FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a data collection method of automatically collecting, processing, and transmission of data for use in a reporting system for example in education sector.

BACKGROUND

At present, attendance is marked in schools everyday by calling out student’s names and noting down the status in a register. This process is not only tedious but also time taking. Further, employing biometric devices in every school or every classroom to register attendance is not feasible as there are so many classrooms having at least 40 students in each classroom. Hence at least 40 students standing outside a classroom to register their attendance would cause a chaos.

In another scenario, the communication between teachers and parents nowadays is done using traditional methods such as phone calls, school visits, writing etc. which has been proved not to be so effective. As the schools are rapidly increasing and so is the number of students, teachers now have greater number of students under their charge. Also with rapid development of society and economy, parents are now eager to understand and be informed about their child’s attendance, performance, growth and development etc. in school every day. Hence it has become difficult for teachers to communicate with every parent regularly.

However, with traditional methods, it becomes difficult for teachers to timely assess and evaluate each student’s performance, to record their results under their charge and to make a report on their progress. The entire process requires an expenditure of a significant amount of time and effort on behalf of the teacher. Additionally, with a large number of students under their charge, performance evaluation and communicating the same becomes time consuming. This may even affect accuracy and/or quality of the reports as there is no easy way to generate them.

The present invention provides an easy and quick solution to the said problem. It relates to a system and method of data collection and implementing the same for use in a reporting system. Using the system and method of present invention, the data is collected on machine-readable identification forms. The data is then transmitted to web server, after processing with document scanner, where the information is retrieved to be used for report generation.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention solves the aforesaid problem of the prior art and provides the required information easily in very less time with minimal human intervention. The principle object of the present invention is to provide a method and system to effectively collect data and extract information so as to generate various automated reports.

In the system and method of present invention, the data is collected using different forms of machine-readable identification. Such forms are called mark read forms for the purpose of this invention. These mark read forms are processed rapidly by document scanner to obtain data. The data obtained is then wirelessly transmitted to the web server or cloud where the data is analyzed, categorized to obtain information and is then saved accordingly to their respective sub-modules. Further, the analyzed and categorized information is used to generate various automated reports such as daily or monthly attendance, performance and long-term growth etc.

It is other object of the invention to collect data using different forms of machine-readable identification which are called mark read forms for the purpose of this invention.

Another object of the present invention is to obtain data by processing the mark read forms using document scanner.

It is other object of the invention to wirelessly transmit the data to web server or cloud where data is analyzed and categorized to obtain information and is saved accordingly.

Another object of the present invention is to generate automated reports using the information retrieved from the data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention may be better understood and its numerous objects, features and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art, by referring to the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a process flow diagram of present invention used in schools.

Fig. 2 is an entity relation diagram of the present invention to be used in schools and the possible information that may be stored in sub-modules.

Fig. 3 is a flow diagram of present invention to be used for report generation.

Fig. 4 is a data flow diagram of present invention used for providing data input to various sub-modules.

Fig. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating the method of the present invention.

Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 illustrates mark read forms used for system and method of present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

The detailed description of the appended drawings is intended as a description of the one embodiment of the present invention, and it is not intended to represent the only form in which the present invention may be practiced. This is to be understood that the same or equivalent functions may be accomplished by different embodiments that are intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The present invention allows parents to stay at home and access child’s performance, growth curve etc. This information may help parents and teachers to take steps towards targeted growth of their child and right education guidance. The present system and method of the invention achieves a timely communication and transparency between school and parents.

The invention uses machine-readable code that is either affixed to or applied to the surface of a tangible object, document scanner, internet technology, mobile communication, database, web server or cloud.

The present invention provides a system and method for assessment of constructed responses provided by respondents on mark read forms by marking selected boxes on the form.

For example: The system and method of the present invention may be used in education sector. The daily attendance or examination marks of each student of class in a school are docketed by marking the mark-read forms. These forms are scanned using document scanner and the data obtained is stored in the central server (web server or cloud). In the central server, the data with respect to each student is analyzed and categorized to obtain information. The said information is used to generate various automated reports for each student which can be viewed by student, guardian, parents, teachers, principle, regional school authority, central school authority or any other person to whom the obtained information would be useful.

In one embodiment of the present invention and with reference to Fig.1, the system and method is used in schools where attendance, personal details and test marks of each students etc. are entered in mark read forms which are scanned by using document scanner and the data obtained is stored in central server (web server or cloud). In the web server or cloud the data is analyzed and categorized to obtain information. The said information is used to generate various automated reports. The said information and generated reports may be accessed by user through network communication on various hand-held devices such as mobile phones, tablets, computer system etc. For example, in schools the user may be student, guardian, parents, teachers, principle, regional school authority, central school authority or any other person to whom the obtained information would be useful.

Referring now to Fig. 2 illustrating the entity relation diagram of the present invention being used in school. Information about a school, student, attendance of students, faculty, and student test marks etc. may be retrieved from the mark read forms. The information retrieved from said forms are categorized and stored in their respective sub-modules on the web server or cloud. For example: information related to a student such as school name, school ID, student name, gender, class, section, class roll no., enrollment no., attendance, marks etc.

Fig. 3 illustrates the report generation at student level, school level, and regional level, and so on using the information obtained from mark read forms and stored on web server or cloud.

As shown in Fig. 4, the information retrieved from mark-read forms is categorically stored in their respective sub-modules.

Further, Fig. 5 illustrates flow diagram of mark-read forms being optically scanned and the data obtained is stored on the web server after checking if the form is scanned properly.

The aforesaid description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made for the purpose of illustrating one or more use of the present invention.

The present invention discloses a system for effectively collecting data and extract information so as to generate various automated reports, functions by the following method:

i) effective collection of data using different forms of machine-readable identification;
There are a variety of standard ways to encode information in a machine-readable code that is either affixed to or applied to the surface of a tangible object. Different forms of machine-readable identification include magnetic stripe, magnetic ink character recognition (MICR), optical character recognition (OCR), optical mark recognition (OMR) etc. Such forms are called mark read forms for the purpose of this invention.

ii) the mark read forms are rapidly processed by document scanner to obtain data;

iii) the obtained data is wirelessly transmitted to the web server or cloud;

iv) the data is then analyzed and categorized to obtain information and saved accordingly to respective sub-modules;

v) the information is then used to generate automated reports such as daily or monthly attendance, performance and long-term growth etc.

The generated report can be accessed using various hand-held devices such as mobile phone, tablet, computer etc. via network communication. A personalized message may also be sent to the user’s phone by the corresponding short message gateway to provide the said information.

A mark read form with a numeric value block, a plurality of response control marks, response receiving rows, and a zone for a bar code, optical character recognition (OCR) spaces and/or intelligence character recognition (ICR) spaces. The mark read forms are filled by individual(s) or respondent(s) by placing marks in selected boxes on the forms and which are then scanned and analyzed by utilizing optical mark reading (OMR) and optical/intelligent character recognition (OCR/ICR) system. The scanned details then analyzed to determine the responses selected by each person and to compile the analysis of results.

The web server or cloud includes: a basic data management module which categorizes the information and transfers them to the respective module for example- basic information module where user information is stored; an attendance module for receiving attendance log; report generation module for generating various automated reports based on information retrieved. Thus user can log on to the portal and check attendance records and generated automated reports. By this method, user can view his or others (based on access rights) current and accurate status report such as attendance or marks of a student.

Each user is provided with a unique user-id and password so as to login to the system. Through this system, user can view his or others (based on access rights) current and accurate status report. This system can be applied in various sectors where automated report generation is possible by using the input received on the mark read forms. For example: the information retrieved from the schools all over the country may be used to obtain the sex ratio of male and female students, number of students in the country, marks obtained by them, exact number of students to teacher ratio etc. and in turn may help the government in developing various schemes etc. accordingly.

WE CLAIM:

1) A system for collecting data and generating automated reports comprising:
machine-readable identification form;
document scanner; and
web server;
wherein the machine-readable identification form is processed by document scanner to obtain data which is wirelessly transmitted to the web server; the web server comprises a basic data management module which analyzes and categorizes the data to obtain information and save accordingly.

2) The system for collecting data and generating automated reports as claimed in claim 1, wherein said machine-readable identification form includes magnetic stripe, magnetic ink character recognition (MICR), optical character recognition (OCR), optical mark recognition (OMR).

3) The system for collecting data and generating automated reports as claimed in claim 1, wherein the document scanner is scanner.

4) The system for collecting data and generating automated reports as claimed in claim 1, wherein said information is used for generating automated reports.

5) The system for collecting data and generating automated reports as claimed in claim 4, comprising a short message gateway to send information or generated report via messages to user or client.

6) A method for collecting data and generating automated reports comprising:
providing input on a machine-readable identification form;
processing the machine-readable identification form by document scanner to obtain data; and
wirelessly transmitting the data to web server.

7) The method for collecting data and generating automated reports as claimed in claim 6, wherein said machine-readable identification form includes magnetic stripe, magnetic ink character recognition (MICR), optical character recognition (OCR), optical mark recognition (OMR).

8) The method for collecting data and generating automated reports as claimed in claim 6, wherein the document scanner is scanner.

9) The method for collecting data and generating automated reports as claimed in claim 6, wherein said data in the web server is analyzed and categorized to obtain information.

10) The method for collecting data and generating automated reports as claimed in claim 9, wherein said information is used for generating automated reports.

Dated this 3rd day of June, 2015 RANA Vikrant (PA-248)
S.S. Rana & Co.
Attorneys for the Applicant
GINGER WEBS PRIVATE LIMITED

ABSTRACT

A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DATA COLLECTION AND AUTOMATED REPORT GENERATION FOR EDUCATION SECTOR

The present invention provides a system and method for collecting data using different forms of machine-readable identification. Such forms are called mark read forms for the purpose of this invention. These mark read forms are processed by using document scanner to obtain data. The data obtained is then wirelessly transmitted to web server or cloud where the data is analyzed, categorized to obtain information and is then saved accordingly to respective sub-modules. Further, the analyzed and categorized information is used to generate various automated reports such as daily or monthly attendance, performance and long-term growth etc.

CLIAMS:WE CLAIM:

1) A system for collecting data and generating automated reports comprising:
machine-readable identification form;
document scanner; and
web server;
wherein the machine-readable identification form is processed by document scanner to obtain data which is wirelessly transmitted to the web server; the web server comprises a basic data management module which analyzes and categorizes the data to obtain information and save accordingly.

2) The system for collecting data and generating automated reports as claimed in claim 1, wherein said machine-readable identification form includes magnetic stripe, magnetic ink character recognition (MICR), optical character recognition (OCR), optical mark recognition (OMR).

3) The system for collecting data and generating automated reports as claimed in claim 1, wherein the document scanner is scanner.

4) The system for collecting data and generating automated reports as claimed in claim 1, wherein said information is used for generating automated reports.

5) The system for collecting data and generating automated reports as claimed in claim 4, comprising a short message gateway to send information or generated report via messages to user or client.

6) A method for collecting data and generating automated reports comprising:
providing input on a machine-readable identification form;
processing the machine-readable identification form by document scanner to obtain data; and
wirelessly transmitting the data to web server.

7) The method for collecting data and generating automated reports as claimed in claim 6, wherein said machine-readable identification form includes magnetic stripe, magnetic ink character recognition (MICR), optical character recognition (OCR), optical mark recognition (OMR).

8) The method for collecting data and generating automated reports as claimed in claim 6, wherein the document scanner is scanner.

9) The method for collecting data and generating automated reports as claimed in claim 6, wherein said data in the web server is analyzed and categorized to obtain information.

10) The method for collecting data and generating automated reports as claimed in claim 9, wherein said information is used for generating automated reports.