 1008
supports the selected locale. If
browser 1008 supports the selected locale, the user-selected locale is
displayed at 4512. If browser
1008 does not support the specified locale, the server 1040 default locale can
be utilized at 4516. A
login screen can be displayed with the newly specified or system default
locale, as determined at
decision step 4514.
At step 4518, the user can login to server 1040 which, at decision step 4522,
determines the
locale for the user logging on. If available, the user's preferred locale is
displayed at step 4520. The
user's preferred locale can be the same as the locale negotiated at decision
step 4514. If the user's
preferred locale is not available, the server 1040 default locale can be
displayed at step 4524 which
can be the same locale as provided in step 4516.
At step 4526, a user navigates to a course. Server 1040 can determine the
locale configured
for the course. An instructor, for example, may select a locale for the course
that is allowed by the
administrator, as discussed with regard to FIG. 40. Additionally, an
instructor, for example, can check
the Enforce Locale Box: 4108 (FIG. 41 ) to enforce the locale selected for the
course.
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At decision step 4530, a determination is made whether the course locale is
mandatory. If the
course locale is enforced, at step 4532 the course frames, e.g., navigation
frame 4204, course menu
frame 4206, can be displayed in the locale specified for the course,
overriding any user-specified
locale. In an embodiment, when the course locale is enforced, course content
frame 4208 can also be
displayed in the locale specified for the course. Course content frame 4208
can also be left to display
any material supplied by, for example, an instructor, which may differ from
the locale specified for
the course. If the course locale is not enforced, at step 4528 the course
frames, e.g., navigation frame
4204, course menu frame 4206, can be displayed in the user-specified locale as
specified, for
example, in an HTTP header from the user's browser 4008 that is transmitted to
server 4040. In the
alternative, server 4040 can return a default locale if, for example, server
4040 does not support the
user-specified locale in the HTTP header
While the preferred embodiment and various alternative embodiments of the
invention have
been disclosed and described in detail herein, it may be apparent to those
skilled in the art that various
changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the
spirit and scope thereof.
In addition, titles and descriptions included in the Figures are included to
disclose the best mode
contemplated by the inventor at the time of filing, and should not be
construed as limiting the
invention.
