JP2005070532A - Remote interactive educational system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote interactive educational system capable of reducing overlapping processing. <P>SOLUTION: The system is equipped with a switching means 4 for lecture materials which switches the previously stored lecture materials and transmits the same to a participant side terminal, a participant interaction means 6 for interacting with the participant side terminal through a communication circuit, a lecturer side terminal 3 which is equipped with an answer means 7 for inputting the answers to the questions inputted from the participant side terminal, a lecture information storage device 17 which stores the questions inputted from the participant side terminal by making the same correspondent to the topics of the lecture materials, the switching histories of the lecture materials and the answers to the questions, and server units 8, 12 and 14 which connect the lecturer side terminal 1, the participant side terminal 18 and the lecture information storage device to each other through the communication circuits. The server unit is arranged to retrieve the questions relating to the topics and the answers to the questions upon receipt of the questions relating to the topics of the lecture materials from the participant side terminal 2 and to transmit the answers to the participant side terminal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote interactive education apparatus, and more particularly to a remote interactive education apparatus capable of accumulating the results of a remote conversation between a teacher side terminal and a student side terminal.

  In recent years, various information systems such as the Internet, satellite communication, radio wave broadcasting, and the like have been used in the field of education depending on the purpose of use. Recently, with the enhancement of network infrastructure and the spread of IT equipment, distance education systems using the Internet have been widely introduced. Among them, WBT (Web Based Training) is particularly widely used for in-company education, public lectures at universities, and the like because it can provide lectures regardless of whereabouts and hours of attendance.

  However, in a lecture in which lecture information is transmitted only from the lecturer represented by the WBT, the students at remote locations are less treated and the motivation for remote participants to attend lectures is reduced. In order to overcome this problem, means have been developed to connect the instructor and remote students with video and audio information to realize a dialogue.

  For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a remote education system that realizes a dialogue by connecting a lecturer and a remote student using video and audio information using a satellite line. However, a device using a satellite line has a huge cost for installation and maintenance, and the number of users who can operate it is limited.

  Also, in Patent Document 2, the lecturer and the remote student are connected using an internet line, etc., and the lecturer video and the student video are displayed on the same screen and the voice is output at the same time. An apparatus for realizing dialogue between persons is shown. In addition to delivering lectures to remote locations in real time, an apparatus is also known that accumulates the lectures so that lectures conducted after the lectures can be retaken.

Further, in Patent Document 3, an image of a lecturer is displayed in a region 202 as lecture information and a slide related to a lecture is displayed in a region 204 based on data transmitted from the server to a computer of a student who takes the course. Is done. Further, this slide shows that notes such as a memo inputted in the area 206 by the student are recorded in association with each other. Further, it is shown that the area information that can store the input information by the student can include the question information.
JP-A-5-273903 JP 11-338339 A JP 2001-350397 A

  However, in the above-described conventional apparatus, the questions issued by the students during the lecture and the instructor's answers to the questions are accumulated in an exchanged state, for example, corresponding to the lecture material used by the instructor. The association with the topic (topic) is made without being made.

  For this reason, if a student who takes the same lecture at a later date asks the same question (topic), the question asked by the student during the lecture and the instructor's answer to the question are accumulated as described above. Even if this is done, it is difficult to immediately search the accumulated questions and answers, and the teacher may have to answer the same answer again. Accordingly, it is convenient for students and lecturers to accumulate and search questions (topic questions) related to topics that have occurred in the past and their answers in association with the topics of lecture materials.

  The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and provides an interactive education apparatus that can reduce redundant processing.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following means.

  Lecture material switching means for switching pre-stored lecture materials to be transmitted to the student side device, student dialogue means for interacting with the student side device via a communication line, and questions input from the student side device Lecturer terminal having an answering means for inputting an answer to a question, and a lecture information storage storing a question input from the student terminal in association with the topic of the lecture material, a switching history of the lecture material, and an answer to the question And a server device for connecting the instructor side terminal, the student side terminal, and the lecture information storage device via a communication line, the server device being associated with the topic of the lecture material from the student side device When a question is received, a question related to the topic and an answer to the question are searched and transmitted to the student side device.

  Since this invention is provided with the above structure, the interactive education apparatus which can reduce the process which overlaps can be provided.

  Hereinafter, the best embodiment will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an interactive education apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an instructor side device of the interactive education apparatus, and reference numeral 2 denotes a student side device, which is connected to the instructor side device 1 via a communication line such as a network. 3 is a lecturer terminal. A lecture distribution server 8 distributes lecture information such as lecturer videos, student videos, and lecture materials. 12 is a real-time lecture management server that relays lecture events sent from each terminal (for example, lecturer's student nomination, student's response to the nomination, answerer's question, lecturer's answer to the question) To do. A lecture information storage server 14 receives the lecture event from the real-time lecture management server 14 and stores the received lecture event in the lecture information storage device 17. Reference numeral 17 denotes a lecture information storage device that stores all the lecture information distributed by the lecture distribution server 8.

  A student terminal 18 provided for each student receives and displays the lecture information and has an interactive function with the lecturer-side apparatus 1. Reference numeral 23 denotes a classroom terminal, which has a function equivalent to that of the student terminal 18 and a student management function such as user authentication of the student.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of the lecturer terminal 3, the student terminal 18, and the classroom terminal 23. In the figure, 29 is a personal computer constituting each terminal, and 30 is an image / sound input device such as a TV camera. The personal computer 29 captures lecture information of the lecturer, dialogue information of the lecturer or students, and the like. 31 is a capture device that converts the captured video information into a format that can be handled by a personal computer, 32 is a network connection device for connecting to a network, and 33 is a network such as the Internet. The personal computer 29 is provided with various interfaces such as a keyboard and a mouse.

  The lecture information distribution server 8, the real-time lecture management server 12, and the lecture information storage server 14 are configured by a personal computer, a workstation, or the like provided with a network device that can be connected to the network 33. The lecture information storage server 14 is connected to the lecture information storage device 17 via a network or the like. In FIG. 1, the instructor side device is composed of a plurality of servers and storage devices, but these can also be composed of a single device.

  The instructor terminal 3 is a normal remote lecture system such as a student interaction unit that interacts with the student side device via a communication line, or an answer input unit that inputs an answer to a question input from the student side device. In addition to the function of the instructor terminal, a lecture material switching means 4, a switching timing recording means 5, a student interaction means 6, and an answering means 7 are provided.

  When the material switching means 4 receives a material switching command from the mouse / keyboard operated by the lecturer, the material switching means 4 reads the material to be distributed next from the accumulated lecture information, and transmits the read material to the lecture information distribution server 8. Further, the real-time lecture management server 12 is notified that a material switching event has occurred.

  If the material to be distributed is the first material, a topic storage area is created in the lecture storage device at the switching timing via the real-time lecture management server 12. The switching timing recording means 5 acquires the lecture elapsed time, the pre-switching material name, and the post-switching material name at the time of switching the materials, and transmits the acquired information to the real-time lecture management server 12.

  The student interaction means 6 can be activated at an arbitrary timing during the lecture when the student inputs a conversation request using the student terminal 18 or when the lecturer desires a conversation with the student.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the processing of the student interaction means 6. When the student interaction means 7 is activated, a nominated student list shown in FIG. 3 pops up. The nominated student list includes a designated student determination button 35, a student ID number display area 36, a student name display area 37, and a attendance place display area 38. The instructor presses the designated student determination button 35 with reference to the information displayed in the pop-up. The real-time lecture management server 12 acquires the student nomination event and the student ID number when it is pressed, and transmits it to the student terminal 18. When the student accepts the nomination and sends a notification to the effect that the student has accepted, the means 12 instructes the designated student video and the designated student video delivery event via the student video delivery means 11. Transmit to terminal 3.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the processing of the reply means. The reply means 7 accesses the lecture management table 50 stored in the lecture information storage device 17 when the means is activated, and acquires the lecture ID 39 assigned to the lecturer from the lecturer column 41 by using the lecturer name as a key. . Next, a question related to the lecture is retrieved from the lecture information storage device 17 using the acquired lecture ID 39 as a key. When a question related to the lecture is searched, the searched information is displayed according to the stored question display format 51.

  In the example of the figure, a lecture name 44 of the lecturer is displayed at the top, and a topic name 45, a question ID 46, dialogue information 47, a title 48, and a selection button 49 are displayed. As the dialogue information 47, when the contents of the question are received as a video, an information name is displayed. The dialog information 47 is displayed in a format in which the displayed dialog video file is activated when the information name portion is clicked. The title 48 is registered when a student question is asked. The selection button 49 is used when selecting a question to be answered by the instructor.

  In FIG. 1, when the lecturer video distribution means 9 receives a lecture start signal from the lecturer terminal 3, the lecturer's lecture video transmitted from the lecturer terminal 3 is a student terminal 18 of all students who are participating in the lecture. And transmitted to the classroom terminal 23. The lecture video is also transmitted to the lecture information storage server 14 to store the video.

  The lecture material distribution unit 10 receives the material to be distributed next from the material switching unit 4 of the lecturer terminal 3, and transmits the received material to all the student terminals / classroom terminals participating in the lecture.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a student access point table. The student video distribution unit 11 receives the student ID number (see FIG. 3) of the student who wants to select the dialog from the student dialog unit 6 of the instructor terminal 3 and accumulates lecture information based on the received student ID number. The student access point table 52 stored in the apparatus 17 is searched to obtain the IP address of the student that matches the student ID number. Next, a student video is acquired based on the IP address, and the acquired video is distributed to the lecturer terminal 3, the student terminal 18, and the classroom terminal 23.

  In FIG. 1, various event relay means 13 relays various events transmitted by the lecturer terminal 3, the student terminal 18, and the classroom terminal 23, and distributes them to each terminal to be transmitted. Further, it is stored in the lecture information storage device 17 for use as a stored lecture through the lecture event recording means 15. The various lecture information storage means 16 stores all the lecture information transmitted from the lecture information distribution server 8 in the lecture information storage device 17.

  The lecturer questioning means 19 transmits its student ID number and lecturer question event to the real-time lecture management server 12 at the time when the student uses it during the real-time lecture.

  The dialogue means 20 is a case where the student desires a dialogue with the lecturer using the lecturer questioning means 19 and the lecturer nominates the student using the student dialogue means 6 or the lecturer uses the student dialogue means 6. When a student is nominated by using it, a dialog start event is received via various event relay means and displayed on the student terminal. At the same time, the video / audio input device 30 and the capture device 31 of the student terminal 18 are activated, and the video / audio at the time of the question / dialogue of the student is transmitted to the student video distribution means 11.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of a display screen of a student terminal at the time of attending a stored lecture (lecture performed using information stored in the lecture information storage device 17). The accumulated question registration means 21 in FIG. 1 can be used either when attending accumulated lectures or not attending. When using the stored question registration means 21 when taking a stored lecture, first, the dialogue question button 59 is pressed. Then, the stored question registration means 21 is activated and the display screen is changed from the display screen 60 to the display screen 64. At this time, the student video window 61 is opened in addition to the lecturer video window 57. At the same time, the moving image / voice input device 30 and the capture device 31 are activated, and recording of question information regarding the lecture materials 58 and 64 is started. The student presses the end button 63 when the question is finished. Thereby, the accumulation question registration means 21 ends the process.

  When the processing is completed, the question end pop-up 65 is activated, and the attendance restart button 66 and the return button 67 shown in FIG. 7 are displayed. When the attendance restart button 66 is pressed, a question for an accumulated lecture or a real-time lecture is registered. Next, the screen returns to the screen 60 used when attending a normal accumulated lecture. When the return button 67 is pressed, the screen 64 is restored. Note that when the stored question content confirmation button 62 is pressed on the screen 64, the recorded question content can be confirmed.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the question bulletin board. When the stored question registration means 21 is used when not taking a stored lecture, a question bulletin board 73 is used. The question bulletin board 73 lists questions and answers related to the same topic that occurred in the past.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of the question bulletin board 73. When the student terminal 18 logs in to the system, the lecture material list 74 is displayed by selecting the target lecture from the lecture list 74. A topic name is generated and assigned to each material displayed in the lecture material list 74 during the lecture. When a questionable material is selected from the lecture material list 74, a topic name is acquired from the lecture information storage device 17 using the material name as a key. Next, matching is performed with the topic name column 69 of the question list table 68 in the lecture information storage device 17 using the topic name as a key, and all the questions / answers to be targeted are acquired and displayed in the form of a question bulletin board 73.

  In the displayed question list, in the case of question information having a video, a dialogue question index 70 is displayed to indicate that there is video information. If there are more questions for each question and answer, the response button 71 is pressed. When the reply button 71 is pressed, the stored question registration means 21 is activated, and it is possible to select the presence or absence of a video and further ask questions about the target item. A new question registration button 72 is used to register a new question when not taking the accumulated lecture.

  The stored question registration means 21 may not include video and may describe the question content in a bulletin board format. In this case, the dialogue question index 70 is not displayed when the question list is displayed.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a topic question storage area and index generation processing when a real-time lecture is conducted. When the real-time lecture is started, an event input from the lecturer terminal is first waited at step 76. When an event occurs from the instructor terminal, it is determined whether or not the generated event is a material switching event. If the event is a material switching event, the process proceeds to step 78. If not, the process proceeds to step 81.

  In step 78, the instructor determines whether or not the material to be used next is the material to be used for the first time. If it is the material to be used for the first time, the process proceeds to step 79. If not, the process proceeds to step 80. In step 79, a topic question storage area is generated in the lecture information storage device 17. In step 80, an index is generated based on the material switching information by the lecturer terminal 3.

  In step 81, it is determined whether or not the received event is a lecture end event. If the received event is a lecture end event, the real-time lecture is ended. If the received event is not an end event, the process proceeds to step 76.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of index information. The index information includes a lecture ID 82 for recording the lecture type, an elapsed time 83 for recording the time when the material switching occurred, a pre-switching material name 84 for recording the material information before switching, and a post-switching material name 85 for recording the material information after switching. The next topic name 86 that records the topic name that occurs at the switching timing and is assigned to the next material is provided. The generated index is stored in the lecture information storage device 17 via various lecture event relay means 13 and lecture event recording means 15.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the flow of dialogue processing in a real-time lecture. When the real-time lecture is started, the process proceeds to step 87, and an event input from the lecturer terminal is awaited. If an event is input, the process proceeds to step 88, where it is determined whether or not the event is a participant's desire to interact (raise hand). If it is a student's hand raising event, the process proceeds to step 89; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 90.

  In step 89, the student who raised his hand is registered in the instructor terminal and is ready to be called via the student interaction means 6. In step 90, it is determined whether or not the input event is an arbitrary student nomination process performed by an instructor nominating an arbitrary student. If the input event is an arbitrary student nomination process, the process proceeds to step 91, so If not, the process proceeds to step 87 because the event does not require interactive processing. In step 91, the student who has been registered as the conversation applicant in step 89 and the student who can be appointed as the conversation applicant are displayed on the instructor terminal in the format shown in FIG.

  In step 92, a student is selected, and in step 93, dialogue processing is realized using the lecturer video distribution means 9, the student video distribution means 11, and the like. In step 94, it is determined whether or not a dialog end event indicating the end of the dialog has occurred. If a dialog end event has occurred, means necessary for the dialog processing are stopped in step 95. In step 96, information obtained through the dialogue is registered in the lecture information storage device 17, and the process proceeds to step 87.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining dialogue processing in an accumulated lecture. When the accumulated lecture is started, first, in step 97, an event input from the student is awaited. In step 98, it is determined whether or not the input event is a question event of the student (for example, pressing of the question button 72 in FIG. 8). If it is a student's question event, in step 99, the question is processed (answer processing, etc.). In step 100, it is determined whether or not the question processing has been completed. If the question processing has been completed, information obtained from the question is registered in the lecture information storage device 17, and the process proceeds to step 97.

  As described above, the questions generated by students who have taken accumulated lectures or real-time lectures and the instructor's answers to the questions are stored in association with the topics (subjects) of the lecture materials used in the accumulated lectures or real-time lectures. . For this reason, for example, a student who newly takes the accumulated lecture can easily search for a question and an answer issued by a student who has previously taken the same lecture using the topic of the lecture material as a key. Therefore, it provides an effective learning aid for students. In addition, it is possible for the instructor to save the trouble of making duplicate answers to duplicate questions.

It is a figure explaining the interactive education apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the details of the lecturer terminal 3, the student terminal, and the classroom terminal. It is a figure explaining the process of a student dialogue means. It is a figure explaining the process of an accumulation question reply means. It is a figure which shows a student access point table. It is a figure explaining the example of a display screen of a storage lecture (a student terminal at the time of attendance). It is a figure explaining the display after question end popup activation. It is a figure explaining a question bulletin board. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a question bulletin board. It is a figure explaining the topic question storage area and index production | generation process at the time of real-time lecture implementation. It is a figure which shows the example of index information. It is a figure explaining the flow of the dialogue processing in a real-time lecture. It is a figure explaining the dialogue processing in an accumulation lecture.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lecturer side device 2 Student side device 3 Lecturer terminal 4 Material switching means 5 Switching timing recording means 6 Student dialogue means 7 Accumulated question answering means 8 Lecture information distribution server 9 Lecturer video distribution means 10 Lecture material distribution means 11 Student video Distribution means 12 Real-time lecture management server 13 Lecture event relay means 14 Lecture information storage server 15 Lecture event recording means 16 Lecture information storage means 17 Lecture information storage device 18 Student terminal 19 Instructor question means 20 Dialogue means 21 Accumulated question registration means 22 Storage Question / dialog reference means 23 Classroom terminal 24 Instructor question means 25 Dialog means 26 Accumulated question registration means 27 Student management means 28 Accumulated question / dialog reference means 29 Personal computer 30 Video / audio input device 31 Capture device 32 Network connection device 33 Ttowaku

Claims (5)

Lecture material switching means for switching pre-stored lecture materials to be transmitted to the student side device, student dialogue means for interacting with the student side device via a communication line, and questions input from the student side device An instructor-side terminal equipped with an answering means for inputting an answer to
A lecture information storage device that stores a question input from a student side terminal in association with a topic of the lecture material, a switching history of the lecture material, and an answer to the question;
A server device for connecting the instructor side terminal, the student side terminal and the lecture information storage device via a communication line;
When the server device receives a question associated with a topic of lecture material from the student side device, the server device searches for a question related to the topic and an answer to the question, and transmits it to the student side device. A remote interactive educational device. The remote interactive education device according to claim 1,
The student dialogue means generates a list of student side devices to which a dialogue request is input, specifies a student side device in the generated list, and starts a dialogue. The remote interactive education device according to claim 1 or 2,
The lecture information storage device includes an area for storing a question, and the area is created when the lecture material is used for the first time. The remote interactive education device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A remote interactive education apparatus, wherein the student side device comprises a student management means for performing user authentication of the student. The remote interactive education device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A remote interactive education apparatus, wherein the instructor side terminal and the student terminal are provided with an image and voice input device.

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