Education and demonstration – Cathode ray screen display and audio means
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-07
2001-02-27
Rovnak, John Edmund (Department: 3712)
Education and demonstration
Cathode ray screen display and audio means
C434S118000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06195528
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for automated teaching and certification management. More particularly, the invention relates to a compact disk-based (CD Rom) method of teaching students, incorporating a computer network to improve learning performance, controlling the content of lessons, and automatically managing scores and tests on the lesson material.
2. Description of the Related Art
Teaching methods have been developed over time, attempting to improve the learning performance of students. Such methods have taken many forms, including providing various incentives to students for academic improvement.
Further, forms of teaching have been developed for example, journals, teaching systems and methods, and teaching machines. There have been some manufacturing companies that have found it necessary to teach particular students and trainees, such as installers, in-house factory personnel, and potential clients' information regarding the products and services provided by the manufacturing company.
New medias and technologies have been developed for transmitting information to students through the use of computers, but for the most part, particular training and certification programs for industry still necessitate the need for trainers to travel to on-site locations to present information regarding such products and services directly to the trainees.
In other types of situations, students and trainees are sent to education areas for in-house training. Such travel by the student-trainees is expensive, and depending upon their location such travel may be unadvisable or even impossible based on national boundaries, geographic restrictions, or cost of travel.
Additional problems with these types of training are that, it is difficult or nearly impossible to remember all of the material disclosed at such training sessions. Furthermore, this type of training fails to properly address the needs, strength, or time constraining of the student.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, there is provided an automated system of teaching and lesson management, which requires no classroom teachers. The system eliminates live instructors, while maintaining the quality of educational material by demanding the students or trainees to prove they have mastered and learned the taught material, by demanding such students to pass particular scored tests.
The computerized learning environment includes the use of a local computer with a compact disk player such as a conventional CD Rom Drive, and memory. The local computer is connected to a computer network, through which communication signals (data including text, audio, and visual information) may be sent to and received from a centralized server computer.
The system utilized multiple CD Rom disks or products to “front load” data intensive elements of the training program at the local computer site. Such data intensive elements include, without limitation, audio, video, multimedia, and other types of stored data that require comparatively large amounts of storage or memory space. Through communication through a computer network to another computer called a server, the software located on the CD Rom products, is able to determine the last date to which itself is current, and interrogate the server computer to determine if any updates are available. The local computer may then send a code to the server, instructing the server to check for any updates or additional information. If there are updates and data, the server will send the local computer such electronic updates and data via the communications network. The local computer will save such updates and data to its memory. The local computer through the use of software will determine what CD Rom material has been updated, and utilize only the updated material, not the outdated material, embedded within the CD Rom disks or products.
A key importance of this system is that certain portions of the CD Rom teaching program are not student accessible until successfully passing a computerized test based on previously studied material stored on the CD Rom disk or in the computer memory.
Such computerized testing may be located locally on the local computer after being read from the CD Rom Drive, or more preferably, may be a testing program located on the server or remote computer accessed over the communication network. The educational or teaching materials and data provided by the CD Rom to the local computer may include portions that are not student accessible until the student or trainee has successfully registered the student's or trainee's use or the CD Rom product with the server computer, and successfully passed particular tests.
The answer to such tests may not be located locally, so that it may prevent someone from cheating or skipping important or critical training information needed to be certified on any particular training program.
On a successful test result, either the local computer or the server computer may generate a successful test code, which then would be transmittable via the communication network back either to the local computer system or server computer. The local computer would then utilize the successful test code signal to unlock further additional training modules located on the CD Rom product or unlock other CD Rom products for use. Additionally, by the student or trainee successfully passing a computerized test, the server may update the manufactures certification records for that student or trainee on a computerized data base.
The invention, in one form, includes a teaching system apparatus for improving the ability of a student to learn, with a connection to a remote computer. A plurality of CD Roms for storing at least one of text, audio and visual data are utilized on a local computer having memory. The local computer is in communication with the remote computer and the CD Roms are able to be loaded and operated on the local computer. A mechanism through software is provided on said CD Roms for causing the local computer to communicate with the remote computer and determine if the CD Roms are still up to date, and software on the CD Roms may request the local computer to download information from the remote computer. A mechanism via software on the CD Roms prevents local computer access of particular data on the CD Roms without an unlock code from the remote computer.
The invention, in another form, comprises a method including the steps of providing access to a computer based test on a local computer and providing access to a remote computer having the answers to the computer based test. The method then permits a test taker to answer questions from the computer based test and transmit the answers to the remote computer. The answers from the test taker are compared to the answers of the computer based test in the remote computer. If the transmitted answers are correct to the test answers, the remote computer sends an unlock code from the remote computer to the local computer. Such unlock code may unlock and permit user access to further test questions, or alternatively other teaching modules and materials such as audio, visual and other forms of data.
An advantage of the present invention is that the system creates a high-quality teaching method and system, which prevents students or trainees from accessing new material until the previous material has been learned to an acceptable level, as evidenced by a successful test score.
Another advantage of the present invention is that, through the use of the network updatable materials, tests, and procedures, it is now possible to ensure that the information taught is the most current available.
A further advantage of the invention is that by utilizing a software lockable CD Rom product, it is possible to preposition (i.e., front load) data at the user's computer site; therefore, less data needs to be transmitted through the communication network.
Yet another advantage of the present invention, is that by use of the ne
Keidel Murl J.
Young Kenneth D.
Knuth Randall J.
Rovnak John Edmund
Tokheim Corporation
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