JP2007011389A - Education service system using communication channel and method of providing education service - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide education services using a communication channel capable of distributing a multi-media educational material such as video images stored beforehand in on-line, while acquiring high education effect by communicating with an instructor based on the educational material. <P>SOLUTION: The educational service system comprises; a two-way communication server 10 for performing two-way communication by the multi-media; a content management server 20 for storing a multimedia content; a content distributing server 12 for distributing the content stored in the content management server to a user terminal; operation management systems 50 to 56. Thereby, services in which interactive service and automatic type service are combined, are provided. Moreover, functions for automatically performing lesson evaluation and level determination test, are included, and a record card in which a member lesson history is recorded is provided, and an automatic generation function of individual training point report and an educational plan and an automatic extracting function of a person to be followed, are also provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an education service system and an education service providing method using a communication line, and in particular, for use in an education service for performing language education such as English conversation remotely via the Internet (hereinafter referred to as “Internet studying service”). The present invention relates to an education service system and an education service providing method.

  As a conventional educational service system using a communication line, there is a system using a video conference system as shown in FIG. In the figure, 1a, 1b, ..., 1n are video conference terminals, 2a, 2b, ..., 2n and 5a, 5b, ..., 5n are communication lines, and 3 is a multi-video conference terminal connected via a communication line. A communication control device 4 for point-to-point communication is a reception terminal that receives a conference. Each video conference terminal has a TV with an image, a TV camera for capturing images, a headset with a microphone for capturing audio and an earphone for listening, and a personal computer with a built-in TA (terminal adapter) And connected to the communication control terminal 3 and the reception terminal 4 via a communication line. As a communication line, a telephone line based on ISDN is generally used in consideration of receiving services at home and performing image communication.

  In order to receive an educational service using this video conference system, the student first calls the center where the reception terminal is located and applies for the service. When it is confirmed that the reception terminal is a predetermined student, the television terminal is connected to the communication control device. Similarly, the instructor uses a video conference terminal and connects it to the communication control device. As a result, each student can communicate with the instructor through TV video and audio, and can receive educational services such as English conversation. Note that the communication control apparatus has a function of combining and displaying the images of the connected video conference terminals in order to cope with the case where there are three or more persons participating in the video conference. Thereby, one instructor can provide educational services to a plurality of students.

In an English conversation class using such a video conferencing system, a video conferencing system equipped with a two-way communication function using TV video and audio is used, so there is no need for attendees to attend an English conversation school. If you don't have time to go to school, you don't have time to go to school, or you have a small child or a parent who needs care, you can easily get an English conversation while staying at home. In addition, the lesson time can be adjusted flexibly, so it is possible to easily implement a small group of education using native speakers that have proven to be highly effective.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 09-062173 JP-A-10-257440 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-078947 JP 08-166987 A JP 2001-134554 A JP 09-212075 A JP 09-222847 A

  However, in such an educational system using a conventional video conference system, the conversation is made while looking at the face, and multimedia materials such as various video images accumulated in advance are distributed online. It could not be applied to more advanced education that would be utilized.

  Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide communication that can provide a high educational effect by enabling online conversation of multimedia teaching materials such as various video images stored in advance and enabling interaction with an instructor based on the teaching materials. It is to provide educational services using the line.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an educational service system of the present invention includes a bidirectional communication means for performing bidirectional communication between user terminals using multimedia information including at least TV video and audio, and a multimedia service used as a teaching material. Content management means for storing the content and content distribution means for distributing the content stored in the content management means to the user terminal are provided.

  The educational service system of the present invention has a function of receiving TV video and audio transmitted from a user terminal, a function of synthesizing the received TV video and audio, and the synthesized TV video and audio to the user terminal. It may include a function to transmit, a function to store multimedia contents used as teaching materials, a function to retrieve the stored contents, and a function to distribute the retrieved contents to the user terminal.

In the educational service system of the present invention, the function of storing content includes a function of storing material content as a material of content to be distributed, and a function of storing a scenario in which a combination of material contents is defined along a time axis. The function for distributing content may include a function for retrieving stored material content based on a stored scenario and a function for distributing the extracted material content.
Thus, even if the content to be distributed is a combination of a plurality of material contents, it is not necessary to combine the distribution contents and store them in advance, and the storage capacity can be reduced.

The educational service system of the present invention combines a face-to-face service that assigns an instructor and learns in a face-to-face manner using a two-way communication means, and an automatic service that receives and learns content delivered by a content distribution means without assigning an instructor It may include a function for setting a service menu and a function for providing a service based on the set service menu.
Thereby, since one instructor can handle many services in parallel, personnel costs can be reduced and low-priced services can be provided.

The educational service system of the present invention comprises a member information file in which personal information of members is recorded, a function for displaying the registered contents of the member information file on an authenticated user terminal, and personal information to be registered or updated on the user terminal And a function for confirming with the user terminal whether or not the acquired personal information can be registered in the member information file, and a function for recording the confirmed personal information in the member information file.
Thereby, the member can register and update the member information using the user terminal.

The educational service system of the present invention includes a function for confirming whether registration is possible, a function for delivering a confirmation mail to a user, a function for receiving a reply mail to the confirmation mail, and a function for analyzing the received reply mail But you can.
This prevents member registration errors and enhances security.

The education service system according to the present invention includes a privilege score file for accumulating points for a member to receive a privilege service, and when the member satisfies a predetermined privilege score generation condition, a predetermined score is added to the privilege score of the privilege score file. It may include a function to add, a function to notify the accumulated score of the privilege score to date and a free privilege that can be received, and a function to apply for a free privilege based on the notification content.
Thereby, incentives such as promotion of attendance and ability improvement can be given to members.

The education service system according to the present invention has a function of distributing lesson evaluation content to a user terminal, a function of acquiring responses from the user terminal for the distributed content, and a function of counting lesson evaluations from the acquired responses. May be included.
Thereby, lesson evaluation can be obtained even in an automatic service.

The education service system according to the present invention includes a function for distributing content for level determination test to a user terminal, a function for acquiring a response from the user terminal for the distributed content, and a level determination evaluation from the acquired responses. It may include a function to perform.
As a result, the level determination test can be performed even by an automatic service.

The educational service system of the present invention is provided with a medical record file in which a lesson history is recorded for each member, a function for recording the lesson contents and lesson evaluation in a medical record file for each lesson, and a level determination evaluation recorded in a medical record file for each level determination test. It may include a function to perform.
Thereby, the lesson attendance status of the member, the transition of the lesson evaluation and the level judgment evaluation can be grasped, and the member can be motivated and prevented from frustration due to sluggish growth.

The educational service system of the present invention includes a strengthening point report generation table that defines the relationship between lesson evaluation and the contents to be described in the individual strengthening point report, a function for retrieving past lesson evaluation data described in the medical record, And a function for generating an enhancement point report from the lesson evaluation data based on the enhancement point report generation table.
As a result, the individual strengthening point report is automatically generated without burdening the instructor, so that detailed guidance can be given to the member, which contributes to the improvement of the member's ability.

The education service system of the present invention comprises an education pattern determination table for determining an education pattern from evaluation values of evaluation items, and a lesson table for registering lessons to be received for each evaluation item, and past lesson evaluation data described in a medical record is stored. A function to extract, a function to extract an item with a low evaluation from the extracted lesson evaluation data, a function to determine an education pattern from the evaluation value of the extracted item based on an education pattern determination table, and a determined education pattern And a function for combining lessons based on a lesson table.
As a result, an education plan is automatically generated without imposing a burden on the instructor, so that detailed guidance can be given to the member, contributing to improvement of the member's ability.

The education service system of the present invention includes a follow target person extraction condition table for extracting members who need to follow, a function for extracting description contents of a medical chart, and a follow target person extraction condition table from the description contents of the extracted medical chart It may include a function of extracting a follow target person based on the above and a function of notifying an extracted member.
As a result, the person to be followed is automatically extracted from the medical chart periodically and notified to the member, thereby preventing the member from frustrating and contributing to the improvement of the member's ability.

  The above object, other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

  According to the present invention, since multimedia contents stored in advance can be taken out and distributed, a dialogue with multimedia information can be performed between user terminals, so that a high educational effect can be obtained.

  FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an education service center according to an embodiment of an education service system using a communication line of the present invention. As shown in the figure, this center has the following subsystems connected via a network.

  As a distribution system device, a bidirectional communication server 10 that provides a bidirectional communication function using multimedia including television video and audio between a plurality of user terminals, a content distribution server 12 that distributes content to user terminals, An authentication / billing gateway 14 for managing authentication and billing in cooperation with the operation management system, a WWW server 16 for delivering a web page for user authentication and service menu selection, and various notifications and teaching materials for the user And a mail server 18 for delivering such mail.

  As a content system, a content management server 20 for registering and storing multimedia contents such as moving images, still images, audio, text, and sound effects, a content archiver 22 for storing content that is material, and a content manager A content management terminal 24 for registering and storing content and a video / audio connection device 26 for relaying live video and audio are provided.

  The user system device includes a plurality of instructor terminals 30 which are user terminals provided in the center and used by the instructor. The instructor terminal 30 is composed of a television camera and microphone that obtains the video and audio of the instructor, and a computer having an interface function and a network connection function of the television camera and microphone, and the video and audio obtained by the television camera and microphone. In addition to the function of transmitting multimedia information, the function of receiving multimedia information from the interactive communication server 10 and the content distribution server 12 and outputting it to the screen and speakers, the screen configuration displayed on the user terminal and the selection of audio distribution, the content It has a function of transmitting a control signal for a distribution operation instruction or the like to the bidirectional communication server 10 or the content distribution server 12.

  The connection system device includes a router 40 for connecting to the Internet, and a firewall 42 for preventing unauthorized entry from the outside and protecting the system.

  As an operation management system, a member information management system 50 for managing information of members who receive services, a service support system 52 for smoothly providing education services, a service execution management system 54 for managing execution of education services, A distribution service management system 56 that centrally manages mail distribution to registered members.

On the other hand, among the user terminals, the student terminal used by the student is not shown, but it has a TV camera and microphone for acquiring video and audio of the student, an interface function of the TV camera and microphone, and an Internet connection function. By using a personal computer and accessing the WWW server 16 of this center, you can receive an Internet studying service. The operation of the student terminal is basically the same as that of the instructor terminal 30 described above except that it is connected to the center via the Internet.
In the following description, “user terminal” is used to mean both the student terminal and the instructor terminal 30.

Next, functions and processing procedures provided by the educational service center will be described.
[Bidirectional communication function]
First, the bidirectional communication function provided by the bidirectional communication server 10 will be described.
1. Video Conference Function FIG. 2 shows a conceptual diagram of the video conference function provided by the bidirectional communication server 10. The video conference function provides one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many two-way communication by video and audio acquired by a TV camera and a microphone connected to each user terminal as shown in the figure. .

FIG. 3 shows a processing procedure of the video conference function. Each user terminal receives a check-in screen when accessing the WWW server 16, and when the user inputs check-in information based on this, the check-in information is sent to the bidirectional communication server 10 via the WWW server 16. Send. Upon receiving the check-in information, the two-way communication server 10 performs a check-in process and returns a check-in result to each user terminal via the WWW server 16. As a result, a connection is established, and each user terminal captures the video of the TV camera and the sound of the microphone, and transmits the captured video and sound to the bidirectional communication server 10 in real time. The bidirectional communication server 10 receives video and audio transmitted from each user terminal, synthesizes video and audio distributed to each user terminal based on the received video and audio, and combines the synthesized video. And audio to each user terminal. Each user terminal receives the video and audio distributed from the bidirectional communication server 10, generates and displays a dedicated window on the screen for the received video, and outputs the received audio to a speaker.
In this way, the interactive communication server 10 provides an interactive function using video and audio between user terminals. Although the interactive function in this system is one-to-one or many-to-many in principle, it is set not to deliver anything other than video and audio from a specific user terminal (for example, the instructor terminal 30) at the time of check-in. One-to-many service is also possible.

  Among the user terminals, the screen of the instructor terminal 30 is provided with a button for designating a video and audio synthesizing method. When the instructor performs this button operation, the information is transmitted to the bidirectional communication server 10, and each user is notified. The equal merging that synthesizes the video and audio equally and the emphasis merge that emphasizes the video and audio of a specific user can be designated. For example, when three users are attending one instructor and equal merge is selected, the screen is equally divided into four and four TV images are combined into one screen. 4 voices are mixed and distributed equally. When emphasizing merge is selected, the video and audio of the specified user are selected and distributed, the video and audio of the specified user are enlarged, and the video and audio of other users are reduced. Can be distributed.

  In the above embodiment, it has been described that the method of synthesizing the video and audio is simultaneously specified by the button operation from the chairperson terminal. However, the video button and the audio button are separately provided and specified individually. You may do it. Thereby, for example, it is possible to check the facial expressions of other participants with respect to the voice of the speaker.

In the above embodiment, the bidirectional communication server 10 synthesizes video and audio and distributes them to the user terminals. However, the video and audio of other user terminals are individually distributed to each user terminal. Then, the video received at each user terminal may be displayed together with its own video by generating and displaying a separate window, and the audio may also be played back individually. Thereby, it is not necessary to receive redistribution of own video and audio, and the load on the communication line can be reduced. In addition, each user can freely arrange the screen configuration and sound distribution according to his / her preference.
At this time, the bidirectional communication server 10 distributes video and audio control commands from the instructor terminal 30 to each user terminal, and each user terminal sets the screen configuration and audio distribution based on the control signal. It may be.

  In the above embodiment, only the instructor terminal 30 is provided with a function for controlling the screen display and voice distribution of each user terminal. However, the screen structure and the voice distribution of each user terminal are controlled to the student terminal by the same method. A function may be given. Thereby, even when there is no corresponding person in the instructor terminal 30, the chairperson can be set and operated from among the students. In addition, the interactive communication server 20 may be provided with a flag for giving the chairmanship to the user terminal, and only the control command for the user terminal for which this flag is set may be accepted. In this way, it is possible to provide a service using any terminal among user terminals as an instructor terminal.

Moreover, you may make it control the screen structure of each user terminal based on the intensity | strength of the audio | voice information transmitted from each user terminal. That is, for example, the intensity of audio information transmitted from each user terminal is detected, and the image of the user exceeding a certain level is highlighted or only the image of the user exceeding a certain level is selectively displayed. It is possible to realize a control function of the screen configuration such as. At this time, the intensity of the voice information may be an instantaneous value, or may be an average value for a certain time.
In addition, when using the method in which the interactive communication server 10 synthesizes and distributes the video and audio of each user terminal to each user terminal, the interactive communication server 10 receives the received audio information of each user terminal. It is only necessary to detect the intensity of the video and control the synthesis of the video. On the other hand, when using the method in which the interactive communication server 10 individually distributes the video and audio of each user terminal to each user terminal, the user terminal of the distribution destination receives the audio information of each user terminal. The screen configuration may be controlled by detecting the strength of the screen, and the control signal of the screen configuration is distributed to each user terminal by detecting the strength of the voice information of each user terminal received by the bidirectional communication server 10; Each user terminal may control the screen configuration based on the control signal.
In addition, a voice control function that can slightly delay image display and sound output and perform cueing, an anti-trip function that prevents the control function from acting on sound from a speaker, and the like may be provided.

  Further, the quality of the transmission of video and audio by each user terminal and the distribution of video and audio by the bidirectional communication server 10 may be changed according to the communication band of the network. Specifically, a usable communication band is detected, and when this is restricted, a function is provided to lower the frame rate of the video to be transmitted according to the communication band. Furthermore, a function for lowering the voice sampling rate and the number of quantization bits when the communication band that can be used is small may be provided. The communication band may be detected by exchanging packets at a negotiation stage that is performed prior to communication, or may be checked by sending a packet for communication band confirmation during communication. As a result, even when the communication band of the network is limited, the interactive function with the quality corresponding to the communication band is maintained, and the optimum service can be provided.

2. Data Conference Function FIG. 4 shows a conceptual diagram of the data conference function provided by the bidirectional communication server 10. The data conference function enables a collaborative work using an application by sharing an application installed on each user terminal or an application on a WWW browser.
For example, when the shared application is activated on the user A's terminal as illustrated, the user A's terminal sequentially transmits the activated shared application screen to the bidirectional communication server 10. The bidirectional communication server 10 distributes the shared application screen from the user A terminal to the terminals of the other users B, C, and D. The terminals of users B, C, and D display a shared application screen distributed from the bidirectional communication server 10. Thereby, the terminals of the users B, C, and D can operate the shared application, and the operated contents are fed back to the user A's terminal via the bidirectional communication server 10. As a result, all users can collaborate by using application programs such as word processors, spreadsheets, and clip arts, so that advanced services can be provided. For example, you can use a mouse to generate a whiteboard on which you can write figures and characters, and you can have a discussion while writing on the whiteboard.

3. Chat Function A chat function provided by the bidirectional communication server 10 will be described. The chat function realizes one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many interactive communication by inputting text from a user terminal. When the chat program is activated on one of the user terminals, the information is notified to the other user terminals via the bidirectional communication server 10, and the chat screen is also displayed on the other user screens. When text input is made from any user terminal, the input text is notified to the other user terminal via the bidirectional communication server 10, and the input text is also displayed on the other user terminal. . As a result, a text-based conversation can be made between each user, and a service requiring accuracy and recordability can be provided.

  It should be noted that the control function of the screen configuration by the instructor terminal 30 (or the user terminal with the chairmanship flag set) described above includes the screen control function for the data conference function and the chat function in the same manner. Can do. As a result, the instructor or the like can control the entire multimedia interactive communication service smoothly.

[Content delivery function]
Next, functions and processing procedures provided by the content distribution server 12 will be described. FIG. 5 shows a conceptual diagram of the content distribution function provided by this educational service system. The content distribution function distributes multimedia content such as moving images, still images, audio, text, and application data recorded in the content archiver 22 managed by the content management server 20 to the user terminal by the content distribution server 12. Is.

In the educational service system of the present invention, the content archiver 22 is recorded with material content that is the material of the content to be distributed, and the combined content is distributed. For this reason, the distribution content is expressed by a scenario in which a combination of material contents is defined along the time axis.
FIG. 6 shows a conceptual diagram of a method for expressing distribution contents by scenario. That is, the distribution content creator registers the material content necessary for the service in the content archiver 22 from the content management terminal 24 via the content management server 20 in advance. When creating the distribution content, the material content to be combined with the distribution content is selected from the material content registered in the content archiver 22, and a reproduction chart showing the reproduction time of the material content as a chart is used as shown in the figure. Then, the material contents to be combined are registered along the time axis to generate a scenario. The generated scenario is registered in the database of the content management server 20.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of the generated scenario. In this way, combinations of moving images, still images, sound effects, and the like are defined along the time axis to constitute one distribution content. Here, what is represented by a dotted line represents that which can be reproduced at any time within a specified period by an operation from a specific terminal. As a result, for example, the instructor can reproduce sound effects, telops, etc. at any time during the designated period, and can make an effective presentation.

[Information described in the scenario]
In the scenario, the following information is described in order to realize distribution combined with material contents and enable flexible operation.
1. Distribution content definition Defines information about the entire content to be distributed.
(1) Distribution content attribute information Describe the creator, creation date, title, genre, and additional information. As a result, distribution content (scenario) can be searched.
(2) Used material content information Specifies material content used in distribution content.
2. Material content definition Defines information about material content used in distribution content individually.
(1) Material content attribute information Describes the creator, creation date, title, genre, and additional information. This makes it possible to search for distribution contents (scenarios) based on the attributes of the material contents being used.
(2) Material Content Type Information Specifies the material content type (moving image / still image / sound / text / application data). This may be specified by the extension of the file name of the specified material content.
(3) Reproduction time designation information The reproduction start time and reproduction end time of the material content are designated as relative times in the distribution content. Thereby, it is possible to specify the reproduction time zone of the material content in the distribution content. The playback end time may be a playback time.
Note that the playback end time and the playback time may be omitted if the playback time is fixed in the material content.
(4) Playback method designation information This designates whether the material content is to be played automatically or manually. In manual reproduction, content is reproduced by an instruction from the user terminal. As a result, for example, sound effects, telops, and the like can be reproduced at any timing as necessary, and an effective presentation can be realized.
(5) Reproduction application designation information Designates an application for reproducing material contents. Thereby, an application for reproducing the material content is defined by the scenario. This may be specified by the extension of the file name of the specified material content.
(6) Playback screen designation information Designates the position and size on the screen where the material content is played. Thereby, the position and size on the screen when reproducing the material content can be designated, and an effective presentation can be performed. In the case of audio, an icon to be displayed on the screen and its position may be designated.
(7) Instructor terminal operation designation information Operations that can be performed by the instructor terminal 30 (or the user terminal with the chairmanship flag set) in playback of material content (play / stop / pause / fast forward / rewind, etc.) Is specified. As a result, the instructor can control the reproduction of the content according to the progress of the service, and can cope with various service forms.
(8) Student terminal operation designation information Designates operations (play / stop / pause / fast forward / rewind) that can be performed by the student terminal in the reproduction of material content. As a result, the content can be reproduced at a pace suited to the student.
(9) Location designation information Designates the storage location where the material content exists. As a result, even if the material content does not exist in the user terminal, it can be reproduced by designating the protocol and the server name. It is also possible to distribute content using material content managed by a plurality of centers. Furthermore, live relay by the video / audio connection device 26 described later can also be realized by setting the location as the content management server 20.
(10) Playback part designation information This designates the start time and end time of the part to be reproduced in the material content. Thereby, it is possible to specify that a part of the material content is to be reproduced. The end time may be a reproduction time.

[Content delivery method using scenarios]
Next, a content distribution method using the above scenario will be described.
FIG. 8 shows a content distribution processing procedure using a scenario. The content distribution server 12 receives a content distribution request from the user terminal via the WWW server 16 and acquires a scenario from the content management server 20. The content distribution server 12 distributes the acquired scenario to the user terminal for controlling the user terminal. After that, the content distribution server 12 analyzes the scenario, takes out the material content defined in the scenario sequentially from the content archiver 22 via the content management server 20 along the time axis, and distributes it to the user terminal. To do. By performing this for all material contents defined in the scenario, the distribution of the distribution contents is completed.

  The distribution destination terminal receives the distributed content, reproduces it with the specified application in accordance with the description of the scenario, and displays the image at the specified position on the screen. Also, when there is an operation designation from the instructor terminal 30 or an operation designation from the student terminal, a predetermined reproduction control is performed in response to an instruction from the terminal.

  Here, synchronization of material content reproduction at each terminal will be described. FIG. 9 shows a processing procedure of operation control for the content being distributed. As shown in the figure, when an operation instruction for an operable operation is issued from an operable terminal based on the scenario operation designation information, the content distribution server 12 is notified, and the content distribution server 12 distributes the operation instruction to each terminal. . Since each terminal performs reproduction based on the operation instruction, reproduction of material contents on all terminals is performed in synchronization.

  The content management server 20 is provided with a video / audio connection device 26 and has a function of capturing the connected video signal and audio signal and converting them into a distributable format. As a result, live video and audio can be relayed to the content to be distributed in real time. FIG. 10 shows a conceptual diagram of the live relay function.

  When the content to be distributed is a moving image, streaming distribution is performed, and similarly to the bi-directional communication server 10, it has a function of changing the frame rate of the moving image according to the communication band of the network. Furthermore, when the content to be distributed is audio, a function of changing the audio sampling rate and the number of quantization bits according to the communication band of the network may be provided. As a result, even if the communication band of the network is limited, the content distribution function with the quality corresponding to the communication band is maintained, and the optimum service can be provided.

  In the above embodiment, the content distribution server 12 first sends a scenario to the distribution destination terminal, then distributes each material content at the reproduction time specified in the scenario, and the distribution destination terminal reproduces based on the scenario. However, the distribution destination terminal may request the content distribution server 12 to distribute necessary material content based on the scenario. As a result, when the same material content is repeatedly used, the material content already received can be reused, and the load on the network can be reduced.

  Further, the content distribution server 12 may distribute the material content to the distribution destination terminal as an image and a sound synthesized according to the scenario, instead of individually distributing the material content. As a result, it is possible to easily generate a telop on a moving image or a still image. Further, although the degree of freedom of operation at the distribution destination terminal is limited, the load on the distribution destination terminal is reduced. Note that it may be selected according to the load of the network and the content of the service, which method to use, which is a method of distributing the material content individually or a method of distributing the material content. Alternatively, both may be delivered in combination and played back in independent windows on the delivery destination terminal side. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a content distribution function with a very high degree of freedom while suppressing the load on the network.

  The above scenario may be described using a description language such as XML. As a result, the scenario content is read by the browser at each terminal, so that the material content is selected along the time axis and can be automatically played back by the application plugged into the browser.

[Scenario generation method]
Next, a method for generating the scenario will be described.
In this educational service center, as shown in FIG. 11, in the content management database of the content management server 20, the attribute information of the material content stored in the content archiver 22, the genre indicating the classification of the teaching material, and related information related thereto are stored. It has a scenario dictionary indicating the relationship and a scenario template describing a basic configuration pattern of the scenario, and has a function of automatically generating a scenario based on the scenario template. FIG. 12 shows a sample description content of the scenario dictionary. As shown in the figure, related information is described in a tree shape for one genre. Such a scenario dictionary is prepared in advance so as to cover the attribute information of the registered material content. In addition to the genre, playback time, and number of material contents, the scenario template describes the attribute information, type information, playback time information, operation information, etc. of the material content that can be specified for each material content. Create and register a pattern.

FIG. 13 shows a processing procedure for automatically generating a scenario using the content management database. The scenario creator activates the scenario generation tool from the content management terminal 24. When the genre is input by the scenario creator, the content management terminal 24 notifies the content management server 20 of the input. The content management server 20 searches and acquires a scenario template and a scenario dictionary that match the notified genre from the content management database. The content management terminal 24 is notified of related information by referring to the scenario dictionary from the genre. The content management terminal 24 displays the notified related information, and notifies the content management server 20 of the keyword input by the scenario creator based on this display. The content management server 20 retrieves material content that can be set in the scenario template from the notified keyword, and acquires attribute information. The content management server 20 generates a scenario by transferring the acquired attribute information of the material content to the corresponding part of the scenario template, and notifies the content management terminal 24 of the generation result. The content management terminal 24 displays the generation result, corrects / edits as necessary, and registers the completed scenario in the content management database of the content management server 20.
As described above, since the scenario generation is automated in this education service system, new teaching materials incorporating hot topics can be quickly created, and an effective education service can be provided.

  In the above embodiment, only the genre is input and the scenario template is selected. However, the playback time and the content type ratio in the playback content may be specified. In addition, in order to inform the scenario creator in advance of the genres, playback times, and content ratios that can be input, information about the registered scenario templates may be displayed and selected from them.

  In the above embodiment, the scenario is automatically generated using the scenario dictionary describing the relationship between the genre and the related information and the scenario template describing the scenario configuration pattern in order to generate the scenario. The scenario creator may input a keyword, search for related material content based on the keyword, and describe the attribute information of the searched material content in the scenario data. As a result, necessary material contents can be quickly retrieved, and scenario creation efficiency is improved. The material content attribute information can be set in the scenario data using a text editor.

  Alternatively, using only the scenario dictionary, it is possible to search related information from genre input, search for material content based on this, and describe attribute information of the searched material content in the scenario data. . As a result, the necessary material content can be retrieved more quickly than when keywords are entered, and the scenario creation efficiency is further improved.

  Further, in order to set the playback time designation information for each material content, a playback chart that displays the playback time zone of each material content may be used. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a method for setting reproduction time information by setting a minimum unit time for reproducing material content and selecting a frame for reproducing material content on the screen is considered. It is done. This facilitates the setting of the reproduction time designation information for each material content, and the relationship between the reproduction time zones of each material content is clarified, enabling effective content creation.

  Alternatively, a scenario template may be searched from a genre input using a scenario template, a list of material contents that can be set in the scenario template is displayed, and target material content may be selected from the list. Thus, since the material content that can be set in the scenario template is automatically searched, the combination of the material content can be facilitated. Moreover, since it is possible to automatically transfer the attribute information of the material content to the scenario data, the scenario creation efficiency is dramatically increased.

  The scenario template used in the above embodiment has been described as a scenario template in which a scenario basic pattern is described in advance. However, an already registered scenario may be used as the scenario template. This makes it possible to create a scenario without preparing a scenario template in advance. Moreover, it is possible to easily create a deformed content scenario based on an already registered scenario.

Next, the screen display of the user terminal when receiving the educational service using the bidirectional communication function and the content distribution function will be described.
FIG. 14 shows a screen display example when only the interactive function by the bidirectional communication server 10 is used. This is a screen display example in the case where there are five users including the instructor. On the screen, a window for displaying a video of a user other than himself and a window for displaying his own video are generated. Here, the screen is provided with buttons for controlling the video conference function, and thereby the above-described screen configuration and audio distribution control are performed. Further, as described above, among the users, the window currently being talked is highlighted.

FIG. 15 shows a screen display example when only content distribution by the content distribution server 12 is received. Here, a moving image window and a text window are generated and displayed independently, but may be combined on the content distribution side and sent as a telop display.
In addition, a content toolbar is provided, and when an operation is possible, the content is displayed as active, and for example, content playback / stop / pause / fast-forward / rewind can be performed. This can be performed based on the operation designation information of the scenario described above.

  FIG. 16 shows a screen display example when the interactive communication server 10 has a dialog while receiving content distribution by the content distribution server 12. In this way, participants can receive content while looking at each other's faces, and can learn effectively. At this time, it is possible to perform a screen display operation using a conference control button and a content reproduction operation using a toolbar.

[Service provision form]
Next, a service form provided by the system of this embodiment will be described. Since this educational service system has both a bidirectional communication function and a content distribution function, the following two service forms can be provided.
1. A face-to-face service instructor exists, and a student receives and learns a content distribution service from the content distribution server 12 as necessary while interacting with the instructor through the two-way communication server 10.
2. There is no automatic service instructor, and the student learns by receiving the content distribution service by the content distribution server 12 alone.

  Therefore, in this educational service system, the basic unit of service is set to 15 minutes, the preparation time for the instructor, etc. is set to 5 minutes, and a service menu that combines the above-mentioned face-to-face service and automatic service is set. Can be provided. FIG. 17 shows examples of 10-minute type, 25-minute type, and 40-minute type service configuration patterns. In the figure, F indicates a face-to-face service and A indicates an automatic service. As described above, since the service combining the face-to-face service and the automatic service can be set in the service menu file, the instructor can handle a plurality of services as shown in FIG. Thereby, since one instructor can handle many services in parallel, the labor cost can be reduced and a small number of interactive services using native speakers can be provided at a low price.

The following service can also be provided by the system of the present invention.
3. Group learning service A plurality of students can learn by receiving a content distribution service from the content distribution server 12 as necessary while interacting with the bidirectional communication server 10 without using an instructor.
4). Free talk service A conference room that is always open and open, and students can connect to this conference, and interact with the instructor and other students through the interactive communication server 10 at any time. 12 can be learned by receiving the content distribution service of No.12.
As a result, members can use the knowledge gained in regular lessons to develop their applied skills and compensate for the amount of communication that tends to be lacking by taking foreign language showers. Can be expected. In this way, since the member can learn by combining various forms of services freely, a high educational effect can be easily obtained while staying at home.

[Operation management system functions]
Next, functions and processing procedures of the operation management system will be described.
In providing the service, the management system provides a member information management system 50, a service support system 52, a service execution management system 54, for the purpose of improving operational efficiency, maintaining service quality, and enhancing the system for accepting members who receive services. And a distribution service management system 56.

1. Member Information Management System The member information management system 50 manages information related to members who receive the “Internet studying service”.
(1) Member registration function This function accepts registration of member information from the “member information registration” page provided on the homepage of “Internet Study Service”. FIG. 19 shows an example of a member information input screen. Upon receiving registration, the member information management system 50 issues an ID / password, and distributes a confirmation email describing the issued ID / password and the entered member information to the input person. When a reply mail indicating that there is no error in the confirmation mail is received from the member, the ID / password and input information are fully registered in the member information database. In this way, confirmation of registration information is performed by e-mail to prevent member registration errors and enhance security.

  After registration, you can use this ID and password to receive the necessary member services from the homepage. FIG. 20 shows a processing procedure for authenticating and charging a member using the ID and password obtained by member registration. When the member accesses the “Internet study service” member service page provided on the WWW server 16 from the user terminal, the authentication screen is distributed. When the ID and password are input, the authentication information is inquired to the member information management system 50 via the authentication / billing gateway 14, and the authentication result is notified to the WWW server 16 with reference to the member database. The WWW server 14 determines an available service from the authentication result, and distributes a service menu corresponding to the service to the user terminal.

  While the member is receiving services via the authentication / billing gateway 14, billing processing is performed on the member. This educational service system has the following three charging methods because of the particularity of the service provided.

  The first is billing based on the connection time of the user terminal. This can be realized by measuring the time from when the authentication / billing gateway 14 confirms the authentication until the service is terminated and disconnected. As a result, even if the connection time varies for each user, the usage charges can be tabulated individually.

  The second is billing based on the connection time of the instructor terminal. This can be realized by measuring the time during which the member user terminal is checking in with the instructor terminal 30 and the two-way communication server 10 and notifying the authentication / billing gateway 14 after the service ends. This makes it possible to charge based on the time that the instructor has actually serviced.

  The third is billing based on the content distribution contents. This can be realized when the content distribution server 12 distributes the content to the user terminal by acquiring the charge information of the content distributed from the content management server 20 and notifying the authentication / billing gateway 14 after the service ends. This makes it possible to charge according to the content of the distributed content.

  As described above, this educational service system has three charging methods, and charging can be performed by combining these according to the contents of the service. Thereby, it is possible to set an appropriate fee according to the service provision content.

(2) Registered information inquiry / change function This function is used to inquire and change registered member information. In this case as well, when the member information is changed, a confirmation email describing the input information is distributed to the member, and the registration is performed when a reply email indicating that there is no error in the confirmation email is received.
This function also allows members to change their passwords at any time, so that they can protect against unauthorized use by others.

(3) Questionnaire management function This function accepts questionnaire input from the “Questionnaire” page provided on the “Internet Study Abroad Service” website. When the member information management system 50 receives an input of a questionnaire, the member information management system 50 registers the input information in the questionnaire database.

(4) Service point management function Manages points for members to receive services. In this educational service system, prepaid billing processing is performed in order to avoid the burden of performing the payment processing for each service. Service points can be replenished only by the secretariat with a specific ID and password, and when the payment from the member is confirmed, the service point is added according to the deposit amount. In addition, service points are withdrawn from a service support system when a service is reserved, and points corresponding to the service to be provided are automatically withdrawn. Even when the service is cancelled, the service support system is notified and certain points are returned in accordance with predetermined conditions.
Members can check the current number of service points at any time with the above member information inquiry function, and when the service points are below a certain number, an email to that effect is automatically distributed to the members. As a result, the member can always grasp the remaining service points, and can avoid troubles such as being unable to receive the service due to unpaid.

  In the above embodiment, the service point is added when the secretariat confirms the payment. However, the member requests supplementation of the service point from the homepage or by e-mail, and based on this, from the member's bank account. The amount corresponding to the point may be withdrawn, and the point may be added when the withdrawal is confirmed.

(5) Bonus score management function This is to manage the points acquired by members who wish to receive the free bonus service (referred to as “privilege scores”). The member information management system 50 adds points to the privilege score in the following cases.
a. When purchasing service points, the points to be added may be proportional to the purchase points or may be increased in stages.
b. When the number of days of membership continuation exceeds a predetermined number of days, the points to be added may be proportional to the number of days of continuation or may be increased in stages.
c. When the number of attendances reaches a predetermined number The points to be added may be proportional to the number of attendances, or may be increased in stages.
d. When a questionnaire is answered e. During the campaign period, a fixed score may be added to all members, or a fixed score may be added when the conditions for the “Internet Study Service” are met during the campaign period. For example, referring to the chart below, a member with good service digestibility, a member who received an instructor's recommendation and took the level judgment test, a member whose level judgment test evaluation result has improved over a certain level, and newly registered It may be possible to extract members and add bonus scores.

  The privilege score is registered in the member information database, and the registered contents can be confirmed at any time on the “Special Information Reference” page provided on the “Internet Study Abroad Service” website. FIG. 21 shows an example of the privilege information inquiry screen. As shown in the figure, the total number of points acquired up to the present is displayed, as well as the contents of services that can be received with that number, so that you can apply online. Free benefits that members can receive include free lessons, free participation in the above-mentioned free talk service, free taking of level judgment tests, free distribution of content, presentation of travel discount tickets, free gifts, and the like.

  In addition, when a privilege score reaches a predetermined score, a mail that describes a free privilege that a member can receive is automatically distributed, and the URL for accessing the homepage is described therein, or a free email is automatically received by a reply email You may make it accept an application. In particular, during the campaign period, it is highly effective to automatically distribute the generation of privilege points by email. In this way, it is possible to give incentives such as promotion of attendance and ability improvement by providing a free bonus score system to members and actively notifying that the bonus score is added and receiving free benefits .

2. Service Support System The service support system 52 is for efficiently providing the “Internet studying service”.
(1) Course Registration Function The course registration function accepts the course registration that members receive from the “Course Registration” page provided on the “Study Abroad Internet Service” website. The accepted course is coded and registered in the course registration database. Courses can be set by country, language, and theme, and business, travel conversation, qualification, interpretation, translation, etc. can be selected as the theme.

(2) Lesson reservation function Resources for managing an instructor management file for managing an instructor schedule, a conference schedule set in the two-way communication server 10, a use schedule for the instructor terminal 30, a distribution schedule set in the content distribution server 12, and the like Management files and refer to these files in response to lesson requests from members to determine whether the interactive communication server 10 can set a conference, whether an instructor terminal can be set, and whether the content distribution server 12 can distribute content. The lessons that can be set for the member are extracted from the service menu file from the authorization level by the level judgment test described later, and presented to the member. At this time, the settable lesson levels can be specified in a certain range of zones with respect to the certification level. Thereby, the member can adjust the difficulty according to his / her state. When a member responds that the lesson is received, the lesson is registered in the lesson reservation transaction, and the instructor management file and the resource management file are updated according to the lesson setting. As described above, since the instructor's schedule and resource usage are automatically determined, reservation management can be performed efficiently.

  In addition, the service optimization condition file is referred to when the lesson is reserved, and the lesson setting is optimized. Items to be set in the service optimization condition file include, for example, when multiple members receive the same service, group from a certain age, gender, and region range, and when a member receives services continuously on the same day, the instructor Can be set, grouping members at a certain level based on the evaluation result of the level judgment test. These are determined by referring to the member information database, the instructor management file, and the member's chart based on the set conditions. In this way, since the lesson is reserved with reference to the service optimization file, it is possible to provide an optimal lesson for the member.

To apply for a lesson, the member calls the secretariat and enters the number according to the voice announcement, and the web-type that is performed from the “lesson reservation” page set up on the “Study Abroad Internet Service” website, There is an interactive method using the bidirectional communication server 10, which can be performed from either.
Note that a lesson that has already been reserved can be canceled by modifying the lesson reservation transaction, the instructor management file, and the resource management file based on the received contents.

  In the above embodiment, the setting of the lesson has been described as automatically setting with reference to the instructor management file and the resource management file for the member application, but the present invention is not limited to this, An annual schedule of lessons to be performed in advance may be set, a member application may be accepted for this schedule, and a lesson reservation transaction may be issued based on the acceptance result.

(3) Level judgment test reservation function In principle, members can take a level judgment test when registering a course and recommending an instructor.
In the level determination test, a two-way communication server 10 is used to face the instructor, an automatic type in which a member responds with a button operation using content distributed by the content distribution server 12 without facing the instructor, or by e-mail. There is an email type that distributes problems and accepts answers.
In the face-to-face and automatic type level determination tests, reservation processing is performed by the same processing as that for lesson reservation, and a level determination test reservation transaction is issued. In the case of the mail type, a problem mail describing a predetermined question is automatically distributed.

  In the above embodiment, it has been described that the lesson and the level judgment test are performed in advance, but this is not limited to this, and the instructor management file and resource management file are saved when an application is received from a participant. It is possible to determine whether or not a lesson or level determination test can be performed with reference to the service, and if it can be performed, service setting for the lesson or level determination test may be performed. As a result, the member can take a lesson application or a level judgment test without a reservation.

(4) Medical record management function A medical record is issued to the member who registered the service course, and the attendance history of the lesson and the examination history of the level judgment test are recorded.
The following information is recorded in the medical record.
a. Lesson lesson record For each lesson, record the name, date, evaluation result, etc. of the lesson taken in the medical record. As the evaluation items, for example, conversational ability, pronunciation, listening comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, and the like are used, and evaluation is performed in a five-step evaluation. If the lesson is not related to any evaluation item, no evaluation value is input to the evaluation item.
In the face-to-face service, in principle, the corresponding instructor inputs the evaluation by the end of the lesson. FIG. 22 shows an example of a chart input screen.
On the other hand, in the automatic service, a quiz is distributed by content distribution at the end of the lesson, and for the answer entered by the student with a button operation, refer to the lesson evaluation automatic summary file that describes the correspondence between the answer and the evaluation. It has a function of counting and automatically inputting the counting result into the chart. As a result, the automatic service can be evaluated and the member can be followed closely.

b. Level Judgment Test Execution History For each level judgment test, the test name, date, recommended instructor name, evaluation result, etc. recorded in the medical record are recorded. The evaluation items are the same as the lesson evaluation above. In face-to-face tests, the instructor who conducted the test inputs in principle.
On the other hand, in the automatic type test and email type test, the responses made by the members by button operation or email are counted by referring to the level judgment evaluation automatic summary file that describes the correspondence between the responses and the evaluations, and the summary results are displayed. It has a function to automatically enter the chart. As a result, a level determination test can be performed without the intervention of an instructor, and an objective and more efficient service can be provided.

In addition, it has a function of certifying the member level based on the result of the level determination test. In this authorization, a weighted average is obtained by referring to the authorization condition table for the evaluation value of each evaluation item, and the authorization level is determined. The certification level is divided into the following 9 levels. Level 1 is the same level as native speakers, Level 2 is a foreign language professional level, Level 3 is a level that can be used in business, Level 4 is a daily life level, Level 5 is a level that can be communicated somehow, Level 6 is a simple sentence Level 7A is a level at which communication is possible, Level 7B is a greeting / self-introduction level, and Level 7C is a complete beginner. As described above, since the authorization level is automatically set based on the result of the level determination test based on a certain rule, there is no individual difference among the determiners, and an objective determination is possible. In addition, the burden on the instructor is reduced, and more efficient operation is possible.
In addition, the result of the level determination test and the certified level that has been certified are automatically distributed to the members by email.

(5) Individual Strengthening Point Report Generation Function The Individual Strengthening Point Report is a report that describes the overall evaluation, favorable evaluation, strengthening points, learning method advice, etc. of members, and is delivered to members who wish to receive a free privilege service by e-mail. . FIG. 23 shows a sample individual enhancement report. As shown in the figure, the comprehensive evaluation is displayed in a radar chart, and the learning method advice, favorable evaluation, and points to be strengthened are presented as comments.
This educational service system has a function of automatically generating individual strengthening point reports from medical record data based on the strengthening point report creation table. For this reason, as the reinforcement point report creation table, the learning method advice table, favorable evaluation table, and reinforcement point table in which comments described in the learning method advice, favorable evaluation, and reinforcement point are recorded, and the reference address of these tables from the evaluation point An evaluation value combination table and a comment combination table. FIG. 24 shows an example of a comment described in the learning method advice table, FIG. 25 shows an example of a comment described in the favorable evaluation table, FIG. 26 shows an example of a comment described in the enhancement point table, and FIG. 27 shows an evaluation value combination table. FIG. 28 shows an example of the comment combination table.

FIG. 29 shows a processing flow of the individual enhancement point report automatic generation function. As shown in the figure, first, comprehensive evaluation processing is performed. In the comprehensive evaluation process, lesson evaluation data is extracted from the charts of the past three months, and a weighted average is obtained by referring to an evaluation calculation table that defines weights corresponding to the lesson types, thereby calculating evaluation values for each evaluation item. . When each evaluation value is obtained, it is plotted on a radar chart.
Next, comment generation processing for the enhancement point report is performed. In the comment generation process, a record that matches a combination of evaluation values is searched from the evaluation value combination table, and a combination code is acquired. From the acquired combination code, referring to the comment combination table, an advice code, a favorable evaluation code, and an enhancement point code are acquired. From the acquired advice code, favorable evaluation code, and enhancement point code, refer to the advice table, favorable evaluation table, and enhancement point table, respectively, to obtain the corresponding comment record, and use this for each learning method advice field in the enhancement point report. , Output to the favorable evaluation column and the reinforcement point column.
Thereby, the lesson attendance status of the member, the transition of the lesson evaluation and the level judgment evaluation can be grasped, and the member can be motivated and prevented from frustration due to sluggish growth.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the individual strengthening point report itself is directly generated from the past medical record information has been described. However, as shown in FIG. 30, the calculation result of each evaluation point and the combination code for generating the comment based on the result are calculated. A recorded enhancement point issue file may be generated, and an individual enhancement point report may be generated based on that file when distributed to members.

(6) Individual Education Plan Generation Function This education service system has a function of automatically generating an individual recommended education plan from past lesson evaluations described in a medical record. For this reason, an enhanced lesson table that defines reinforcement lessons for evaluation items with low evaluations, a lesson pattern table that defines combinations of reinforcement lessons, and an education pattern determination table that determines the education pattern to be used from each evaluation value combination are used. To do. In addition, the evaluation value obtained from the lesson evaluation of the past three months used in the individual strengthening point report is used.

  Hereinafter, a case where three items are extracted from the lower evaluation value and a plan for six lessons is presented will be described as an example. If the lesson that strengthens the extracted low evaluation items is X, Y, and Z, the educational plan to be presented is a. One-item concentration type (XXXXXXX), b. 2-item concentrated type (XXXXYYY), c. 3-item concentrated type (XXYYZZ), d. 2-item alternating type (XYXYXY), e. 3-item alternating type (XYZXYZ), f. 2-item concentrated deformation type 1 (XXXXYY), g. 2-item concentrated deformation type 2 (XXXXXY), h. 3-item concentrated deformation type 1 (XXXXYYZ), i. 3-item concentrated deformation type 2 (XXXXYZ), j. 3-item alternating deformation type 1 (XYZXYX), k. 3-item alternating deformation type 2, l. Select from the three-item alternate deformation type 3 education pattern.

Which education pattern is selected depends on an education pattern determination table that defines the relationship between evaluation value combinations and education patterns. FIG. 31 shows an education pattern determination table in the form of a processing flow. As shown in the figure, for example, when the evaluation values of the three items are the same, e is selected as the determination pattern and j is selected as the adjustment pattern. Here, the decision pattern indicates what is presented as a recommended lesson plan, and the adjustment pattern indicates a lesson pattern that is dynamically changed when the lesson starts with the decision pattern and the result is not good.
In the same manner, each determination pattern and adjustment pattern are selected for combinations of evaluation values as shown in FIG.
Based on the education pattern determined by the education pattern determination table, a corresponding reinforcement lesson is extracted from the reinforcement lesson table, and a combination of the extracted reinforcement lessons is presented as a recommended education plan.

The generated individual education plan may be described in the individual reinforcement point report, or may be distributed independently to the members.
In addition, this educational plan may be presented at the time of lesson reservation so as to promote reservation determination and automatic reservation.
Thus, since an appropriate lesson attendance plan is automatically generated without burdening the instructor, detailed guidance can be given to the member, which contributes to improvement of the member's ability.

  In the above embodiment, the case where three items with low evaluation values are extracted and a plan for six lessons is presented has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of items and the number of lessons to be presented are not limited thereto. If a corresponding education pattern table and education pattern decision logic are provided, an education plan can be automatically generated.

(7) Follow Target Person Extraction Function This educational service system has a function of automatically extracting members who have poor service digestion rates or members whose level of improvement is slow based on medical records and delivering mail.
FIG. 32 shows a processing flow of the follow target person extraction function. As shown in the figure, the recommended number of times, the number of lessons taken within a predetermined period, and the level up level are extracted from the chart. Next, a determination value is acquired from the follow target person extraction condition table. If the number of recommendations is less than or equal to the lower limit, a follow-up email is sent to increase motivation. Further, the number of lessons attended and the level-up degree are compared with the lower limit value, and in the predetermined case, the required degree of follow-up weighted based on the sales campaign information is calculated. When the required follow-up number is equal to or greater than the upper limit, a follow-up email for counseling promotion is delivered. Also, when the required follow-up frequency is not less than the lower limit, campaign information and direct mail for encouraging attendance are distributed.

  In the above embodiment, the number of recommendations, the number of lessons attended, and the level up level are used as the follow target person extraction conditions, but the present invention is not limited to this, and all items described in the medical chart are determined. It becomes the object of. In this case, it can be realized by describing the determination item, the determination condition, and the processing content when the determination condition is satisfied in the follow target person extraction condition table, and processing based on this.

  In this way, by automatically extracting follow-up persons from the chart and notifying the members, it is possible to prevent members from frustration and motivate them to improve their abilities. In addition, more detailed follow-up of members can be realized by judging including sales information or by determining the necessity of follow-up and changing the content of the notification accordingly.

3. Service Execution Management System The service execution management system 54 performs execution management of lessons and level determination tests set by the service support system 52.
(1) Lesson execution management function Referring to the lesson reservation transaction, when a certain time before the lesson reservation is reached, the interactive communication server 10 is requested to set the conference room, and the connected student terminal address and instructor terminal address are notified. . Thereby, the two-way communication server 10 sets a conference room and accepts the connection request from the student terminal and the instructor terminal that are notified.
When the lesson start time is reached, the content distribution server 12 is notified of the distribution destination student terminal address and instructor terminal address, and requests distribution preparation. Thereby, the content distribution server 12 notifies the instructor terminal that the preparation for distribution is completed in the case of the interactive service, and starts distribution upon receiving a distribution start instruction from the instructor terminal. In the case of an automatic service, the student terminal is notified that the preparation for distribution has been completed, and distribution is started upon receiving a distribution start instruction from the student terminal.

(2) Level judgment test execution management function In the case of the level judgment test, the same processing as described above is performed with reference to the level judgment test transaction.

4). Distribution Service Management System The distribution service management system 56 performs centralized management of mail distribution to registered members.
As for the delivery of e-mails, the member information registration / change confirmation e-mail, privilege score notification, level judgment test result delivery, enhancement point report delivery, follow-up notification, and other member requests Distribution of teaching materials for preparation and review. In addition, it also distributes direct mail such as various events and campaign information.

  In the above embodiment, since the Internet is used as a communication line, this service can be received anytime without worrying about telephone charges even from a remote place. In the above embodiment, the instructor has been described as using the user terminal in the education service center. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a user terminal connected to the Internet can also be used. It is. This can be dealt with by setting the chairmanship flag for a specific user terminal as described above. As a result, the instructor can respond from anytime and anywhere if there is a user terminal that can be connected to the Internet, and the degree of freedom of service provision is expanded. Instructors can also participate from foreign countries, which can further promote the provision of language education by native speakers.

In the above embodiment, the case where the Internet is used as the communication line has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the telephone line may be directly connected to the education service center.
Moreover, it may be applied to in-house education or school education using a local area LAN, WAN, or the like, and the same effect can be obtained even if it is used for an education service implemented in a specific group. Needless to say, the communication line is not limited to the wired type but also includes a wireless type.

  The invention of the present application can also be applied when a service is provided by providing a booth in the educational service center, and a variety of multimedia teaching materials are used by providing a service combining interactive service and automatic service. It is possible to simultaneously provide services and reduce labor costs by holding instructors.

  In the above embodiment, the user terminal used by the member has been described as using a personal computer having an interface function of the TV camera and microphone and an Internet connection function. However, the user terminal can be connected to a communication line and has an interface of the TV camera and microphone. Any device can be used as long as it has a function, and a portable terminal such as a PDA or a game machine can be used in addition to a dedicated terminal. In the future, it may be possible to use a mobile phone equipped with a TV camera, and by using these, users can be further expanded.

  According to the present invention, bidirectional communication means for performing bidirectional communication using multimedia information including TV video and audio, content management means for storing multimedia contents used as teaching materials, and contents management means Education that provides a high educational effect because it is equipped with content distribution means that distributes content to user terminals, and multimedia information can be interactively communicated between user terminals while retrieving and distributing multimedia content that has been stored in advance. Service can be provided.

It is a block block diagram of the education service center concerning one embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the video conference function concerning one embodiment of this invention. It is the processing procedure of the video conference function concerning one embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the data conference function concerning one embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the content delivery function concerning one embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the method of expressing delivery content by a scenario. It is an example of the scenario used for the content delivery of this invention. This is a content distribution processing procedure using a scenario. It is a processing procedure of operation control for content being distributed. It is a conceptual diagram of the live relay function concerning one embodiment of this invention. 2 shows a content management database for automatic scenario generation. This is a sample description of the scenario dictionary. This is a procedure for automatic scenario generation. It is an example of a screen display at the time of using the interactive function by a bidirectional communication server. It is an example of a screen display at the time of content distribution by a content distribution server. It is an example of a screen display when interacting while receiving content distribution. It is an example of the service composition pattern which combined the face-to-face service and the automatic service. It is an example of a combination when one instructor provides a hanging service. It is an example of a member information input screen. It is a processing procedure of the authentication / billing function according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is an example of a privilege score inquiry screen. It is an example of a medical chart input screen. This is a sample of an individual enhancement report. It is an example of the description comment of an advice table. It is an example of the description comment of a favorable evaluation table. It is an example of the description comment of an enhancement point table. It is an example of an evaluation value combination table. It is an example of a comment combination table. It is an example of the processing flow of an individual reinforcement | strengthening point report automatic generation function. It is an example of an enhancement point report issue file. It is an example of the processing flow of an education plan automatic generation function. It is an example of a follow subject automatic extraction function. It is a block block diagram of the conventional educational service system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Two-way communication server 12 Content distribution server 14 Authentication / billing gateway 16 WWW server 18 Mail server 20 Content management server 22 Content archiver 24 Content management terminal 26 Video / audio connection device 30 Instructor terminal 40 Router 50 Member information management system 52 Service support System 54 Service execution management system 56 Distribution service management system

Claims (9)

Material content storage means for storing multimedia material contents as material of contents to be distributed, scenario storage means for storing a scenario in which a combination of the material contents is defined along a time axis, and stored in the scenario storage means Content distribution means for taking out the material content stored in the material content storage means based on the scenario and delivering it to each terminal connected to the communication line, and between all the terminals connected to the communication line An educational service system with independent two-way communication means for providing two-way interactive functions using TV video and audio,
There is an instructor, and the content distribution means distributes the content to each terminal as necessary while the interactive communication means performs a TV video and audio dialogue between the instructor terminal and the student terminal. A function to set a plurality of service menus that combine a face-to-face lesson in which an instructor does not exist and an automatic lesson in which only content is distributed to each student terminal by the content distribution means. And
The educational service system according to claim 1, wherein one instructor can hold a plurality of services.   A group learning service that does not have an instructor and can receive content distribution by the content distribution unit as needed while performing interactive dialogue between the student terminals by the interactive communication unit by the TV and voice. The education service system according to claim 1, wherein the education service system has a function of setting a menu. The two-way communication means has a function of setting a conference room that can be freely accessed;
Each student receives his / her content by the content distribution means as necessary while connecting his / her terminal to the set conference room and freely interacting with the connected instructor and other students. The educational service system according to claim 1, further comprising a function of setting a free talk service that can be set in the service menu. A member information registration function for registering information of members who receive the education service, and a function for issuing a medical record for recording a lesson history for the registered members,
A function for distributing the content for level determination test to the student terminal, a function for acquiring an answer from the student terminal for the distributed content for level determination, and an answer and an evaluation for the acquired answer A level judgment value table describing the correspondence between the evaluation items, and a function of totaling the level evaluation values of each evaluation item, and a function of recording the total level evaluation value of each evaluation item in the chart The educational service system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. A comment table in which various comment texts are registered for each advice item, an evaluation value combination table in which a combination code of level evaluation values for each evaluation item is defined, and a comment combination table in which a comment text combination for each advice item is defined,
A function for obtaining a combination code by referring to the evaluation value combination table for the level evaluation value of each evaluation item recorded in the medical record, and a reference to the comment combination table for the obtained combination code A function for obtaining a comment sentence combination for each advice item, a function for referring to the comment table for the obtained comment sentence combination for each advice item, and a function for obtaining a comment sentence for each advice item; A function for generating a learning report using the level evaluation value of each evaluation item recorded in the above and a comment sentence for each acquired advice item, and a function for notifying the student terminal of the generated learning report Have
5. The educational service system according to claim 4, wherein an individualized learning report expressed in terms of advice items can be presented to a student according to a result of a level determination test. Includes an enhanced lesson table that defines reinforcement lessons for low-evaluation items, a lesson pattern table that defines combinations of reinforcement lessons, and an education pattern determination table that determines education patterns from combinations of level evaluation values for each evaluation item ,
A function of extracting items with low evaluation from the level evaluation value of each evaluation item recorded in the medical record and extracting a corresponding reinforcement lesson with reference to the reinforcement lesson table, and a level of each evaluation item recorded in the medical record A function of determining an education pattern to be used according to the education pattern determination table from a combination of evaluation values; and a function of presenting an education plan in which the extracted reinforcement lessons are combined based on the determined education pattern;
5. The education service system according to claim 4, wherein an individualized education plan for repeatedly learning reinforcement lessons for evaluation items having low student level evaluation values can be presented. In the education pattern determination table, an adjustment pattern to be used when the result of executing the reinforcement lesson according to the current education plan is not preferable is registered,
A function for determining an adjustment pattern to be used according to the education pattern determination table from a combination of level evaluation values of each evaluation item recorded in the medical record and the extracted lesson for reinforcement based on the determined adjustment pattern With the ability to present an education plan,
The educational service system according to claim 6, wherein the educational plan can be dynamically changed when a result of executing the strengthening lesson with the current educational plan is not preferable. A resource for registering a lesson reservation file for registering lesson reservation information, an instructor management file for registering an instructor schedule, a use schedule for the bidirectional communication means, a use schedule for the instructor terminal, and a distribution schedule for the content distribution means With management files,
A function of accepting a lesson reservation of a student, a function of judging acceptance of a lesson with reference to the instructor management file and the resource management file for the accepted lesson reservation, and the result of the determination Has a function of registering the student in the lesson reservation file when accepting, and a function of updating the instructor management file and the resource management file based on the registered contents,
A service optimization condition file that sets conditions for grouping students to take lessons,
A function of grouping students by referring to at least one of the registered student member information and the record information of the medical record based on the conditions specified in the service optimization condition file when reserving the lesson The educational service system according to claim 4, wherein: A method of providing educational services using a computer,
A content storage procedure for storing multimedia material content as a material of content to be distributed, a scenario storage procedure for storing a scenario in which a combination of the material content is defined along a time axis, and a scenario storage procedure stored And taking out the material content stored by the material content storage procedure based on a scenario and distributing it to each terminal connected to the communication line, and a television image between all the terminals connected to the communication line And independent two-way communication procedure that provides two-way interactive voice function,
There is an instructor, and the content distribution means distributes the content to each terminal as necessary while the interactive communication means performs a TV video and audio dialogue between the instructor terminal and the student terminal. A function to set a plurality of service menus that combine a face-to-face lesson in which an instructor does not exist and an automatic lesson in which only content is distributed to each student terminal by the content distribution means. And
A method for providing an educational service, wherein one instructor can handle a plurality of services.

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