DESC:FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10, rule 13)

“A method and system of creating learning supplement from a plurality of information sources”

By
INDUS TECHINNOVATIONS LLP
NO. 234, 5th CROSS, DOMLUR LAYOUT BANGALORE - 560 071

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
Field of the Invention

The invention generally relates to organizing the content of information sources. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system of creating learning supplement from a plurality of digital information resources.

Background of the Invention

Information sources may include a variety of structured or unstructured information which are abundant in a knowledge based society. Numerous books, documents, and multimedia files are available in various fields in the literature and their users are spending a large amount of time to learn the content. These information sources contain many concepts in its content and learning involves understanding the concepts and their relationships to each other. There is quite a lot of effort required in making the content available easily (e.g., through an electronic form), presenting the content in forms easily understandable to the readers (e.g., through images, audios and videos), and supplementing the content with external information (e.g., references to other relevant resources).

One way to learn the content in a field is to get the content in different media forms including images, audios, and videos. Another way to learn the content of a book is to get a list of the topics covered by the book along with the relationships between those topics. This can be done at different levels of granularity; it could be at the book level, chapter level, section level or topic level. These will provide different perspectives of the same content and make a lasting impression in the mind of the reader.

Concept maps provide visual representation of the concepts and their relationships in a field. This is a good medium to represent the concepts covered along with their relationships to each other. There are multiple ways to present the content in easily understandable forms and there are methods to supplement the content with more relevant information through different media. It is expected that good organization of the content and providing sufficient relevant information would allow quicker grasp of the relevant concepts and their interconnections.

There is thus a need in the art to organize available content in a more holistic manner and to provide the content along with relevant extra information to the readers in an easily understandable and navigable manner.

Summary of the Invention
An aspect of the present invention is to address at least the above-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below.
According to one aspect of the present invention is a method of creating learning supplement from a plurality of information sources, the method comprising: identifying relevant concepts from the plurality of information sources, wherein the identifying relevant concepts is in the context of the information sources, defining association between the identified concepts, wherein defining association includes identifying relation between the concepts and linking the same, and creating a concept map structure according to the identified relevant concepts and their association thereby forming a learning supplement.
In another aspect of the present invention provides a method of creating learning supplement from a plurality of information sources for a course delivery system for students, the method comprising: receiving a syllabus of at least one course, identifying relevant concepts from the plurality of information sources, wherein the identifying relevant concepts is in the context of the syllabus, defining association between the identified concepts, wherein defining association includes identifying relation between the concepts and linking the same and creating a concept map structure according to the identified relevant concepts and their association thereby forming the learning supplement based on the received syllabus for that particular course.

In another aspect of the present invention provides a method of displaying a learning supplement utilizing a graphical user interface for a course delivery system for students, the method comprising: receiving a syllabus of at least one course, identifying a plurality of contexts from the receiving syllabus, identifying relevant concepts from the plurality of information sources, wherein the identifying relevant concepts from the identified context, providing association between the identified concepts, wherein association includes identifying relation between the concepts and linking the same and displaying a concept map structure according to the identified relevant concepts and their association thereby forming the learning supplement based on the received syllabus for that particular course. The method further includes displaying primitive information relevant to each identified concepts, and providing additional information including related concepts to each identified concepts from the external sources including textbooks, articles and web.

In another aspect of the present invention provides an automated system of creating learning supplement from a plurality of information resources, the system comprising: a plurality of information sources and at least one client device having an interface, wherein the client device includes a logic module for identifying relevant concepts from context of the plurality of information resources thereby organizing at least one concept map, a learning supplement generator for generating a learning supplement which defines the relationships between the identified concepts, wherein the learning supplement generator also identifies relationships between the concepts and linking the same and a processor including a database, the processor coupled with the logic module and the learning supplement generator allows the user to navigate the learning supplement in order to retrieve desired information, add and share texts, images, audios, videos, references and other relevant information with other users.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

Brief description of the drawings

The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 shows a flow chart of a method of creating learning supplement from a plurality of information sources, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically representing a learning supplement constructed in accordance with the teachings of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a presentation of a concept map structure that is generated in connection with a user selection, in accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an automated system of creating learning supplement from a plurality of information resources, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

Detail description of the Invention

In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The leading digit(s) of reference numbers appearing in the Figures generally corresponds to the Figure number in which that component is first introduced, such that the same reference number is used throughout to refer to an identical component which appears in multiple Figures.

The features, structures, or characteristics of the invention described throughout this specification may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. For example, reference throughout this specification to “certain embodiments,” “some embodiments,” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in certain embodiments,” “in demonstrative embodiments,” “in some embodiment,” “in other embodiments,” or similar language throughout this specification do not necessarily all refer to the same group of embodiments and the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

Figure 1 shows a flow chart of a method 100 of creating learning supplement from a plurality of information sources, according to one embodiment of the present invention. In an operation, the method 100 at step 110 identifies relevant concepts from the plurality of information sources, the identifying relevant concepts is in the context of the information sources. The information sources are of various forms which are available to describe a field of study. As an example embodiment, a textbook describes different related ideas and concepts in a field of study in electronic form or printed form. A collection of documents in printed form or electronic form around a common theme provides information in a relevant field of study.

At step 120, the method defines association between the identified concepts, the defining association includes identifying relation between the concepts and linking the same. The information sources may contain different sets of related topics which includes one or more concepts which are connected to each other through an explicit relationship and others are connected through implicit relationships.

The identification of concepts and relation of the concepts are structured manually or automated with the help of subject experts in their respective field.

At step 130, the method creates a concept map structure according to the identified relevant concepts and their association thereby forming a learning supplement. The concept maps are organized at multiple levels of granularity, and the concept map includes one or more concept maps with distinct concepts. The concept maps are linked to one or more other concept maps through related concept. Moreover, the concept maps are created from information source data, external data and the data from the web. The learning supplement includes documents, images, audios, videos, pages or content from the information source and relevant documents internal or external to the book. Further, the learning supplement allows the user to add and share texts, images, audios, videos, references and other relevant information with other users.

Identifying the concepts within the information source and relating those to each other provides its concept map which gives a different perspective to the content of the information source. In addition to giving a list of relevant topics in the information source the concept map gives a bird’s eye view of the content, where the user will be able to navigate through the content in ways different from the linear ordered way given in textbooks.

At step 140, the method provides primitive information relevant to each identified concepts. The primitive information may be or may include a summary or the definition of the identified concept. Moreover, it may also include but not limited to images, audios, videos and other contents.

At step 150, the method also provides additional information including related concepts to each identified concepts from the external sources including textbooks, articles and the web.

At step 160, the method adaptively updates the learning supplement by receiving feedback from the user on the concepts, the concept maps and the relevant information. The learning supplement can be developed in an adaptive manner so that the system adapts its content including the concepts, the concept map, and relevant information from user feedback. This will include implicit feedback including the selections made by the user during the usage of the system and the data updated to the system by the users.

In an example embodiment, the method of creating learning supplement from a plurality of information sources for a course delivery system for students. The method receives a syllabus of at least one course. The syllabus may include the following subjects but not limited to physics, chemistry, biology etc. In the present example embodiment, considering the subject as ‘Chemistry’ for which the method receives the syllabus. Upon receiving the syllabus, the method identifies relevant concepts from the plurality of information sources, where the identifying relevant concepts is in the context of the syllabus. The relevant concepts within the context of the syllabus may be or may include classification of matter, atoms, atomic combinations, intermolecular forces, thermal property and ideal gases etc.

Further, the method defines association between the identified concepts, wherein defining association includes identifying relation between the concepts and linking the same. For example, matter and mixture are identified concepts and the defined association is as matter is “categorized as” mixture.

Identifying the concepts within an information source and relating those to each other provides a concept map. Based on the same, the method creates a concept map structure (as shown in figure 2 and more detailed in figure 3) according to the identified relevant concepts and their association thereby forming the learning supplement based on the received syllabus for that particular course. By giving a list of relevant topics in the information source the concept map gives a bird’s eye view of the content, and the user will be able to navigate through the content in ways different from the linear ordered way given in textbook. Further, the method displays primitive information relevant to each identified concepts and also provides additional information including related concepts to each identified concepts from the external sources including textbooks, articles and the web. The primitive information section and the additional information section are shown in figure 2.

If the user is using the online portal for creating the learning supplement, the learning supplement can be developed in an adaptive manner so that the system adapts its content including the concepts, the concept map, and relevant information from user feedback. This will include implicit feedback including the selections made by the user during the usage of the system and the data updated to the system by the users.

FIG. 3 illustrates a presentation of a concept map structure 300 that is generated in connection with a user selection, in accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the concept map structure generated by the user selection for the topic “classification of matters” under the subject “Chemistry” as discussed above. The concept map generated for the topic “classification of matter” includes various related concepts as shown in figure 3, where concept map is generated automatically by creating nodes and vertices between the nodes. The concept map also states the relationship between the concepts for example “categorized as”, “made of”, “separated by”, “composed of” etc. The relationships between the concepts in the concept map are related to each other through explicit and implicit relationship. The concept map also organized at multiple levels of granularity, and where the concept map includes a plurality of concept maps with distinct concepts. The generated concept map is created from information source data, external data, and data from the web. The identification of concepts and relation of the concepts are structured manually or automated with the help of subject experts in their respective field. One concept map provides an overall concept map in which the content from the entire information source is captured in one concept map. It is also possible, one or more concepts from the concept map may be further divided into another concept map with many different concepts.

By creating the concept maps eliminates the manual effort in comprehending the content of an information source to identify the key topics covered and the relevant relationships between them. The above disclosed method creates concept maps from information sources in an automated manner and annotates those with additional information relevant to the concepts; both from the information source as well as from external sources. The step of identifying relevant concepts in the context of the information sources using automated or semi-automated methods, and further identifying relationships between those concepts, identifying and linking information relevant to each concept, and providing a user interface to navigate through the concepts, retrieve relevant information, and modify or supplement the available information.

FIG. 4 shows an automated system of creating learning supplement from a plurality of information resources, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The system 400 includes one or more information sources 410 and at least one client device 420 having an interface 430. The information sources includes external data sources and the sources from the World Wide Web (internet). The client device includes a logic module 422, a learning supplement generator 424, a processor 426 and a database 428. The logic module 422 for identifying relevant concepts from the context of the plurality of information sources thereby organizing at least one concept map. The learning supplement generator 424 for generating a learning supplement which defines the relationships between the identified concepts, wherein the learning supplement generator also identifies relationships between the concepts and linking the same. The processor 426 including a database 428, the processor 426 coupled with the logic module 422 and the learning supplement generator 424 allows the user to navigate (using user interface 430) the learning supplement in order to retrieve desired information, add and share texts, images, audios, videos, references and other relevant information with other users. The concept map generated is structured at multiple levels of granularity which includes a plurality of concept maps with distinct concepts, and the concept maps are linked to one or more other concept maps through related concept. Further, the concept maps are created from at least one or all of information source, external data source, and web. The identification of concepts and relation of the concepts are stored in the database 428, wherein the concepts are structured manually or automated with the help of subject experts in their respective field. The interface 430 of the client device 420 allows the user to enter at least one search query in order to retrieve relevant information from the formerly updated learning supplement stored in the database or external information from the web. In addition, the system adapts the content including the concepts, the concept map, and relevant information from user feedback. This will include implicit feedback including the selections made by the user during the usage of the system and the data updated to the system by the users.

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made. For example, advantageous results may be achieved if the steps of the disclosed techniques are performed in a different order and/or if components in a disclosed system or architecture are combined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by other components. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.

We Claim:

1. A method of creating learning supplement from a plurality of information -sources, the method comprising:
identifying relevant concepts from the plurality of information sources, wherein the identifying relevant concepts is in the context of the information sources;
defining association between the identified concepts, wherein defining association includes identifying relation between the concepts and linking the same;
and
creating a concept map structure according to the identified relevant concepts and their association thereby forming a learning supplement.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
providing primitive information relevant to each identified concepts; and
providing additional information including related concepts to each identified concepts from the external sources including textbooks, articles and the web.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the relationship between the concepts in the concept map are related to each other through explicit and implicit relationship, the concept map is organized at multiple levels of granularity, and wherein the concept map includes a plurality of concept maps with distinct concepts.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the concept maps are linked to one or more other concept maps through related concept, and wherein the concept maps are created from information source data, external data, and data from the web.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification of concepts and relation of the concepts are structured manually or automated with the help of subject experts in their respective field.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the learning supplement includes documents, images, audios, videos, pages or content from the information sources and relevant documents internal or external to the information sources.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the learning supplement allows the user to add and share texts, images, audios, videos, references and other relevant information with other users.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
adaptively updating the learning supplement by receiving feedback from the user on the concepts, the concept maps and the relevant information.

9. A method of creating learning supplement from a plurality of information sources for a course delivery system for students, the method comprising:
receiving a syllabus of at least one course;
identifying relevant concepts from the plurality of information sources, wherein the identifying relevant concepts is in the context of the syllabus;
defining association between the identified concepts, wherein defining association includes identifying relation between the concepts and linking the same; and
creating a concept map structure according to the identified relevant concepts and their association thereby forming the learning supplement based on the received syllabus for that particular course.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
displaying primitive information relevant to each identified concepts; and
providing additional information including related concepts to each identified concepts from the external sources including textbooks, articles and the web.

11. A method of displaying a learning supplement utilizing a graphical user interface for a course delivery system for students, the method comprising:
receiving a syllabus of at least one course;
identifying a plurality of contexts from the receiving syllabus;
identifying relevant concepts from a plurality of information sources, wherein the identifying relevant concepts is in the identified context;
providing association between the identified concepts, wherein association includes identifying relation between the concepts and linking the same; and
displaying a concept map structure according to the identified relevant concepts and their association thereby forming the learning supplement based on the received syllabus for that particular course.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:
displaying primitive information relevant to each identified concepts; and
providing additional information including related concepts to each identified concepts from the external sources including textbooks, articles and the web.

13. An automated system of creating learning supplement from a plurality of information resources, the system comprising:
a plurality of information sources; and
at least one client device having an interface, wherein the client device includes
a logic module for identifying relevant concepts from context of the plurality of information resources thereby organizing at least one concept map;
a learning supplement generator for generating a learning supplement which defines the relationships between the identified concepts, wherein the learning supplement generator also identifies relationships between the concepts and linking the same; and
a processor including a database, the processor coupled with the logic module and the learning supplement generator allows the user to navigate the learning supplement in order to retrieve desired information, add and share texts, images, audios, videos, references and other relevant information with other users.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the concept map is structured at multiple levels of granularity, the concept map includes a plurality of concept maps with distinct concepts, and the concept maps are linked to one or more other concept maps through related concept.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the concept maps are created from at least one or all of information sources, external data source, and the web.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the identification of concepts and relation of the concepts are stored in the database, wherein the concepts are structured manually or automated with the help of subject experts in their respective field.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the interface of the client device allows the user to enter at least one search query in order to retrieve relevant information from the formerly updated learning supplement stored in the database or external information from the web.

Abstract

A method and system of creating learning supplement from a plurality of information sources

The present invention relates to organizing the content of information sources. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for creating learning supplement from a plurality of digital information resources. In one embodiment this is accomplished by identifying relevant concepts from the plurality of information sources, defining association between the identified concepts, and creating a concept map structure according to the identified relevant concepts and their association thereby forming a learning supplement.

Figure 1 (for publication)

,CLAIMS:1. A method of creating learning supplement from a plurality of information -sources, the method comprising:
identifying relevant concepts from the plurality of information sources, wherein the identifying relevant concepts is in the context of the information sources;
defining association between the identified concepts, wherein defining association includes identifying relation between the concepts and linking the same;
and
creating a concept map structure according to the identified relevant concepts and their association thereby forming a learning supplement.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
providing primitive information relevant to each identified concepts; and
providing additional information including related concepts to each identified concepts from the external sources including textbooks, articles and the web.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the relationship between the concepts in the concept map are related to each other through explicit and implicit relationship, the concept map is organized at multiple levels of granularity, and wherein the concept map includes a plurality of concept maps with distinct concepts.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the concept maps are linked to one or more other concept maps through related concept, and wherein the concept maps are created from information source data, external data, and data from the web.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification of concepts and relation of the concepts are structured manually or automated with the help of subject experts in their respective field.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the learning supplement includes documents, images, audios, videos, pages or content from the information sources and relevant documents internal or external to the information sources.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the learning supplement allows the user to add and share texts, images, audios, videos, references and other relevant information with other users.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
adaptively updating the learning supplement by receiving feedback from the user on the concepts, the concept maps and the relevant information.

9. A method of creating learning supplement from a plurality of information sources for a course delivery system for students, the method comprising:
receiving a syllabus of at least one course;
identifying relevant concepts from the plurality of information sources, wherein the identifying relevant concepts is in the context of the syllabus;
defining association between the identified concepts, wherein defining association includes identifying relation between the concepts and linking the same; and
creating a concept map structure according to the identified relevant concepts and their association thereby forming the learning supplement based on the received syllabus for that particular course.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
displaying primitive information relevant to each identified concepts; and
providing additional information including related concepts to each identified concepts from the external sources including textbooks, articles and the web.

11. A method of displaying a learning supplement utilizing a graphical user interface for a course delivery system for students, the method comprising:
receiving a syllabus of at least one course;
identifying a plurality of contexts from the receiving syllabus;
identifying relevant concepts from a plurality of information sources, wherein the identifying relevant concepts is in the identified context;
providing association between the identified concepts, wherein association includes identifying relation between the concepts and linking the same; and
displaying a concept map structure according to the identified relevant concepts and their association thereby forming the learning supplement based on the received syllabus for that particular course.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:
displaying primitive information relevant to each identified concepts; and
providing additional information including related concepts to each identified concepts from the external sources including textbooks, articles and the web.

13. An automated system of creating learning supplement from a plurality of information resources, the system comprising:
a plurality of information sources; and
at least one client device having an interface, wherein the client device includes
a logic module for identifying relevant concepts from context of the plurality of information resources thereby organizing at least one concept map;
a learning supplement generator for generating a learning supplement which defines the relationships between the identified concepts, wherein the learning supplement generator also identifies relationships between the concepts and linking the same; and
a processor including a database, the processor coupled with the logic module and the learning supplement generator allows the user to navigate the learning supplement in order to retrieve desired information, add and share texts, images, audios, videos, references and other relevant information with other users.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the concept map is structured at multiple levels of granularity, the concept map includes a plurality of concept maps with distinct concepts, and the concept maps are linked to one or more other concept maps through related concept.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the concept maps are created from at least one or all of information sources, external data source, and the web.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the identification of concepts and relation of the concepts are stored in the database, wherein the concepts are structured manually or automated with the help of subject experts in their respective field.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the interface of the client device allows the user to enter at least one search query in order to retrieve relevant information from the formerly updated learning supplement stored in the database or external information from the web.