CA1262262A - Education utility - Google Patents
Education utilityInfo
- Publication number
- CA1262262A CA1262262A CA000501814A CA501814A CA1262262A CA 1262262 A CA1262262 A CA 1262262A CA 000501814 A CA000501814 A CA 000501814A CA 501814 A CA501814 A CA 501814A CA 1262262 A CA1262262 A CA 1262262A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- information
- usage
- video
- storage device
- transmitting
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Landscapes
- Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)
Abstract
Abstract of the Disclosure A system for distributing educational information in digital form to a plurality of schools simultaneously transmits the information via a satellite (15) to FM stations (18) which retransmit to schools having receiver for receiving the information and a main computer (101) for storing the information. Access to the information is subsequently provided to a plurality of students via classroom computers (111) and individual terminals (121). Usage and performance data is automatically stored in the main computer ( 101 ) and sent to the sender by dial-up modem (105) to keep track of usage and to permit billing usage and royalty charges.
Description
d ~
EDUCATION VTILITY
Background Or the Invention This invention relate~ to ~n~ormation di3tribution in ~eneral ~nd more particularly to a method Q~
di~trlbut~ng educational material oYer a wide area, herelna~ter referred to a3 the Education Utility.
Pre~ent methods of distribut$ng educa~iona~ material ~heth~r it be in the rorm Or bookQ, ~ilms, video tape~, computer pr~grams or other types of ~aterial are relatively expensive and inefricient, Very o~ten, material, partlcularly ln the case o~ textbooks, rsr example, may be out Or date be~ore it reache~ the cla sroom.
t5 There has been a great deal o~ empha~i~ on the use of co~puters in the educational proces~ ln recent years.
There are a number o~ a~pect~ to the u~e of computers $n education. One a~pect is the u e o~ computer~ to a~d in the educational process through the u~e Or educational
EDUCATION VTILITY
Background Or the Invention This invention relate~ to ~n~ormation di3tribution in ~eneral ~nd more particularly to a method Q~
di~trlbut~ng educational material oYer a wide area, herelna~ter referred to a3 the Education Utility.
Pre~ent methods of distribut$ng educa~iona~ material ~heth~r it be in the rorm Or bookQ, ~ilms, video tape~, computer pr~grams or other types of ~aterial are relatively expensive and inefricient, Very o~ten, material, partlcularly ln the case o~ textbooks, rsr example, may be out Or date be~ore it reache~ the cla sroom.
t5 There has been a great deal o~ empha~i~ on the use of co~puters in the educational proces~ ln recent years.
There are a number o~ a~pect~ to the u~e of computers $n education. One a~pect is the u e o~ computer~ to a~d in the educational process through the u~e Or educational
2~ ~oftware. A sec~nd u~e Or computers ls in the ram~llarizat~on of student~ wl~h the uQe Or ~o~puters and utll~ty-type compu~er pr~gram4~ ror exa~ple, the us~
Or rinanclal spread ~heet proxram~, word proce~sing ~
text edltlng, etc. ~hich they ~ay have to use later on 2~ ~n their career~ in busine~s. Thl~ ls so~etime~ referred '3~
to a~ computer literacy. Finally, there is the training, which is giYen in some instances, in programming of computers to teach the ~tudents how to ~rite and develop their own progra~s.
For the mo~t part, co~puter u~e in schools ha~ been through microcomputer~. Each indi~idual microcomputér requires, ln ~ddition to its own keyboard and display a storage device ~uch as a tape or di~c drivc, I~ a computer i~ to be pro~ided ~or each student in a cla~room~ thi arrangement must be duplicated ror each ~tudent. The di~c drives, in particular add to the lnitial co~t and to maintenance problem~ and costs.
~urthermor~, ~he use of ~he e ~eparate computers requires a Breat ~Dany duplicate copies of the programs which are to be used. This further increases the cost and in ~any ca3eQ lead~ to an unlawful copying of ~ortware al~o ~aking it Yirtually impos~ible logistically to modify or update 30ft~are or courseware once it i~ di~tributed. This removes 90me 0~ the 20 incentive for programmers to develop good ~o~tware ~or u3e ln computer-aided instruction.
Thi3 brings up another problem. It i~ pre~ently very difricult for educator~ to evaluate the value o~ any given ~ortware package ~or u~e in computer-aided ln~truction, Very little data i~ available on the use and ~ati3~a~tion Or other3.
Televi~ion has come lnto some u~e in the school~
pri~arily through educational channel3 ~n wh~ch ~ducational material i~ broadca3t over the air to the ~arious 3chool~. Little ha~ been done how~ver to integrate this with oth~r lnstructional material ~uch a~
computer~aided in~truction.
~ r d ~ j ~.J ~ ,-t,:, Thus, althoug~ technology has made available various tool~ which can aid in the educational proces.~, the~e toolQ have not been erficiently used. ~he ~eed to apply thi~ available technology to the educational sy~tem, that is to ~ay, the need ~or an educational utility which will distribute educational ~aSerial to school~
Just a~ pre~ent public utilitles distribute electricity, gas, ~ater, telephone service~ and the like become~
evident. In uch a ~y~tem, the ability to provide up-10 to-date infor~ation ~hould be available as ~ell ~ the ability to account ~or the u~e of information ~o that the creators Or the courseware be it in the rOrm Or film, video tape, soft~are or whatever are properly compensated ~or their endeavor3.
~
She present invention provides ~uch an education 1 utility. It permit~ distribution of cour~eware to a large area, es3entially the whole country, 3imultaneou~1y, at low cost and high peed. ~ilms, video tapes, computer programs, computer-aided ~ nstruction, textual inrormation and the like can all be converted into a ~orm which can then be transmitted over the a~r. Variou~ cour~eware and rilmware can be combined ~or muoh greater effectivene~s and interaction e.g., vldeo wlth text.
Tran~ Qion Or the information i3 done using exi~ting satelllte, ~M radio and television facilitie~. In the ca~e Or .~ome Or ~he facilities-such a3 tele~i~ion this ls pre~erably done during the night when the~e ~acilitie3 are not other~ise bein~ used.
Inrormatlon, be lt ln the rorm o~ digital data or video lnfor~ation, e.g. a televi~ed ~ilm, ~ideo tape lecture, etc. i~ tran~mitted ~ro~ an up link station to a ~atellite. The di~ital data 13 tran~mitted from the satellite to an FM radio ~tation which tran~mits this data u~ing SCA tSub~idiary Channel Authorizat~on], a type o~ qide band tran~mi~sion authorized by the FCC~
FM SCA tran~ ion is only given as an example. Other ~or~s of broadca~t may be u~ed ~or tran~mitting this data. Video information is either tran~mitted directly fro~ the ~atelli~e to a di~h antenna -at the school or preferably through a local TV ~tation t~ the individual ~chool~. Along w~th each type of infor~ation being tran~mitted are addre s code~ of a conventional nature.
The ~tructuring o~ the codes ~ay vary according to circu~tance~. ~or example an addreQs code can be used to indicate whether She school is an elementary school, middle school or high ~chool and only ~he in~ormation rslevant to that particular type o~ school will be enabled to be received. In addition, ~chools can ~ubscribe to difrerent types o~ services and the address codes established so tha~ only ~he material to ~hich they subscribe will be receivedO Both group code~ and individual codes may be u~ed~ Data can be directed to a group of school or lndividual ~chool~: addre~ing to an individual ~tudent i~ a part Or the eduo~tion utility method.
A 3chool which i~ addres~ed, will receive the digital data ~hich will be loaded into mass 3torage in a central co~puter ror the ~chool. I~ video data i~ being 9uppl ied lt can be stored on a video storage medium, e,g., ~n a delayed video pro~ram device, a device where it i~ available ~or ruture u~e. One type o~ device which may be used for thi~ purpo~e ~a3 a capacity o~ up to 20 one hour ca~ette3. or ~ourQe other ~orms of stora~e ~uch as di-~k storage ~ay be u~ed.
A typlcal ~chool installation will include a main computer which ha~ a~ociated with lt a main storage device, e.g. 9 a large hard disc. 9n khe ~ard di~c, all o~ the di~ital inror~ation which the main co~puter ha receiYed ~111 be ~ored~ It ~ill of cour~e, take a perlod o~ time to huild up a complete library o~
inrorm~tion on the main compuSer. Once the ba~ic library i~ built up, daily updating will ~ake place.
A~sociated with She main comp~ter will typ~cally be a high Qpeed printer, 3uch as an ink jet or laser printer permitting making hard copies of the variou~ textual ~aterial ~hich i~ stored. Al~o aRsociated ~ith the main computer ~ a ~ode~ connected to a dial-up telephone line and remotely activated for tran~mitting usage in~ormation back to the ~ain ofrice automatically, preferably at night. The main ~omputer al~o provides control input~ for the delayed Yideo program ca~ette or other Yideo memory device, if lnstalled.
.
Coupled ~o the ~ain computer are a plurality Or clas~room computers typically one ~or each cla~room.
Clas~room computer~ ~re ~maller computers and take, out Or the full library of data and other -~ortware, the data wh$oh the particular t~acher in that cla~room wlshe~ to u~e over a period of time. Each cla~room is al90 optionally provlded with a television di~play device connected by a coaxial cable or riber optic to the video ~tora~e device. Thi~ may be a television set or prererably a video pro~ector.
Each cla~room computer ~upport~ a plurality of intelli~ent ter~inal~ or mlcrocomputer~ at ~tudent de~k~. The ~tudents thu~ have acce~q to the programs in the claq~room computer. The ~tudent terminals ~ay be speclal~y constructed terminal~ or may compr$~e pre-exis~ing ~icrocomputer3, 8.g., per~onal eomputer , equIpped ~th an lnter~ace ~hich permit~ acce~lng the cla~roo~ computer snd lt~ a~ociated storage device rather than the dlsc drlve ~hich ~ould n~rmally be ~ssociated ~ith the per~onal computer. The lnt~rrace an~ ~ortware are ~ade ~ecure ~o as to prevent duplication of t~e so~t~are~ The cla~sroo~ c~mputer i~
adapted to keep track ~r the nu~ber 5~ student3 using a particular 30rt~are package as well a~ their perrormance ~ith the courseware at ~very ~ucture and provides this lnrormation back to the ~ain computer. Thi~ usage and performance information along with the usage ln~ormation with respect to the video ~torage device ~hich i~ also kept in the main computer i~ ~ideo ls al~o provided, is periodically tran~mitted through the ~odem and telephone llne back to the Main or~ice ~or accounting purposes.
1~ Thi~ allo~s charg~ to be made ror sort~are rental, copyrlght royalties, a~ well as ma]ce possible in3tant rield te~ting, mod1rying or updating ~ortware and/or cour se~a re.
The ~ystem Or the pre~ent invention has numerous 20 advantage~. In terms Or provid$ng co~puting re~ources to the ~chool, $t provides these at low cost. In addition to the ability to receive eomputer-aided ~n~truction progra~s, each Or the student termlnals i3 capable Or acce3slng various util~ty progra~ to aid in co~puter familiar~ty and 1~ able to be used to create a ~tudent' own programR. The ~chool can create its own 30ftware to be ~tored ln the maln computer ror which ~pecial chargeQ
will n~t be made.
In comparison to some distributed ~y-Qtem3 now in uQe ~0 .~hlch utilize ~elephone link~, lnteract~Ye proces~ing ean take place without lncurring tran~mi.~sion costs.
Alon~ with the provi~ion of educational material, the 3y~tem al~o provlde~ the capability to provide electron~c mail ~ervlce~, bulletln boards, computer J
~7 conferencing and 90 on. Since any necessary communications between ~chool-q can be carr$ed out in hours when charges are low, e.g., at night, the co~tq are kept low. Also wh~le batches o~ in~ormat~on are tranQmitted at one tlme, further keeping co~t-q low.
Thus, each 3chool, in addi~ion to gettinB educational material from the eystem can receive electronic mail from other ~chools or, ~or exa~ple, ~tate education authorities. Announcement~ can be made by bulletin boar~ an~ -QO ~orth. To ~end a message to another facillty, one uses the telephone link during of~-hour~.
In other word~, outgoing ~essages are prepared during the day and stored in the main comput~r. At She aqsigned time, the telephone link is remotely and auto~atically establ~hed through She modem and all ~essages aent to the main computer center tor an intermediate computer center~ or, the local F~ station].
The system provides a secure form Or software rental witho~t the risk of piracy as now occurs when di3cs are u~ed. It permits delivering and storlng data baQes in schoolQ in a particularly effic~ent manner and the ability to keep all 30rtware in the school updated without manual lntervention by the schoo}.
The need ror ~loppy discs and the problems associa~ed therewith are avo~ded ~ince all software is acce~sible from the ~ain computer at all terminals. Since thi~
~ortware can be loaded into each lndividual terminal, it is possible ~or the ~ofSware to be used indiYidually at each ter~inal. Thu~, if the nature of it~ u~e i~ 3uch that the ~hole class goe along together that can be done. However, it i~ al~o po~ible for each student to work at ~i~ own pace on Dther types of computer-aided ln~t~uetion or progra~s.
'3 ~ ,r ~ecau~e the ~ystem has an ability to also provide audio and vi~ual lnformation stored on a video ~torage device, along with providing the digital information to the computer, which lnrormation may in many case~ ~lmply ~e textual material or a series Or que~tions, the maSerial delivered to the computer can be inte~r3ted ~ th video material thereby ~akinB the cour~eware provided at each indlvidual terminal ~nteractive with the televiaed ~ilm39 video ~torage devices or telelec~ure~ pr~vided to the ~hole cla ~. Thu~ ror example, with the additlon o~
video, a pre3entation can be given on the screen and at the ~ame time pertinent questions asked on ~he terminal ~hich the ~tudent can an~er during t~e presentation or after ~t i3 over uqing the 3tudent terminal. This type Or interactive in~truction can be particularly useful and goes beyond what the computer or televi~ion presentation alone can do.
The sy~tem in addition to keeping track Or royaltie~ ~o that the schools may be billed and the creators compensated based on uQe~ also has the inherent ability to keep track Or ~tudent and teacher perrormance and use. Thi~ informatlon i~ particularly use~ul in evaluating the quality o~ the cour~eware.
The system al~o permits taking advantage oP the late~t current event~, sortware, data ba~e~, educational services and qo rorth es~entially ln3tantly. Presently, the distrlbution Or new ~ort~are over a wide area ~an be quite time-con uming. With the Education Utility~ a~
.~oon as the ~oPtware i~ ready, ik can be tranYmitted throughout the country by ~atellite and be available the 3ame day to every school. Thi~ ability i~ even more important in ~erm~ Or current events, development~ ~r changeq ~hich take place.
_9_ The ~ystem al~o provides the ability to create and/or provide admin~trative ~ervice~ and teacher ¢urriculum and traininB material when and where needed. Once a ~chool i~ wired ~or the present system, it i~ avallable to accept es~entially any new ~ldeo educational ~ervice or prod~ct ~ithout additional hardware.
The ~y~tem of the pre~ent invention pro~ides a complete internal and external telecommunications ~y~tem ror the school. The ability to provide electronic mail outside the ~chool was noted abo~e. However, the ~yste~ can also provide electronic mail within the ~chool with lnformation being entered at the main computer and di tributed to the cla srooms and if de~ired to ~tudent terminal~. If a large ~creen video di~play i~ provided, 1~ the teacher's con~ole or students terminal can provide information ~uch a bulletin board inrormation or computer graphics etc. 7 through a modulator to the large ~creen di~play in the las~room when it 1~ desired to present information to the whole cla~s. This i~ al~o u3eful to give a programming demon~tration or the like.
The system also provides benerits to the community a3 a whole. After school hour~t the ~acilities can be u~ed ~or retraining, c~ntinulng education and adult education. In addition, if desired the ~yste~ can be expanded to per~it acce~ by home computer~ via telephone or cable ~y3tem9.
The sy~tem can al30 provide an on-~ite di~posable book or educational publishing sy~tem. Through the ~y~tem, ext material can be transmitted, 3tored in the ~ain ~tore and then, arter ~ord pr4ce~3ing or tex~ editing, ~ nece.Q~ary, printed out on a high ~peed printing device ~nd duplicated a~ nece~sary. ThiQ will permit educators to con~truct their own bookq and paper~ by ~oing into ~torage and retreiving all pertinent ;
materlal. The gatherlng editing, with translating if neceQ~ary, and electronic delivery of current ~nformation will all be part Or the Educational Utility ~ervices provided tu sub~criber~. For example, the 5 Educ~tional Utility can have corre~pondent~ throughout the world reporting on 3cientific development~, The~e 3cientific development will be reported over the Educatlonal Utility and will ~ecome part of the data base. ~hen teacher~ are about to teach on a particular sub~ect they can retrieve rrom the appropriate data base the nece~ary material including the most up-to-date reports and include them in their text which will be di3tributed to the cla~s. Appropriate royalty payments will be made to the creators o~ the ~aterial.
The sy~tem also permit~ delivery Or ~o~tware ~or preview and approval or comment~. ~hen a new type Or ~oftware i~ developed, it can be sent out on approval to a few test school~ and once the result~ are obtained immediately di~tributed widely if the re~ult~ warrant.
In addition, when new ~ortware is di~tributed lt can be sent out cost-free for a short period to allow sub criber3 to preview i~ before they must ~tart paying.
Brier Descrip ~
Fig. 1 is a block diaBra~ showing th~ ~atellite, ~M and TV di3tribution sy~tem.
Fig. 2 is a block diagram ~howing the receivers and proces3ing and decoding.
Fig. 3 i3 a block dia8ram o~ the computer sy3tem and it~
distribution throughout the ~choolO
Detalled Description of the Invention.
__ Fig. 1 illustrates, in block diagram form, the general arrangement of the system of the present inv~ntion. At a main office 11, the information which is to be distributed over a wide area, which, for example, could include all of the United States, is formated and coded as necessary wi~h address codes and transmitted via a transmitting antenna 13 to a satellite 15. In conventional fashion, the information is retransmitted from the satellite 15. The information sent to the satellite will include digital information and may also include television information, i.e., video and audio.
The digital or computer information is transmitted by the satellite to a dish antenna 17 at an FM sta~ion 18 from which it is retransmitted from an antenna 19, on an FM SCA sideband.
This method of transmission is described in detail in U.S. Patent 4,417,349 and is also described in Patent 4~558~454O These last two patents describe portions of a system capable of transmitting at a particularly high rate of 9600 baud. This is the preferred system for use with the present invention.
The video information, if used, may be transmitted to a dish antenna 21 at a TV station 23 from which it is retransmitted by transmitter 25. Alternatively, it can be transmitted directly to a dish antenna 27 at a school 29 which has, in addition to the antenna 27, an FM
antenna 31. In the case of transmission from the television station 25, a school 30 has a TV antenna 33 and an FM antenna 3~. Thus, with the additional use of television transmission, in either case, the school can obtain both audio and visual information, which can then be stored on a video storage device, at the same time as (,4~i rS,~ f~
it obtain~ the digital computer informaSion which iq ~tored in computer memory ~or u~e in the future. As indicated previou~ly, Quch transmissions typically take place during the dark hours ~hen ~any ~tation~ are not ln u~e.
Information concern~ng usage, electronic mail, etc. is ent back to t~e main orfice from the -~chool 31 by a phone line 37. The in~ormation may be sent to the local FM station 18 in addition to or in place of ~ending in~ormation to the ~ain Or~ice.
The SCA ~ignal ~rom the antenna i3 received $n an FM
recei~er 4t as lllustr~ted ln ~ig. 2. From the receiver~ the signal is coupled through subcarrier detectors, ~ilters 43 and a decoder and proces~or 44.
This ~ay be, ~or example, a microproce3sor. I~ the information being received has an address corresponding to the addre3s Or the particular receiving statiGn, the digital data appear~ on l~ne 45 for transmis~ion to a main 3t~rage area in a main computer.
If the ~y~tem l~ also so adapted, ~ldeo and audio information i3 received by a TV receiver 47 and the ~ideo and audio 3$gnal~ arter proce~sing through the recelver, coupl~d over a llne 49 to a ~witch 51 and to a decoder 53. As30ciated with each tran-~mi~sion 19 an addre.~s code which mu~t be decoded ln decoder 53 to clo.~e the switch 51. In addition, 3crambling may be u~ed and a de-scra~bler 55 i9 provided, enabled by an outpu~ rrom decode 53. ~inally, the signal reache3 a DVP or delayed vldeo proeram cassette dev$Ge 57. One ~uch device ha~ a ~apaci~y o~ up to 20 ca3sette9 each o~
one-hour length. Devices using conventional t~o hour VHS ca~ette~, tor exa~ple, ~ay also be u~ed. It i3 in ~ I~J~ J~ 't er~ecS a library which can ~tore a number Or programQ
and by means of a ~election lnput 59 3elect one o~ them a~ an output on llne 60.
The ~y~tem can of course be expanded to provide ~election of ~ore than one ca~sette and more than one output. T~e 31gnal ~rom decoder 53 ena~les the ca~ette device to begln rec~rding a video program which is being trans~itted ~or Qtorage. At the same time, ln~ormation lq tran~mitted oYer the SCA channel to identi~y and give 10 a ~ynDp3i~ of the video progra~ being tran~mitted. In additlon, lf there 19 any other courseware accompanying the video, that too could be tran~mitted at the same time, e.g, Yia ~M SCA. The delayed v$deo progra~ device can al~o be set to cause one of the tapes to be era~ed so as to always have a tape ready to receive a tran~miqsion. Although the ca~e~tes are typically one-h~ur ca~sette~, a series Or ~horter presentation~
can be stored on the tape with a precedin~ code, 3imilar to the addre33 code whlch allowed the material to b received in the fir~t place. Through ~uch a code, a portion Or a particular video tape may be ~elected to be tran~mitted over the line 60 to cla~rovm.
Fig. 3 showQ the general arrangement o~ the variou-~co~puters within the ~chool. At a central location i3 a main computer 101 with an a3sociated ~aln store 103.
Thig i9 a large capacity ~torage ~ean~, e.gD, a hard di~k, capab~e of ~toring the neces~ary cour~eware9 pro~rams data ba-~e~, etc. The main computer 101 receives ~erial input over the line 45 from the proce~ or and decoder of Flg. 2, If the ~y3tem l~ so equipped) ~t provide~ an output on line 59 to ~ake a ~election of the DVP ca~ette~ in accordance wi~h reque~t~ rrom variou3 parts o~ the ~chool. Optionally a~ociat~d ~ith the ~aln computer i3 a hi~h ~peed printer 104 e.g., an ink Jet or ~a~er printer whlch ~, !
permit~ makinB hard coples Or the couraeware material.
Thi~ ln efrect, permits the equivalent Or textbooks or parts o~ textbook~ to be tranQmitted 9 printed and duplicated in the schoo~ to allow the course material to be maintained ln a current condition at all tlme~.
Further~ore, lt permits teachers to tailor their cour~e material, ~electing from dirferent sources ~tored in the computer.
Also a4~ociated with the main computer ~Q an auto-dial modem 105 by means Or ~hich in~ormation concernlng u~age, electronic mail, etc. can be ~ed b~ck over the telephone line 37.
The main computer 101 supplies a plurality of cla~Qroom computerq 1 l 1. ~hereas the main computer 101 i~
typically a main ~rame or mini-computer, its prime requirement is that it have a large me~ory. The cla~room computers may be microcomputers with a relat~vely large memory Quch a~ hard di~c dri~e~ 113 O~
a capacity o~, e.g.l 5 to 10 M byte~. Bubble me~ory may be u ed in~tead Or di~k drive~. In~ormatlon i~
tranQferred rrom the main computer ~emory to the cla~sroom co~putçr memorie~ either under the control Or the maln co~puter or in re3pon~e to a requeQt rrom a teacher entered at a teacher conQole 115. The teacher con~ole 115 include~ a video di~play 117 and keyboard 19 to communi~ate with the claqsroom computer.
The ~ystem i oapable Or di3tribut$ng ~ortware from the maln co~puSer ~mulataneouYly to a plurallty of the computer~ 111. Similarly, the computer~ 111 can 30 dl~tribute ~oftware to the various student ter~lnal~ 121 each of which terminal3 lnclude a Yideo d~play 123 and keyboard 125 ~lth ~t~ own proce~qor and, e.~., 32 to 64K
o~ ~emory. The~e terminal~ can be cu~tom devlce3 or may compr~e pre~exi~tlng mlni-computers or perQonal computer~ ~uch a3 t~e Apple, I~M, C~m~odore, ~tari, ~to.
Such ~omputer~ n~rmally acce~ a ~loppy di~c to ~bta$n thelr program lnror~ation~ In aocordance ~$th the pre~ent ~n~entlon, each ls prov~ded w~th the necea3ary ~nterrace adapt~r ~o that the d~c operating ~y~tem ~ill ac~ea~ the cla~room c~puSer'~ ~torage rather than a dedicated ~loppy dl~c.
In addition, ~n ~ach cla~sroo~, one cla~sr~om beinB
indlcated by the ~rea ~ithin t~e dot~ed l1ne3 126 ~here ~0 ~ay be a Y~deo ~play 127, for example a v~deo pro~ector. If ~uch l~ installed, the teacher's con~ole, can be coupled to the vldeo proJector thr~ugh a ~odulator 129, ~or example, ~o aq to permit teacher3 to d$~play ~o the ~hole cla~room ~hat they have on their 15 unit . This can be userul ln t~aching programm~ng or di~playin~ bullet~n board ~e.qsage~ and the llke. Each Or the cla3~roo~ computer3 ~ programmed to keep track of u~age by the student terminal~ Or the ~arious programs and to r~ed thls ~n~or~ation ba~k to the main computer ~hich keeps a record of overall u~age wlthln ~he ~chool ~or charging ~nd rogalty purpose~.
A~ deqcribed above, the ~a~n computer recelve~ lnrorma-tion rrom ~he FM SCA data transml~ion. However, other meanq Or lnrormation input can al~o be used ruch a~
high-~peed data extracted fr~m an incomlng televislon ~ignal, local dl~c~ optlcal da~a d~c and ~o on. ~ore than likely when bulld~ng up the lnitial data ba~e, a phy lcal del~ery Or dl~cs to the lnd~vidual ~chool~
~ill prove ~ore e~rlcient than ~ran mi~ting all inror~ation ovcr the alr.
A~ ~l90 noted ab~Ye, the ~a~n coQputer ~nd, ~or that ~at~er cla~sroo~ cofflputers can utillze other ~ortware not prov~ded b~ the Educatlon Vtility. ~urther~ore, the ~aln computer, cla3sroo~ ~omputer~ and ter~inal~ can * Trade Marks compri~e pre-existin~ equipment so that if a ~ch~ol ha~
already lnve~ted in equlp~nent lt 19 not made ohs~lete by the Education Utility but only provided with an extended capability a~ far as -~ources o~ inr~rmation are concerned.
As lndicated, it i~ believed that a ela~Qroom compuker with a ~torage capacity of, for example, 5 to 10 megabytes, e~pandable aQ neces~ary, i~ ~u~icient. The manner in ~hich it ls u~ed ln the present ~ys~em i~ ~hat 10 is often referred to as a local area network file server. ~he teacher's console a~sociated with this computer i ln fact a privileged termin~l which i~ the only one ~hich allows ordering so~tware and data ~ile~.
Pre~erably teachers ~ill al30 have access to the ma~n computer o~er phone line~ at ho~e so that they may prepare ~or the next day.
The ~tudent terminal~ and the clas~room computer need not have an a~sociated printer~ However, a low cost printer 13~, may optionally be provided with the clas~room computer and/or with individual terminal~.
Prererably, the connection between the cla~sroom co~puter and the ~tudent ter~inal~ is by means Or a star twisted-pair ne~work with ~eparate pairs for input and output. ~ach 3tudent terminal is provlded with a "boot"
program to permit the terminal to automatically log into the ~la~room computer and to load the cho~en operating system int~ the terminal. The 3y~tem i9 de~igned uch that any Or the ~tandard per~onal computer operating system~ such as Apple) DOS and IBM MS/DOS can be u~ed.
In each case the operat~ng sy~tem is modiP~ed 80 that, whene~er a di~c acce3~ 19 called for, the tcrminal will ln~tead acces~ the clas~room computer. The opera~in~
system u~ed ln each ca~e i3 one which will not permit connectlon o~ a data drive and copying o~ any programs.
Or rinanclal spread ~heet proxram~, word proce~sing ~
text edltlng, etc. ~hich they ~ay have to use later on 2~ ~n their career~ in busine~s. Thl~ ls so~etime~ referred '3~
to a~ computer literacy. Finally, there is the training, which is giYen in some instances, in programming of computers to teach the ~tudents how to ~rite and develop their own progra~s.
For the mo~t part, co~puter u~e in schools ha~ been through microcomputer~. Each indi~idual microcomputér requires, ln ~ddition to its own keyboard and display a storage device ~uch as a tape or di~c drivc, I~ a computer i~ to be pro~ided ~or each student in a cla~room~ thi arrangement must be duplicated ror each ~tudent. The di~c drives, in particular add to the lnitial co~t and to maintenance problem~ and costs.
~urthermor~, ~he use of ~he e ~eparate computers requires a Breat ~Dany duplicate copies of the programs which are to be used. This further increases the cost and in ~any ca3eQ lead~ to an unlawful copying of ~ortware al~o ~aking it Yirtually impos~ible logistically to modify or update 30ft~are or courseware once it i~ di~tributed. This removes 90me 0~ the 20 incentive for programmers to develop good ~o~tware ~or u3e ln computer-aided instruction.
Thi3 brings up another problem. It i~ pre~ently very difricult for educator~ to evaluate the value o~ any given ~ortware package ~or u~e in computer-aided ln~truction, Very little data i~ available on the use and ~ati3~a~tion Or other3.
Televi~ion has come lnto some u~e in the school~
pri~arily through educational channel3 ~n wh~ch ~ducational material i~ broadca3t over the air to the ~arious 3chool~. Little ha~ been done how~ver to integrate this with oth~r lnstructional material ~uch a~
computer~aided in~truction.
~ r d ~ j ~.J ~ ,-t,:, Thus, althoug~ technology has made available various tool~ which can aid in the educational proces.~, the~e toolQ have not been erficiently used. ~he ~eed to apply thi~ available technology to the educational sy~tem, that is to ~ay, the need ~or an educational utility which will distribute educational ~aSerial to school~
Just a~ pre~ent public utilitles distribute electricity, gas, ~ater, telephone service~ and the like become~
evident. In uch a ~y~tem, the ability to provide up-10 to-date infor~ation ~hould be available as ~ell ~ the ability to account ~or the u~e of information ~o that the creators Or the courseware be it in the rOrm Or film, video tape, soft~are or whatever are properly compensated ~or their endeavor3.
~
She present invention provides ~uch an education 1 utility. It permit~ distribution of cour~eware to a large area, es3entially the whole country, 3imultaneou~1y, at low cost and high peed. ~ilms, video tapes, computer programs, computer-aided ~ nstruction, textual inrormation and the like can all be converted into a ~orm which can then be transmitted over the a~r. Variou~ cour~eware and rilmware can be combined ~or muoh greater effectivene~s and interaction e.g., vldeo wlth text.
Tran~ Qion Or the information i3 done using exi~ting satelllte, ~M radio and television facilitie~. In the ca~e Or .~ome Or ~he facilities-such a3 tele~i~ion this ls pre~erably done during the night when the~e ~acilitie3 are not other~ise bein~ used.
Inrormatlon, be lt ln the rorm o~ digital data or video lnfor~ation, e.g. a televi~ed ~ilm, ~ideo tape lecture, etc. i~ tran~mitted ~ro~ an up link station to a ~atellite. The di~ital data 13 tran~mitted from the satellite to an FM radio ~tation which tran~mits this data u~ing SCA tSub~idiary Channel Authorizat~on], a type o~ qide band tran~mi~sion authorized by the FCC~
FM SCA tran~ ion is only given as an example. Other ~or~s of broadca~t may be u~ed ~or tran~mitting this data. Video information is either tran~mitted directly fro~ the ~atelli~e to a di~h antenna -at the school or preferably through a local TV ~tation t~ the individual ~chool~. Along w~th each type of infor~ation being tran~mitted are addre s code~ of a conventional nature.
The ~tructuring o~ the codes ~ay vary according to circu~tance~. ~or example an addreQs code can be used to indicate whether She school is an elementary school, middle school or high ~chool and only ~he in~ormation rslevant to that particular type o~ school will be enabled to be received. In addition, ~chools can ~ubscribe to difrerent types o~ services and the address codes established so tha~ only ~he material to ~hich they subscribe will be receivedO Both group code~ and individual codes may be u~ed~ Data can be directed to a group of school or lndividual ~chool~: addre~ing to an individual ~tudent i~ a part Or the eduo~tion utility method.
A 3chool which i~ addres~ed, will receive the digital data ~hich will be loaded into mass 3torage in a central co~puter ror the ~chool. I~ video data i~ being 9uppl ied lt can be stored on a video storage medium, e,g., ~n a delayed video pro~ram device, a device where it i~ available ~or ruture u~e. One type o~ device which may be used for thi~ purpo~e ~a3 a capacity o~ up to 20 one hour ca~ette3. or ~ourQe other ~orms of stora~e ~uch as di-~k storage ~ay be u~ed.
A typlcal ~chool installation will include a main computer which ha~ a~ociated with lt a main storage device, e.g. 9 a large hard disc. 9n khe ~ard di~c, all o~ the di~ital inror~ation which the main co~puter ha receiYed ~111 be ~ored~ It ~ill of cour~e, take a perlod o~ time to huild up a complete library o~
inrorm~tion on the main compuSer. Once the ba~ic library i~ built up, daily updating will ~ake place.
A~sociated with She main comp~ter will typ~cally be a high Qpeed printer, 3uch as an ink jet or laser printer permitting making hard copies of the variou~ textual ~aterial ~hich i~ stored. Al~o aRsociated ~ith the main computer ~ a ~ode~ connected to a dial-up telephone line and remotely activated for tran~mitting usage in~ormation back to the ~ain ofrice automatically, preferably at night. The main ~omputer al~o provides control input~ for the delayed Yideo program ca~ette or other Yideo memory device, if lnstalled.
.
Coupled ~o the ~ain computer are a plurality Or clas~room computers typically one ~or each cla~room.
Clas~room computer~ ~re ~maller computers and take, out Or the full library of data and other -~ortware, the data wh$oh the particular t~acher in that cla~room wlshe~ to u~e over a period of time. Each cla~room is al90 optionally provlded with a television di~play device connected by a coaxial cable or riber optic to the video ~tora~e device. Thi~ may be a television set or prererably a video pro~ector.
Each cla~room computer ~upport~ a plurality of intelli~ent ter~inal~ or mlcrocomputer~ at ~tudent de~k~. The ~tudents thu~ have acce~q to the programs in the claq~room computer. The ~tudent terminals ~ay be speclal~y constructed terminal~ or may compr$~e pre-exis~ing ~icrocomputer3, 8.g., per~onal eomputer , equIpped ~th an lnter~ace ~hich permit~ acce~lng the cla~roo~ computer snd lt~ a~ociated storage device rather than the dlsc drlve ~hich ~ould n~rmally be ~ssociated ~ith the per~onal computer. The lnt~rrace an~ ~ortware are ~ade ~ecure ~o as to prevent duplication of t~e so~t~are~ The cla~sroo~ c~mputer i~
adapted to keep track ~r the nu~ber 5~ student3 using a particular 30rt~are package as well a~ their perrormance ~ith the courseware at ~very ~ucture and provides this lnrormation back to the ~ain computer. Thi~ usage and performance information along with the usage ln~ormation with respect to the video ~torage device ~hich i~ also kept in the main computer i~ ~ideo ls al~o provided, is periodically tran~mitted through the ~odem and telephone llne back to the Main or~ice ~or accounting purposes.
1~ Thi~ allo~s charg~ to be made ror sort~are rental, copyrlght royalties, a~ well as ma]ce possible in3tant rield te~ting, mod1rying or updating ~ortware and/or cour se~a re.
The ~ystem Or the pre~ent invention has numerous 20 advantage~. In terms Or provid$ng co~puting re~ources to the ~chool, $t provides these at low cost. In addition to the ability to receive eomputer-aided ~n~truction progra~s, each Or the student termlnals i3 capable Or acce3slng various util~ty progra~ to aid in co~puter familiar~ty and 1~ able to be used to create a ~tudent' own programR. The ~chool can create its own 30ftware to be ~tored ln the maln computer ror which ~pecial chargeQ
will n~t be made.
In comparison to some distributed ~y-Qtem3 now in uQe ~0 .~hlch utilize ~elephone link~, lnteract~Ye proces~ing ean take place without lncurring tran~mi.~sion costs.
Alon~ with the provi~ion of educational material, the 3y~tem al~o provlde~ the capability to provide electron~c mail ~ervlce~, bulletln boards, computer J
~7 conferencing and 90 on. Since any necessary communications between ~chool-q can be carr$ed out in hours when charges are low, e.g., at night, the co~tq are kept low. Also wh~le batches o~ in~ormat~on are tranQmitted at one tlme, further keeping co~t-q low.
Thus, each 3chool, in addi~ion to gettinB educational material from the eystem can receive electronic mail from other ~chools or, ~or exa~ple, ~tate education authorities. Announcement~ can be made by bulletin boar~ an~ -QO ~orth. To ~end a message to another facillty, one uses the telephone link during of~-hour~.
In other word~, outgoing ~essages are prepared during the day and stored in the main comput~r. At She aqsigned time, the telephone link is remotely and auto~atically establ~hed through She modem and all ~essages aent to the main computer center tor an intermediate computer center~ or, the local F~ station].
The system provides a secure form Or software rental witho~t the risk of piracy as now occurs when di3cs are u~ed. It permits delivering and storlng data baQes in schoolQ in a particularly effic~ent manner and the ability to keep all 30rtware in the school updated without manual lntervention by the schoo}.
The need ror ~loppy discs and the problems associa~ed therewith are avo~ded ~ince all software is acce~sible from the ~ain computer at all terminals. Since thi~
~ortware can be loaded into each lndividual terminal, it is possible ~or the ~ofSware to be used indiYidually at each ter~inal. Thu~, if the nature of it~ u~e i~ 3uch that the ~hole class goe along together that can be done. However, it i~ al~o po~ible for each student to work at ~i~ own pace on Dther types of computer-aided ln~t~uetion or progra~s.
'3 ~ ,r ~ecau~e the ~ystem has an ability to also provide audio and vi~ual lnformation stored on a video ~torage device, along with providing the digital information to the computer, which lnrormation may in many case~ ~lmply ~e textual material or a series Or que~tions, the maSerial delivered to the computer can be inte~r3ted ~ th video material thereby ~akinB the cour~eware provided at each indlvidual terminal ~nteractive with the televiaed ~ilm39 video ~torage devices or telelec~ure~ pr~vided to the ~hole cla ~. Thu~ ror example, with the additlon o~
video, a pre3entation can be given on the screen and at the ~ame time pertinent questions asked on ~he terminal ~hich the ~tudent can an~er during t~e presentation or after ~t i3 over uqing the 3tudent terminal. This type Or interactive in~truction can be particularly useful and goes beyond what the computer or televi~ion presentation alone can do.
The sy~tem in addition to keeping track Or royaltie~ ~o that the schools may be billed and the creators compensated based on uQe~ also has the inherent ability to keep track Or ~tudent and teacher perrormance and use. Thi~ informatlon i~ particularly use~ul in evaluating the quality o~ the cour~eware.
The system al~o permits taking advantage oP the late~t current event~, sortware, data ba~e~, educational services and qo rorth es~entially ln3tantly. Presently, the distrlbution Or new ~ort~are over a wide area ~an be quite time-con uming. With the Education Utility~ a~
.~oon as the ~oPtware i~ ready, ik can be tranYmitted throughout the country by ~atellite and be available the 3ame day to every school. Thi~ ability i~ even more important in ~erm~ Or current events, development~ ~r changeq ~hich take place.
_9_ The ~ystem al~o provides the ability to create and/or provide admin~trative ~ervice~ and teacher ¢urriculum and traininB material when and where needed. Once a ~chool i~ wired ~or the present system, it i~ avallable to accept es~entially any new ~ldeo educational ~ervice or prod~ct ~ithout additional hardware.
The ~y~tem of the pre~ent invention pro~ides a complete internal and external telecommunications ~y~tem ror the school. The ability to provide electronic mail outside the ~chool was noted abo~e. However, the ~yste~ can also provide electronic mail within the ~chool with lnformation being entered at the main computer and di tributed to the cla srooms and if de~ired to ~tudent terminal~. If a large ~creen video di~play i~ provided, 1~ the teacher's con~ole or students terminal can provide information ~uch a bulletin board inrormation or computer graphics etc. 7 through a modulator to the large ~creen di~play in the las~room when it 1~ desired to present information to the whole cla~s. This i~ al~o u3eful to give a programming demon~tration or the like.
The system also provides benerits to the community a3 a whole. After school hour~t the ~acilities can be u~ed ~or retraining, c~ntinulng education and adult education. In addition, if desired the ~yste~ can be expanded to per~it acce~ by home computer~ via telephone or cable ~y3tem9.
The sy~tem can al30 provide an on-~ite di~posable book or educational publishing sy~tem. Through the ~y~tem, ext material can be transmitted, 3tored in the ~ain ~tore and then, arter ~ord pr4ce~3ing or tex~ editing, ~ nece.Q~ary, printed out on a high ~peed printing device ~nd duplicated a~ nece~sary. ThiQ will permit educators to con~truct their own bookq and paper~ by ~oing into ~torage and retreiving all pertinent ;
materlal. The gatherlng editing, with translating if neceQ~ary, and electronic delivery of current ~nformation will all be part Or the Educational Utility ~ervices provided tu sub~criber~. For example, the 5 Educ~tional Utility can have corre~pondent~ throughout the world reporting on 3cientific development~, The~e 3cientific development will be reported over the Educatlonal Utility and will ~ecome part of the data base. ~hen teacher~ are about to teach on a particular sub~ect they can retrieve rrom the appropriate data base the nece~ary material including the most up-to-date reports and include them in their text which will be di3tributed to the cla~s. Appropriate royalty payments will be made to the creators o~ the ~aterial.
The sy~tem also permit~ delivery Or ~o~tware ~or preview and approval or comment~. ~hen a new type Or ~oftware i~ developed, it can be sent out on approval to a few test school~ and once the result~ are obtained immediately di~tributed widely if the re~ult~ warrant.
In addition, when new ~ortware is di~tributed lt can be sent out cost-free for a short period to allow sub criber3 to preview i~ before they must ~tart paying.
Brier Descrip ~
Fig. 1 is a block diaBra~ showing th~ ~atellite, ~M and TV di3tribution sy~tem.
Fig. 2 is a block diagram ~howing the receivers and proces3ing and decoding.
Fig. 3 i3 a block dia8ram o~ the computer sy3tem and it~
distribution throughout the ~choolO
Detalled Description of the Invention.
__ Fig. 1 illustrates, in block diagram form, the general arrangement of the system of the present inv~ntion. At a main office 11, the information which is to be distributed over a wide area, which, for example, could include all of the United States, is formated and coded as necessary wi~h address codes and transmitted via a transmitting antenna 13 to a satellite 15. In conventional fashion, the information is retransmitted from the satellite 15. The information sent to the satellite will include digital information and may also include television information, i.e., video and audio.
The digital or computer information is transmitted by the satellite to a dish antenna 17 at an FM sta~ion 18 from which it is retransmitted from an antenna 19, on an FM SCA sideband.
This method of transmission is described in detail in U.S. Patent 4,417,349 and is also described in Patent 4~558~454O These last two patents describe portions of a system capable of transmitting at a particularly high rate of 9600 baud. This is the preferred system for use with the present invention.
The video information, if used, may be transmitted to a dish antenna 21 at a TV station 23 from which it is retransmitted by transmitter 25. Alternatively, it can be transmitted directly to a dish antenna 27 at a school 29 which has, in addition to the antenna 27, an FM
antenna 31. In the case of transmission from the television station 25, a school 30 has a TV antenna 33 and an FM antenna 3~. Thus, with the additional use of television transmission, in either case, the school can obtain both audio and visual information, which can then be stored on a video storage device, at the same time as (,4~i rS,~ f~
it obtain~ the digital computer informaSion which iq ~tored in computer memory ~or u~e in the future. As indicated previou~ly, Quch transmissions typically take place during the dark hours ~hen ~any ~tation~ are not ln u~e.
Information concern~ng usage, electronic mail, etc. is ent back to t~e main orfice from the -~chool 31 by a phone line 37. The in~ormation may be sent to the local FM station 18 in addition to or in place of ~ending in~ormation to the ~ain Or~ice.
The SCA ~ignal ~rom the antenna i3 received $n an FM
recei~er 4t as lllustr~ted ln ~ig. 2. From the receiver~ the signal is coupled through subcarrier detectors, ~ilters 43 and a decoder and proces~or 44.
This ~ay be, ~or example, a microproce3sor. I~ the information being received has an address corresponding to the addre3s Or the particular receiving statiGn, the digital data appear~ on l~ne 45 for transmis~ion to a main 3t~rage area in a main computer.
If the ~y~tem l~ also so adapted, ~ldeo and audio information i3 received by a TV receiver 47 and the ~ideo and audio 3$gnal~ arter proce~sing through the recelver, coupl~d over a llne 49 to a ~witch 51 and to a decoder 53. As30ciated with each tran-~mi~sion 19 an addre.~s code which mu~t be decoded ln decoder 53 to clo.~e the switch 51. In addition, 3crambling may be u~ed and a de-scra~bler 55 i9 provided, enabled by an outpu~ rrom decode 53. ~inally, the signal reache3 a DVP or delayed vldeo proeram cassette dev$Ge 57. One ~uch device ha~ a ~apaci~y o~ up to 20 ca3sette9 each o~
one-hour length. Devices using conventional t~o hour VHS ca~ette~, tor exa~ple, ~ay also be u~ed. It i3 in ~ I~J~ J~ 't er~ecS a library which can ~tore a number Or programQ
and by means of a ~election lnput 59 3elect one o~ them a~ an output on llne 60.
The ~y~tem can of course be expanded to provide ~election of ~ore than one ca~sette and more than one output. T~e 31gnal ~rom decoder 53 ena~les the ca~ette device to begln rec~rding a video program which is being trans~itted ~or Qtorage. At the same time, ln~ormation lq tran~mitted oYer the SCA channel to identi~y and give 10 a ~ynDp3i~ of the video progra~ being tran~mitted. In additlon, lf there 19 any other courseware accompanying the video, that too could be tran~mitted at the same time, e.g, Yia ~M SCA. The delayed v$deo progra~ device can al~o be set to cause one of the tapes to be era~ed so as to always have a tape ready to receive a tran~miqsion. Although the ca~e~tes are typically one-h~ur ca~sette~, a series Or ~horter presentation~
can be stored on the tape with a precedin~ code, 3imilar to the addre33 code whlch allowed the material to b received in the fir~t place. Through ~uch a code, a portion Or a particular video tape may be ~elected to be tran~mitted over the line 60 to cla~rovm.
Fig. 3 showQ the general arrangement o~ the variou-~co~puters within the ~chool. At a central location i3 a main computer 101 with an a3sociated ~aln store 103.
Thig i9 a large capacity ~torage ~ean~, e.gD, a hard di~k, capab~e of ~toring the neces~ary cour~eware9 pro~rams data ba-~e~, etc. The main computer 101 receives ~erial input over the line 45 from the proce~ or and decoder of Flg. 2, If the ~y3tem l~ so equipped) ~t provide~ an output on line 59 to ~ake a ~election of the DVP ca~ette~ in accordance wi~h reque~t~ rrom variou3 parts o~ the ~chool. Optionally a~ociat~d ~ith the ~aln computer i3 a hi~h ~peed printer 104 e.g., an ink Jet or ~a~er printer whlch ~, !
permit~ makinB hard coples Or the couraeware material.
Thi~ ln efrect, permits the equivalent Or textbooks or parts o~ textbook~ to be tranQmitted 9 printed and duplicated in the schoo~ to allow the course material to be maintained ln a current condition at all tlme~.
Further~ore, lt permits teachers to tailor their cour~e material, ~electing from dirferent sources ~tored in the computer.
Also a4~ociated with the main computer ~Q an auto-dial modem 105 by means Or ~hich in~ormation concernlng u~age, electronic mail, etc. can be ~ed b~ck over the telephone line 37.
The main computer 101 supplies a plurality of cla~Qroom computerq 1 l 1. ~hereas the main computer 101 i~
typically a main ~rame or mini-computer, its prime requirement is that it have a large me~ory. The cla~room computers may be microcomputers with a relat~vely large memory Quch a~ hard di~c dri~e~ 113 O~
a capacity o~, e.g.l 5 to 10 M byte~. Bubble me~ory may be u ed in~tead Or di~k drive~. In~ormatlon i~
tranQferred rrom the main computer ~emory to the cla~sroom co~putçr memorie~ either under the control Or the maln co~puter or in re3pon~e to a requeQt rrom a teacher entered at a teacher conQole 115. The teacher con~ole 115 include~ a video di~play 117 and keyboard 19 to communi~ate with the claqsroom computer.
The ~ystem i oapable Or di3tribut$ng ~ortware from the maln co~puSer ~mulataneouYly to a plurallty of the computer~ 111. Similarly, the computer~ 111 can 30 dl~tribute ~oftware to the various student ter~lnal~ 121 each of which terminal3 lnclude a Yideo d~play 123 and keyboard 125 ~lth ~t~ own proce~qor and, e.~., 32 to 64K
o~ ~emory. The~e terminal~ can be cu~tom devlce3 or may compr~e pre~exi~tlng mlni-computers or perQonal computer~ ~uch a3 t~e Apple, I~M, C~m~odore, ~tari, ~to.
Such ~omputer~ n~rmally acce~ a ~loppy di~c to ~bta$n thelr program lnror~ation~ In aocordance ~$th the pre~ent ~n~entlon, each ls prov~ded w~th the necea3ary ~nterrace adapt~r ~o that the d~c operating ~y~tem ~ill ac~ea~ the cla~room c~puSer'~ ~torage rather than a dedicated ~loppy dl~c.
In addition, ~n ~ach cla~sroo~, one cla~sr~om beinB
indlcated by the ~rea ~ithin t~e dot~ed l1ne3 126 ~here ~0 ~ay be a Y~deo ~play 127, for example a v~deo pro~ector. If ~uch l~ installed, the teacher's con~ole, can be coupled to the vldeo proJector thr~ugh a ~odulator 129, ~or example, ~o aq to permit teacher3 to d$~play ~o the ~hole cla~room ~hat they have on their 15 unit . This can be userul ln t~aching programm~ng or di~playin~ bullet~n board ~e.qsage~ and the llke. Each Or the cla3~roo~ computer3 ~ programmed to keep track of u~age by the student terminal~ Or the ~arious programs and to r~ed thls ~n~or~ation ba~k to the main computer ~hich keeps a record of overall u~age wlthln ~he ~chool ~or charging ~nd rogalty purpose~.
A~ deqcribed above, the ~a~n computer recelve~ lnrorma-tion rrom ~he FM SCA data transml~ion. However, other meanq Or lnrormation input can al~o be used ruch a~
high-~peed data extracted fr~m an incomlng televislon ~ignal, local dl~c~ optlcal da~a d~c and ~o on. ~ore than likely when bulld~ng up the lnitial data ba~e, a phy lcal del~ery Or dl~cs to the lnd~vidual ~chool~
~ill prove ~ore e~rlcient than ~ran mi~ting all inror~ation ovcr the alr.
A~ ~l90 noted ab~Ye, the ~a~n coQputer ~nd, ~or that ~at~er cla~sroo~ cofflputers can utillze other ~ortware not prov~ded b~ the Educatlon Vtility. ~urther~ore, the ~aln computer, cla3sroo~ ~omputer~ and ter~inal~ can * Trade Marks compri~e pre-existin~ equipment so that if a ~ch~ol ha~
already lnve~ted in equlp~nent lt 19 not made ohs~lete by the Education Utility but only provided with an extended capability a~ far as -~ources o~ inr~rmation are concerned.
As lndicated, it i~ believed that a ela~Qroom compuker with a ~torage capacity of, for example, 5 to 10 megabytes, e~pandable aQ neces~ary, i~ ~u~icient. The manner in ~hich it ls u~ed ln the present ~ys~em i~ ~hat 10 is often referred to as a local area network file server. ~he teacher's console a~sociated with this computer i ln fact a privileged termin~l which i~ the only one ~hich allows ordering so~tware and data ~ile~.
Pre~erably teachers ~ill al30 have access to the ma~n computer o~er phone line~ at ho~e so that they may prepare ~or the next day.
The ~tudent terminal~ and the clas~room computer need not have an a~sociated printer~ However, a low cost printer 13~, may optionally be provided with the clas~room computer and/or with individual terminal~.
Prererably, the connection between the cla~sroom co~puter and the ~tudent ter~inal~ is by means Or a star twisted-pair ne~work with ~eparate pairs for input and output. ~ach 3tudent terminal is provlded with a "boot"
program to permit the terminal to automatically log into the ~la~room computer and to load the cho~en operating system int~ the terminal. The 3y~tem i9 de~igned uch that any Or the ~tandard per~onal computer operating system~ such as Apple) DOS and IBM MS/DOS can be u~ed.
In each case the operat~ng sy~tem is modiP~ed 80 that, whene~er a di~c acce3~ 19 called for, the tcrminal will ln~tead acces~ the clas~room computer. The opera~in~
system u~ed ln each ca~e i3 one which will not permit connectlon o~ a data drive and copying o~ any programs.
Claims (41)
1. A method of distributing educational information in digital form to a plurality of schools simultaneously comprising:
a) transmitting the information from a central location;
simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of schools and storing said information; and b) subsequently providing simultaneous access to said information by a plurality of students.
a) transmitting the information from a central location;
simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of schools and storing said information; and b) subsequently providing simultaneous access to said information by a plurality of students.
2. The method according to claim 1 and further including keeping track of usage of said information and reporting back to the sender the level of usage to permit charging usage and royalty fees.
3. The method according to claim 1 wherein said information comprises computer software and computer-aided instructional material.
4. The method according to claim 1 comprising:
a) transmitting said material to a satellite;
b) transmitting the material from said satellite to a plurality of FM stations;
and c) retransmitting the information from said FM
stations on an SCA band to schools.
a) transmitting said material to a satellite;
b) transmitting the material from said satellite to a plurality of FM stations;
and c) retransmitting the information from said FM
stations on an SCA band to schools.
5. The method according to claim 4 and further including:
a) assigning to each school an address;
b) including address information with each group of material transmitted; and decoding said address information at each individual school so that only schools to which said information is directed will receive access to said information.
a) assigning to each school an address;
b) including address information with each group of material transmitted; and decoding said address information at each individual school so that only schools to which said information is directed will receive access to said information.
6. The method according to claim 5 comprising using both group and individual addresses.
7. The method according to claim 1 wherein said step of providing access by a plurality of students includes:
a) storing said information in a main computer storage device in each school;
b) transferring information from said main computer storage device to a classroom computer storage device; and c) transferring the information from the classroom computer storage device to each of a plurality of individual student terminals.
a) storing said information in a main computer storage device in each school;
b) transferring information from said main computer storage device to a classroom computer storage device; and c) transferring the information from the classroom computer storage device to each of a plurality of individual student terminals.
8. The method according to claim 1 and further including:
a) transmitting audio and video information;
b) receiving said audio and video information at a television receiver at each school;
and c) storing said information on a video storage medium and providing access to said video storage medium by individual classrooms.
a) transmitting audio and video information;
b) receiving said audio and video information at a television receiver at each school;
and c) storing said information on a video storage medium and providing access to said video storage medium by individual classrooms.
9. The method according to claim 8 comprising transmitting both video information and digital information related to said video information so as to permit interactive viewing of said video information by students.
10. The method according to claim 9 wherein said transmission of audio and video information includes:
a) transmitting said information to a satellite;
b) retransmitting the information from said satellite;
c) simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of television stations; and d) retransmitting said information to the television receivers at each of said plurality of schools.
a) transmitting said information to a satellite;
b) retransmitting the information from said satellite;
c) simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of television stations; and d) retransmitting said information to the television receivers at each of said plurality of schools.
11. The method according to claim 1 and further including printing selected portions of the information stored at said schools to provide textual material.
12. The method according to claim 1 comprising continually and periodically updating material.
13. A system for distributing educational information in digital form to a plurality of schools simultaneously comprising:
a) means for transmitting said information from a central location;
b) means for simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of schools and means for storing said information; and c) means for subsequently providing simultaneous access to said information by a plurality of students.
a) means for transmitting said information from a central location;
b) means for simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of schools and means for storing said information; and c) means for subsequently providing simultaneous access to said information by a plurality of students.
14. A system according to claim 13 and further including means for keeping track of usage of said information and reporting back to the sender the level of usage to permit charging usage and royalty fees.
15. A system according to claim 13 wherein said information comprises computer software and computer-aided instructional material.
16. A system according to claim 13 wherein said means for transmitting includes:
a) a satellite to which information is sent for retransmission.
b) a plurality of FM stations receiving signals from said satellite and retransmitting the information on an SCA
band to said schools.
a) a satellite to which information is sent for retransmission.
b) a plurality of FM stations receiving signals from said satellite and retransmitting the information on an SCA
band to said schools.
17. A system according to claim 13 and wherein said digital information includes address information and means for decoding said address information at each individual school so that only schools to which said information is directed will receive access to said information.
18. A system according to claim 13 wherein said means for storing comprises a main computer and main computer storage device and said means for providing access by a plurality of students includes:
a) a classroom computer, storage device and teachers console receiving information from said main computer; and b) a plurality of individual student terminals, simultaneously receiving information from said classroom computer storage device.
a) a classroom computer, storage device and teachers console receiving information from said main computer; and b) a plurality of individual student terminals, simultaneously receiving information from said classroom computer storage device.
19. A system according to claim 18 wherein each terminal has its own address whereby electronic mail may be sent to an individual student.
20. A system according to one of claims 13 and further including:
a) means for transmitting audio and video information;
b) means for receiving said audio and video information at a television receiver at each school; and c) means for automatically storing said information on a video storage medium and for providing access to said video storage medium by individual classrooms without manual intervention.
a) means for transmitting audio and video information;
b) means for receiving said audio and video information at a television receiver at each school; and c) means for automatically storing said information on a video storage medium and for providing access to said video storage medium by individual classrooms without manual intervention.
21. A system according to claim 20 and further including:
a) means for acknowledging accurate receipt of said video information;
b) means for advising the central location the number of times the video information is played for royalties purposes;
c) means for remotely changing the content of video storage medium; and d) means for listing in a teachers console what video material is currently in inventory in the video storage.
a) means for acknowledging accurate receipt of said video information;
b) means for advising the central location the number of times the video information is played for royalties purposes;
c) means for remotely changing the content of video storage medium; and d) means for listing in a teachers console what video material is currently in inventory in the video storage.
22. A system according to claim 20 wherein said means for transmitting audio and video information includes:
a) means for transmitting said information to a satellite;
b) means for retransmitting the information from said satellite;
c) means for simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of television stations; and d) means for retransmitting said information to the television receivers at each of said plurality of schools.
a) means for transmitting said information to a satellite;
b) means for retransmitting the information from said satellite;
c) means for simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of television stations; and d) means for retransmitting said information to the television receivers at each of said plurality of schools.
23. A system according to claim 13 and further including means for printing selected portions of the information stored at said main computer.
24. A method of distributing educational information in digital form to a plurality of schools comprising:
a) transmitting the information from a central location;
b) simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of schools and storing said information at a central storage area in each school; and c) subsequently providing simultaneous access to said stored information at a plurality of individual student terminals.
a) transmitting the information from a central location;
b) simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of schools and storing said information at a central storage area in each school; and c) subsequently providing simultaneous access to said stored information at a plurality of individual student terminals.
25. The method according to claim 24 and further including keeping track of usage of said information and reporting back to the sender the level of usage to permit charging usage and royalty fees.
26. The method according to claim 24 wherein said information comprises computer software and computer-aided instructional material.
27. The method according to claim 24 wherein said step of providing access at a plurality of individual student terminals includes:
a) storing said information in a main computer storage device in each school;
b) transferring information from said main computer storage device to a classroom computer storage device; and c) transferring the information from the classroom computer storage device to each of a plurality of individual student terminals.
a) storing said information in a main computer storage device in each school;
b) transferring information from said main computer storage device to a classroom computer storage device; and c) transferring the information from the classroom computer storage device to each of a plurality of individual student terminals.
28. A method of distributing information in digital form to a plurality of sites comprising:
a) transmitting the information from a central location;
b) simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of sites and storing said information in a storage area at each site; and c) subsequently providing simultaneous access to said stored information upon request by one or more user terminals.
a) transmitting the information from a central location;
b) simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of sites and storing said information in a storage area at each site; and c) subsequently providing simultaneous access to said stored information upon request by one or more user terminals.
29. The method according to claim 28 and further including keeping track of usage of said information and reporting back to the sender the level of usage to permit charging usage and royalty fees.
30. The method according to claim 28 wherein said information comprises computer software.
31. The method according to claim 28 wherein said step of providing access by a plurality of individual user terminals includes:
a) storing said information in a main computer storage device at each site;
b) transferring information from said main computer storage device to a further computer storage device; and c) transferring the information from the further computer storage device to each of a plurality of individual user terminals.
a) storing said information in a main computer storage device at each site;
b) transferring information from said main computer storage device to a further computer storage device; and c) transferring the information from the further computer storage device to each of a plurality of individual user terminals.
32. A method of distributing information in digital form to a plurality of remote sites comprising:
a) transmitting the information from a central location;
b) simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of sites and storing said information;
c) subsequently accessing said information at said site;
d) keeping track of usage of said information and reporting back to the sender the level of usage to permit charging usage and royalty fees.
a) transmitting the information from a central location;
b) simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of sites and storing said information;
c) subsequently accessing said information at said site;
d) keeping track of usage of said information and reporting back to the sender the level of usage to permit charging usage and royalty fees.
33. The method according to claim 32 wherein said information comprises computer software.
34. A system for distributing information in digital form to a plurality of sites comprising:
a) means for transmitting said information from a central location;
b) means for simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of sites and means for storing said information;
c) means for requesting access to said information; and d) means for responding to said means for requesting access by subsequently providing simultaneous access to said information at a plurality of terminals.
a) means for transmitting said information from a central location;
b) means for simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of sites and means for storing said information;
c) means for requesting access to said information; and d) means for responding to said means for requesting access by subsequently providing simultaneous access to said information at a plurality of terminals.
35. A system according to claim 34 wherein said information is educational information and said terminals are individual student terminals.
36. A system according to claim 35 and further including means for keeping track of usage of said information and reporting back to the sender the level of usage to permit charging usage and royalty fees.
37. A system according to claim 34 and further including means for keeping track of usage of said information and reporting back to the sender the level of usage to permit charging usage and royalty fees.
38. A system according to claim 34 wherein said information comprises computer software.
39. A system according to claim 35 wherein said means for storing comprises a main computer and main computer storage device and said means for providing access at a plurality of student terminals including:
a) a classroom computer, storage device and teachers console receiving information from said main computer; and b) a plurality of individual student terminals, simultaneously receiving information from said classroom computer storage device.
a) a classroom computer, storage device and teachers console receiving information from said main computer; and b) a plurality of individual student terminals, simultaneously receiving information from said classroom computer storage device.
40. A system for distributing information in digital form to a plurality of sites comprising:
a) means for transmitting said information from a central location;
b) means for simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of sites and means for storing said information;
c) means for subsequently providing simultaneous access to said stored information at a plurality of terminals; and d) means for keeping track of usage of said information and reporting back to the sender the level of usage to permit charging usage and royalty fees.
a) means for transmitting said information from a central location;
b) means for simultaneously receiving said information at a plurality of sites and means for storing said information;
c) means for subsequently providing simultaneous access to said stored information at a plurality of terminals; and d) means for keeping track of usage of said information and reporting back to the sender the level of usage to permit charging usage and royalty fees.
41. A system according to claim 40 wherein said information comprises computer software and computer-aided instructional material.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000501814A CA1262262A (en) | 1986-02-13 | 1986-02-13 | Education utility |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000501814A CA1262262A (en) | 1986-02-13 | 1986-02-13 | Education utility |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1262262A true CA1262262A (en) | 1989-10-10 |
Family
ID=4132469
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000501814A Expired CA1262262A (en) | 1986-02-13 | 1986-02-13 | Education utility |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1262262A (en) |
-
1986
- 1986-02-13 CA CA000501814A patent/CA1262262A/en not_active Expired
Similar Documents
| Publication | Publication Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| US4768087A (en) | Education utility | |
| US5089885A (en) | Telephone access display system with remote monitoring | |
| US20050233297A1 (en) | Remote communication apparatus | |
| EP0474160A1 (en) | Remote lecturing system | |
| Lipoff | Mass market potential for home terminals | |
| CA2067783A1 (en) | Telephone access video game distribution center | |
| Barker | The Distance Education Handbook. An Administrator's Guide for Rural and Remote Schools. | |
| CN111627273A (en) | Cloud live broadcast cloud recording and broadcasting method based on interconnection and intercommunication of Internet and IPTV television network | |
| CA1262262A (en) | Education utility | |
| CN110136500A (en) | Full-automatic more picture live teaching broadcast systems | |
| KR19990066036A (en) | Comprehensive Learning Management System Using Wireless Data Communication | |
| CN101163064A (en) | Method of performing network living broadcast interactive teaching on mobile phone and computer using M-P2P software | |
| KR19990074843A (en) | Comprehensive Learning Management System Using Wireless Communication | |
| CN1170488A (en) | Bidirectional information system and device | |
| Hudson et al. | Distance Learning: A Review for Educators. | |
| DuMolin et al. | An Instructional Satellite System for the United States: Preliminary Considerations. | |
| Schamber | Delivery Systems for Distance Education. ERIC Digest. | |
| Garr et al. | Data broadcasting in the USA: low cost delivery alternative and more | |
| Okamura et al. | Distance education learning technologies and applications in the Pacific Islands: a focus on interactive technologies | |
| Kalba et al. | Telecommunications Services for Rural Educational Development | |
| Che | A study on applying American distance education technologies to distance education in China | |
| Ornstein | Bringing telecommunications and videos into the classroom | |
| Rose et al. | Impact of Cable television on education | |
| Kenney | The Status of Cable Communications in Libraries. | |
| Woolfe | Videotex and Teletext: Similarities, Differences and Prospects |
Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKLA | Lapsed |