DESC:FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of learning systems, and more particularly a smart card based learning system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the advent of technologies in the education industry, students seek access to concepts tied to their academic syllabus and related activities to improve the level of understanding and to build in interest towards these subjects. Earlier, students were facing a lot of problems to understand the concept, complete the assignments and memorize the concepts during the exams. Also, students use to feel that it was a burden to pass the exams without understanding the subjects and the related topics as they were unable to analyze the use, need and implementation of each of the concept relating to the subject.

Another problem with teaching children is different modalities that children may require in order to learn. For example, some children learn better through audio instruction, such as hearing the instructional materials (e.g. in a classroom). Others learn better by visual learning, that is, by seeing the instructional materials. Still others may learn better by performing or doing the learning activities. Most children learn best by combinations of these types of learning. However, many instructional materials are oriented to only one of these modalities.

Hence, there exists a need for a upgraded technology that meets the most basic requirement for every student and which acts as a key for understanding the concept in its most basic level so that the students can learn quickly anywhere and anytime.

Currently, there is no such system which provides flexibility to learn concepts at their own pace using a wide variety of materials and resources suited for their individual needs. Also, current system fails to provide quick summary of all concepts relating to a topic like important properties, formulae instantly on a single platform as and when essential.

SUMMARY

An objective of the invention is to provide a smart card based learning system.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a system and method for enabling the user or student to revise and remember key concepts quickly with the use of images, colors, graphs and tables in the cards.

To achieve the above mentioned objectives, an embodiment of the present invention describes a smart card based learning system, which comprises one or more smart cards displaying a customized explanation for at least one concept, and means for evaluating performance of an user.

Another embodiment of the present invention describes a smart card which comprises a concept identifier for identifying the concept, said identifier comprises name of the concept, a customized explanation of the concept, said explanation comprises simplified illustration of the concept for the user of specific grade level, a position indicator for indicating the position of the card in a deck, and at least one code for connecting learning card online and enabling the user to connect a particular learning card to online resources.

Further embodiment of the present invention describes means for evaluating performance of an user which comprises a processing unit configured for processing the user request, a storing unit configured to store at least one practice exercise for each concept, and evaluating module coupled to the processing unit and the storing unit for evaluating the performance and the area of improvement of the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The aforementioned aspects and other features of the present invention will be explained in the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 illustrates a smart card based learning system according an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 illustrates a screenshot view of a smart card, according to one embodiment.

Figure 3 illustrates a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of learning a concept related to the topic, according to one embodiment.

Figure 4 illustrates a schematic representation depicting a process of displaying a test exercise related to a particular topic chosen by a user, according to one embodiment.

Figure 5 illustrates a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of displaying a related exercise for a particular topic chosen by the user, according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. The present invention can be modified in various forms. Thus, the embodiments of the present invention are only provided to explain more clearly the present invention to the ordinarily skilled in the art of the present invention. In the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals are used to indicate like components.

The specification may refer to “an”, “one” or “some” embodiment(s) in several locations. This does not necessarily imply that each such reference is to the same embodiment(s), or that the feature only applies to a single embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments.

As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “includes”, “comprises”, “including” and/or “comprising” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. Furthermore, “connected” or “coupled” as used herein may include operatively connected or coupled. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations and arrangements of one or more of the associated listed items.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

The present invention provides a smart card based learning system providing a quick visual summary about concept to user, particularly students. The present invention helps students to revise and remember key concepts quickly with the use of images, colors, graphs and tables in the cards.

Figure 1 illustrates a smart card based learning system according an embodiment of the present invention. The system comprises one or more smart cards 101 displaying a customized explanation for at least one concept, and means 103 for evaluating performance of an user. The means 103 comprises a processing unit 104, a storing unit 105, an evaluating module 106. The processing unit 104 is configured for processes one or more requests received from the user. The storing unit 105 is configured to store one or more practice exercises for one or more concepts required to by the user or students. The evaluating module 106 is connected to the processing unit 104 and the storing unit 105 for evaluating the performance of the student based on a test exercise performed by him and also pointing out the area/concept the student needs to improve. In one embodiment, the user performance is evaluated by coupling the user to the evaluating module 106 through a wireless network.

The present invention provides a smart card 101 for each concept displaying a brief summary including the important definitions, formulae, properties relevant to the concept. Each card has a dimension of 13cm x 9cm. The smart cards are easily accessible through an application running on a computing device such as a mobile phone, a tablet, a laptop computer, a desktop computer and so on.

The card comprises a concept identifier, a customized explanation, a position indicator, and at least one code. The concept identifier includes name of the concept to identify the concept. The customized explanation of the concept comprises simplified illustration of the concept for the student or user of specific grade level. The position indicator provides information which indicates the position of the card in a deck. The code is an unique code for connecting the smart/learning card to online resources and enabling the user to connect the learning card to online resources.

Figure 2 illustrates a screenshot view of a smart learning card displayed on a computing device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The card consists of the following elements:

1. Name of the concept (concept identifier): The name of concept is displayed at the top right corner of the card according to one embodiment.

2. Definition of the concept describes definition and/or explanation of the concept in precise words in manner that is easily understandable and comprehendible by an individual of specific grade level. Also, a graphic or a picture that helps in visualization of the concept is included in the card. An example that shows how a particular operation is to be carried out may also be included within the card. Thus, a student/user who reads the card can understand and grasp every important aspect of the concept. Hence, this will serve the individual as a key handbook, reducing the heavy weight of books that are to be carried by every individual.

3. Position of the card indicates the position of the card within the deck at the bottom right corner of the card. The background color of the card signifies the branch of the subject to which this concept belongs. For example, in Mathematics, the branch of Number theory is denoted by the color green. This gives an immediate visual clue to the individual as to the sub-deck within which the card belongs. The branch is also indicated by the letter or set of letters that forms the beginning sequence of the numbering of the card. The exact position of the card within the sub deck is then given by the digits that come after the initial set of letters. The location of the card within the deck is very important since it aligns with the Learning Pathway that is best suited to understand the concept mentioned within the card. For example, in order to perform arithmetic operations on fractions, it is necessary to understand what like and unlike fractions are and the method to convert from unlike fractions to like fractions. Hence, the card that explains like and unlike fractions comes before the card that explains operations on fractions within the deck.

4. Code for connecting learning card online indicates the unique code that enables the individual to connect a particular learning card to online resources. The code is displayed on the top left corner of the card. This code is called the concept code. This code can be entered by the individual in a computer program, a smart phone or a tablet application to access variety of resources related to the concept. Also, this code can be automatically read by smart phone, tablet or PC using the onboard camera. The code can be of alphanumeric form and/or in any machine readable format. This code helps a student to take up a practice exercise relating to the concept. A student can enter this code to login to a web server to take up a practice exercise relating to the concept. This can help a student to assess himself in that particular concept. Alternatively, the unique code may be provided as a hyperlink which when selected by the individual will direct the individual to a practice exercise relating to the concept.

Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of delivering learning concept related to the topic. At step 301, concept to be learnt is determined by an user or student. At step 302, a card associated with the concept and relevant information is retrieved from the deck of cards. At step 303, the card illustrating the concept is displayed on a display device. The card also contains the position number of the card and relevant concept code connected to that topic placed at the respective position on the card.

Figure 4 is a schematic representation depicting a process of displaying a test exercise related to a particular topic chosen by a user. As mentioned above, every card consists of a unique concept code displayed on the top left corner of the card. The unique concept code helps an individual to take up a practice exercise based on the concept. For this, students are required to login to the respective web servers on their personal computer, tablet or smart phone and enter the unique concept code which is present on the top left corner of the card to access the online exercise related to the concept. For each card, individual can take up relevant online practice exercises by inputting the concept code displayed on the respective card on a web server.

Resources are learning practice exercises for the concept, lessons related to the concept, links to online resources related to the concept, books, toys, games and experiment kits related to the concept. When an individual inputs the concept code in the client program, the client program sends a request to a backend server to translate the concept code to a specific resource for the logged in user. The backend application translates the concept code to a resource (e.g., exercise number) using database table below:

Concept Code Resource Type Resource Id Syllabus Id Member Type Id

TABLE 1

The database table includes the concept code field, the resource type field, the resource identifier field, a syllabus identifier field and a member type identifier field. The resource type field indicates type of resource such as exercise, lesson, game, books, etc. The resource identifier field indicates a resource of a specific resource type. For example, exercise identifier is a unique number assigned to an exercise which consists of a set of questions and related answers. The syllabus identifier field is a function of board (CBSE, ICSE, etc) and Grade (Grade 1, Grade 2, etc) and uniquely identifies the board-grade pair. Each user is assigned a syllabus identifier so that the resource offered is relevant to the board and grade of the user. The member type identifier field indicates the member type. It could be one of Test User, Premium Paid User, Free User, and Learning Card User. For example, depending on the member type, the total number of questions can be varied.

Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of displaying a related exercise for a particular topic chosen by the user, according to one embodiment. At step 501, a request to access online resource for a particular concept is received from a user via a concept code displayed on a smart card. At step 502, the concept code is parsed from the request to obtain the related online resources respective of the concept. At step 503, online resources related to the concept are retrieved from the database based on the request. At step 504, a test exercise or a lesson relating to the concept is displayed on the display device connected to the web server. Later, when the user completes the exercise, the answers are assessed by the web server and the results of the exercise and correct way of doing the exercise if the answer was wrong is displayed on the display device.

Although the invention of the system and method has been described in connection with the embodiments of the present invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it is not limited thereto. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various substitutions, modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. ,CLAIMS:
1. A smart card based learning system comprising:
one or more smart cards displaying a customized explanation for at least one concept; and
means for evaluating performance of an user.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said card comprises:
a concept identifier for identifying the concept, said identifier comprises name of the concept;
a customized explanation of the concept, said explanation comprises simplified illustration of the concept for the user of specific grade level;
a position indicator for indicating the position of the card in a deck; and
at least one code for connecting learning card online and enabling the user to connect a particular learning card to online resources.

3. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said concept identifier is displayed at the top right corner of the card.

4. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said card comprises a graphic illustration and/or pictorial illustration.

5. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said position indicator is displayed at the bottom right corner of the card.

6. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said code is displayed on the top left corner of the card and enabling the user to take up a practice exercise relating to the concept.

7. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said code is an alphanumeric form and /or in any machine readable format.

8. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means comprises:
a processing unit configured for processing the user request;
a storing unit configured to store at least one practice exercise for each concept; and
evaluating module coupled to the processing unit and the storing unit for evaluating the performance and the area of improvement of the user.

9. The system as claimed in claim 1 further comprises a user device for enabling the user to access the information available in the storing unit and practice exercise by entering the concept identifier displayed on the respective card.

10. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said user device is selected from a group comprises a personal computer, tablet and smart phone.

11. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said processing unit is configured for directing the user to provide one or more information from a group comprises Concept Identifier, Resource Type, Resource ID, Syllabus ID, Member type ID.

12. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said Resource Type is selected from a group comprises exercise, lesson, game, books.

13. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said Resource type comprises an identifier for identifying the type of resource the user requested.

14. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said syllabus identifier comprises a function of board and grade for identifying the board-grade pair.

15. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said Member type ID is selected from a group comprises test user, premium paid user, free user, and learning card user.