JPH10171337A - Virtual class system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the virtual class system which gives a chance to learn in a many-student class to a child who is learning in a remote rural area, raises a sprit of rivalry, and makes the child experience sociableness. SOLUTION: When a teacher and a child are connected to a virtual class server through the Internet from a teacher terminal and a student terminal, screens each consisting of a blackboard window, a seat window 33, and face windows appear on each monitor 13. The blackboard window 31 displays class contents in real time. The seat window 33 displays an actual image of classmates and classmate icons 34 having individual evaluation areas 35 are arranged. Further, the face windows are a teacher window 36 displaying only an image of the teacher and a general window 37 displaying respective classmates and others.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a virtual classroom system using a communication network, and more particularly, by connecting a virtual classroom server to the communication network.
The present invention relates to a virtual classroom system in which a teacher has a virtual class and can perform remote education.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, communication networks have been developed, personal computers (hereinafter referred to as "PCs") have been reduced in cost and performance has been improved, and ordinary people can easily use the communication networks. ing.
Under such circumstances, attention has been paid to an education system using a communication network such as the Internet.

[0003] Specifically, a server equipped with educational software is connected to a communication network, and teachers and students connect to the server via a communication network from a terminal.
There is known a system in which a teacher performs a class and a student takes the class.

[0004]

Problems that Japan has to solve include the falling birthrate and depopulation. These two major problems are becoming more serious due to educational issues. In other words, in remote areas where depopulation is a problem, the number of children will decrease, and it will not be possible to organize one class in one grade, or the number of students in a class will be several. ing. Although such a situation is a luxurious educational environment, many parents are worried that children may not be able to keep up with the future competitive society. For this reason, children often leave their hometowns to enter the city for education, and the problem is that the depopulation of the countryside and the aging of the population are further accelerated.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention provides a virtual classroom system in which children studying in remote areas can be provided with an opportunity to study in a class of many people, to stimulate a competitive spirit and to experience socializing. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems, Embodiments of the Invention and Effects of the Invention In order to solve the above problems, a virtual classroom system according to the present invention comprises a virtual classroom server, a teacher terminal arranged on the teacher side, Connect a student terminal arranged on the student side to a communication network, and a teacher and student, or a virtual classroom system capable of two-way communication between students, the teacher terminal and student terminal, It has at least image input / output means, and a monitor screen of the image input / output means has a blackboard window for displaying the content taught by the teacher, a face window for displaying the actual image of the speaker, and icons of the actual images of all the students. And a seat window arranged in a vertical direction.

Usually, the teacher terminal and the student terminal are provided with voice input / output means to enable two-way communication by conversation between the teacher and the student or between the students. Here, in particular, since the blackboard window is for displaying the content of the lesson, an area having a predetermined size of the blackboard window does not overlap other windows without overlapping other windows on the blackboard window. It is preferable that the area is preferentially secured.

[0008] Each student icon in the seat window may have an evaluation area. In the evaluation area, the contents of the students 'answers to the questions presented by the teacher are displayed, so that all the students actively participate in the class, or the scores of the tests are displayed, so that the students' scores are displayed. It can stimulate competitiveness and improve academic ability.

Further, the face window may include a teacher window for displaying a photographed image of a teacher and a general window for displaying a photographed image of a student or an object. Thereby, the student can obtain a sense of reality as if he or she is taking a class in a general classroom.

[0010] Furthermore, the teacher terminal and the student terminal read the answer sheet of the test distributed from the teacher side on the student side, and read the answer sheet when collecting the completed test. May be provided with an image scanner for inputting a response during the lesson and a tablet or keyboard for inputting answers during the lesson.

According to the present invention, children who live and study in remote areas are given the opportunity to study in a class of many people, as in the case of urban children. Students can acquire academic ability comparable to that of students. In addition, by effectively utilizing the general window and the like, it is possible to experience a relationship between students or a relationship between a teacher and a student.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings in order to further clarify the embodiments of the present invention. Note that the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the following examples at all, and as long as they belong to the technical scope of the present invention.
It goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in various modes.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 shows a conceptual diagram of a virtual classroom system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a virtual classroom server 5, a teacher terminal 7,
And the student terminal 9 is connected. The virtual classroom server 5 is provided with virtual classroom software. The teacher takes charge of the virtual class, and connects to the virtual classroom server from the teacher terminal 7 via the Internet 3 to give a lesson. On the other hand, students are student terminals 9
Connects to the virtual classroom server 5 via the Internet 3 and submits a notice of attendance to the virtual class to become a class mate and take a teacher class.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the hardware of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the hardware configuration of the present embodiment includes a personal computer main body 14 as an input / output device, a keyboard 21, a tablet 23, a monitor 13 for displaying an image, and an image for inputting a facial expression of a teacher or a student. Camera 19, voice input microphone 17, speaker 1 for outputting voice emitted from a teacher or another student
5, further comprises a printer 25, an image scanner 27, etc., and is connected to the Internet.

The hardware according to the above configuration is usually set in each of the teacher's house and each child's house, but a separate video camera is connected to the teacher side in order to widely photograph and transfer class scenes such as a blackboard. It is good also as a structure which can be performed. FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of the monitor screen of the present embodiment.

When a teacher and a child connect to the virtual classroom server 5 from the teacher terminal 7 and the student terminal 9 via the Internet, respectively (see FIG. 1), as shown in FIG. The screen appears. The screen is
It is composed of a blackboard window 31, a seat window 33, and face windows 36 and 37.

The blackboard window 31 is for displaying in real time the content of the lesson being taken by the teacher, is given the highest priority on the screen, always secures the minimum necessary size, and The windows should be arranged in front without overlapping. The image displayed in the blackboard window 31 is an actual image of a class scene or the like taken by the camera 19 attached to the monitor 13 owned by the teacher or a video camera connected separately.

In the seat window 33, actual images of the classmates are iconified and displayed in an array (hereinafter, the iconized actual images of the classmates are referred to as "classmate icons 34"). The real image is a real-time image taken by the camera 19 attached to the monitor 13 owned by each child. The above arrangement simulates the arrangement of seats in an actual class.

The classmate icon 34 displays the expression and gesture of each classmate in real time. Each of the classmate icons 34 is provided with an evaluation area 35. In the evaluation area 35, the answers of the classmates to the questions given by the teacher in the class, the correct answer rate, scores, points to be noted, and the like are displayed.

Further, the face windows include a teacher window 36 and a general window 37. The teacher window 36 displays a teacher image professionally. The general window 37 is a general-purpose window for displaying each classmate and anything else. Next, an example of use of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

When the teacher and the student connect to the virtual classroom server 5 from the teacher terminal 7 and the student terminal 9 via the Internet (see FIG. 1), the screen shown in FIG. appear. Teacher window 3
6, a real image of the teacher is displayed, and a real image of each classmate is displayed in the seat window 33.

The teacher advances the lesson by calling on the child through the microphone 17 in the same manner as in a normal lesson in a classroom. The child responds to the teacher's call via individual microphones 17 and responds by voice. In this case, the voice of the teacher is usually transmitted to each classmate, and the voice of each classmate is transmitted to the teacher. The voice of each classmate is reduced and distributed to each classmate.

On the blackboard window 31, objects used in the lesson, such as the whiteboard of the lesson, experiments, and the like are displayed in real time, so that the user can experience a general lesson. If the class contents cannot be expressed only by the blackboard window 31 due to the class contents, the general window 37 is replaced with the blackboard window 3.
1 can be used in the same manner.

When the classmate icon 34 in the seat window 33 is clicked, an image of the clicked person is displayed in the general window 37, a dedicated telephone line is formed, and a personal telephone call is possible. Note that when the dedicated telephone line is used, the call with the person displayed in the general window 37 is prioritized, and the voice of the other person is reduced or muted.
In this case, it is assumed that a call between individuals on the dedicated call line is not distributed to another person.

When performing a test or the like, each student receives the question sheet and answer sheet distributed by the teacher on the Internet, and prints it with the printer 25. After the test, each student reads the answer sheet with the image scanner 27 and sends it to the teacher over the Internet. The teacher prints the answer sheet received from the student by the printer 25. The teacher may post the score or the like in the evaluation area 35 after scoring the test.

Further, when the teacher asks each student for an answer during the course of the lesson, the student may input a reply using the tablet 23 and the keyboard 21. The response may be displayed in the evaluation area 35 or the general window 37. In this embodiment, the Internet is used as a communication network. However, the communication network may be an intranet or an extranet.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a virtual classroom system according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a monitor screen according to the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Virtual classroom system 3. Internet 5. Server for virtual classroom 7.
・ Teacher terminal, 9 ・ ・ ・ Student terminal, 13 ・ ・ ・ Monitor, 15 ・ ・ ・ Speaker, 17 ・ ・ ・ Microphone,
19: Camera, 21: Keyboard, 23
..Tablets, 25 ... Printers, 27 ...
Image scanner, 31 ・ ・ ・ Blackboard window, 33
... Seat window, 34 ... Classmate icon, 35 ... Evaluation area, 36 ... Teacher window, 37 ... General window

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A virtual classroom server, a teacher terminal arranged on the teacher side, and a student terminal arranged on the student side are connected to a communication network, and both the teacher and the student or between the students are connected. A virtual classroom system capable of two-way communication, wherein the teacher terminal and the student terminal have at least image input / output means, and a monitor screen of the image input / output means, a blackboard window for displaying the contents taught by the teacher. A virtual classroom system, comprising: a face window for displaying a photographer's photographed image; and a seat window in which photographed images of all students are arranged in icons. 2. The virtual device according to claim 1, wherein the teacher terminal and the student terminal include voice input / output means, and two-way communication is possible by conversation between the teacher and the student or between the students. Classroom system. 3. The virtual classroom system according to claim 1, wherein the blackboard window is reserved with priority over other windows. 4. The virtual classroom system according to claim 1, wherein an evaluation area is provided for each student icon in the seat window. 5. The face window according to claim 1, wherein the face window includes a teacher window for displaying a real image of a teacher and a general window for displaying a real image of a student or an object. Virtual classroom system described in 1. 6. The teacher terminal and the student terminal include a printer for delivering a test, an image scanner for collecting a test, and a tablet or keyboard for transmitting an answer during the course of the lesson. 6. The device according to claim 1, wherein
Virtual classroom system according to any of the above.