Abstract:
A system and method for professional education through a business system of cooperating participants and other educational service providers, organized in order to effect incentive-based individual learning: namely, to engage the user as a learner by way of offering participation incentives. The associated educational service pertains to individualized programs for licensure or certification in the fields of medicine, dentistry, law, or business, depending on the individual learner&#39;s needs. The system and method thus provides incentive opportunities as further motivation to learn, without exclusively providing monetary gain to the learner although monetary gain is an option. The learner derives benefit from the knowledge gained in preparation for license or certification examinations, and from the goodwill of his or her efforts resulting in some benefit bestowed upon others.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Application No. 61/570,471, EFS ID 11616630, filed 14 Dec. 2011 
     
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not Applicable 
       REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISK APPENDIX 
       [0003]    Not Applicable 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0004]    The present innovation is in the technical field of professional education. More particularly, the present innovation is in the technical field of incentive-based professional education, with benefit directly to the individual learner, and benefits that may be bestowed to others. 
         [0005]    All learned professions, such as medicine, dentistry, and law, are founded upon formal education, diligent practice applied over many years, licensure, certification, standards of practice, and continuing education across the entire professional career. Missteps may derail a career early on as well as years later. The loss of time and money invested in perusing a learned profession may be personally devastating if the required licenses and certifications are denied or revoked. 
         [0006]    For example, the road to being a licensed medical or osteopathic doctor in the United States takes on the order of 7 to 8 years or more of formal education beyond high school. This includes 3 or more years college or university (some states do not require graduation) and 3 or more years of medical school. It is not uncommon for medical students to take a year off from study. After graduation from medical school come periods of practice internship and residency which, when combined, may add 3 to 8 years or more to the journey. 
         [0007]    Consider the medical profession further. It is not uncommon for a person to be overwhelmed by the pace, volume, and exposure duration of the information needed to succeed. Furthermore, the physical, mental, and financial stresses along the way, as well as external pressures from family, friends, and spouses, and significant others, may wreak havoc on the individual and cause the individual to leave before completion. Sometimes those who fall along the way are left with huge debt to repay, which further restricts their survival in careers other than the path originally chosen. Time and youth may be lost, and opportunities irrecoverably forgone in an effort that could not be completed. It is reasonable to imagine that individuals who would have otherwise been excellent medical practitioners were left by the wayside as one or more of the pressures and stresses proved to be too much for the particular individual&#39;s circumstances. 
         [0008]    All learned professions have aspects such as these, to differing degrees. 
         [0009]    Considering again the medical profession, as if the barriers mentioned above were not enough, one or two more mountains lie ahead after graduation: licensure and certification. For medical doctors, we have the United States Medial Examinations (“USMLE”), comprising 3 enumerated “Steps.” For osteopathic doctors, we have the Comprehensive Osteopathic Licensing Examination (“COMLEX”), comprising 4 enumerated “Levels.” Each state may have additional requirements, and the states may or may not have reciprocity arrangements in place. 
         [0010]    Board certification is the possible second mountain, if the practitioner chooses to pursue it. This requires perhaps up to 7 years or more of residency, depending upon the specialty. Another examination awaits after that. 
         [0011]    For all learned professional that require years of formal education, years of practice, licensure, and certification, the journey itself provides sufficient exposure to what is required to pass examination. Yet the examinations are somewhat artificial environments. The practitioner must be able to spot the issue in the examination questions, respond in the prescribed format and limitations, and organize thinking in the context of the examination environment as opposed to the real world.” An entire industry exists for selling professional examination preparation materials and courses. 
         [0012]    Those who survive prior to examinations, who have handled the personal, professional, physical, and mental challenges, often need support and encouragement to continue. This can come from friends, family, and other students. It can come from vendors seeking goodwill that may turn into profit after the candidate succeeds. Financial pressures may very well still be there, which would limit what the individual may be able to pay for study materials and courses. Also, as many entered the profession seeking to do good for the benefit of others, by now their singular concentrated work has likely provided little opportunity for that. 
         [0013]    What the professional education industry and system lack is of incentive-based professional education, at little or no cost to the learner, with incentives both for participation and in achievement. Benefits to the learner include both learning that enhances the prospects of passing the licensure and certification examinations, and value that can be converted to money or discounts. Furthermore, benefit may flow directly to the individual learner, or may be bestowed to others: to other learners or charities. The result would be a business and societal ecosystem, wherein benefits arise and flow for the general good of all. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0014]    We disclose a system and method comprising a rule-based business ecosystem for incentive-based professional learning, further comprising a cooperative relationship among learners, their friends, their family members, learning system coordinators, sponsors, advertisers, investors (who profit and provide capital), charities, and business partners in a mutually beneficial business ecosystem with the primary goal of assisting the learner to pass certification examinations. The incentives are variable, based on available funds, content to be delivered, learner participation, and learner achievement. 
         [0015]    The intended use is as an educational service in association with other educational services in order to effect incentive-based individual learning: namely, to engage the user as a learner by way of offering participation incentives. The larger, associated educational service pertains to individualized programs for licensure or certification in the fields of medicine, dentistry, law, or business, depending on the individual learner&#39;s needs. The incentives provided through the system and method comprise points earned which may then be redeemed according to the learner&#39;s specific desires. Redemption options include money prizes to the learner with taxable income consequences, but also include credits or scholarships for further learning, monetary donations to charitable entities, and alternative incentives that are delivered in such ways so as specifically not to create income recognition consequences for the learner. Even if the learner chooses money, the system and method, through a conversion calculation, will make charitable contributions that match the points earned. 
         [0016]    Fields of use include licensed professional education, such as for physicians, lawyers, engineers, and other professions, as well as non-licensed proficiency certification, such as language, technology, and para-professional fields. 
         [0017]    The system and method thus provides incentive opportunities as further motivation to learn, without exclusively providing monetary gain to the learner (although monetary gain is an option). The learner derives benefit from the knowledge gained in preparation for license or certification examinations, and from the goodwill of his or her efforts resulting in some benefit bestowed upon others. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  shows an overview of the incentive learning system, the participants, and the flow of information and value among them; 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  shows an expanded view of the incentive learning system, with a learning management system at its core; 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  shows the learning environments of several learners linked, for communication, encouragement, and transactions; 
           [0021]      FIG. 4  shows an initial screen that prompt the learner for access credentials, required or the learner to log in; 
           [0022]      FIG. 5  shows a dashboard, individualized for the particular learner, that is visible after successful login; 
           [0023]      FIG. 6  shows a chat operation, individualized for the particular learner, that is visible after successful login; 
           [0024]      FIG. 7  shows a learn to earn session, individualized for the particular learner, that is visible after successful login; 
           [0025]      FIG. 8  shows a quiz operation, individualized for the particular learner, that is visible after successful login; 
           [0026]      FIG. 9  shows access to an inbox, individualized for the particular learner, that is visible after successful login; 
           [0027]      FIG. 10  shows a learn to give session, individualized for the particular learner, that is visible after successful login; 
           [0028]      FIG. 11  shows a lounge session, individualized for the particular learner, that is visible after successful login; 
           [0029]      FIG. 12  shows market access session where learners may buy products and services from vendors, individualized for the particular learner, that is visible after successful login; 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference Numerals 
       [0000]    
       
         
           
               14  Learner 
               15  Incentive learning system 
               16  External participant 
               17  Learner communication 
               18  Learner communication channel 
               19  coordinator communication 
               20  External participant communication 
               102  Coordinator 
               104  Investor 
               106  Other financing source 
               108  Accredited content provider 
               110  Charity 
               112  Vendor 
               114  Sponsored content provider 
               116  Accredited content 
               120  Accredited content channel 
               122  Sponsored content channel 
               124  Sponsored content 
               126  Internet 
               128  Internet accessible device 
               30  Smart phone 
               32  Computer system 
               40  User experience engine 
               50  Learning management engine 
               502  Learning management system 
               504  Sponsored content database 
               506  Accredited content database 
               508  Learner profile database 
               60  Charity payout engine 
               61  Charity payout channel 
               62  Reward redemption engine 
               64  Vendor channel 
               66  Sponsored content provider engine 
               70  Accredited content provider engine 
               80  Money account repository 
               82  Discount repository 
               84  Social point repository 
               86  Smart point repository 
               90  Incentive learning system instantiation 
               92  Banner advertisement 
           
         
       
     
         [0070]    Referring now to the innovation in more detail,  FIG. 1  presents various external participant  16  that connect to incentive learning system  15 , and shows flows of information or value between and among them. External participant  16  include accredited content provider  108 , sponsored content provider  114 , charity  110 , vendor  112 , investor  104 , and other financing source  106 . 
         [0071]      FIG. 1  depicts the general flow of incentives, benefits, and instructions between and among incentive learning system  15 , learner  14 , coordinator  102 , and external participant  16 . Rewards flow from external participant  16  to learner  14 . Through incentive learning system  15 , learner  14  contributes participation, and in return receives knowledge and rewards. Learner  14  also may communicate with other learner  14 . Learner  14  gives direction to incentive learning system  15  as to reward redemption and money to be given to charity  110 . 
         [0072]    Accredited content provider  108  present accredited content  116  to incentive learning system  15 . Accredited content  116  refers to material that is directly designed to prepare learner  14  to take and pass certain professional examinations. Accredited content  116  meets certain criteria of an appropriate certifying agency, and covers knowledge that learner  14  must demonstrate successfully through accreditation examinations. 
         [0073]    Sponsored content provider  114  also deliver sponsored content  124  and, in exchange, receive marketing access to learner  14 . Such access may include direct information about learner  14 , or merely exposure through advertising that accompanies sponsored content. Sponsored content  124  is important and useful information, but not necessarily designed to help learner  14  in regard to professional examinations. 
         [0074]    Incentive learning system  15  is directed, managed, or steered by coordinator  102  who operates according to business rules and information in and through the incentive learning system. Coordinator  102  has access to information in the aggregate and per individual learner  14  such as available funds for rewards, learner  14  participation, learner  14  achievement, vendor  112  inquiries, recommendations of charity  110 , and other information. Coordinator  102  may then control criteria for rewards, limits of awards, formulas for rewards, and formulas for pay out to charity  110 . 
         [0075]      FIG. 2  shows incentive learning system  15  in greater detail, where a means for connection is via Internet  126 , by way of example. Learner  14  has use of an internet accessible device  128 , which may be a so-called smart phone  30  or a computer system. Learner  14  has access to internet  126  through internet  126  accessible device. In turn, through Internet  126  and internet  126  accessible device  128 , learner  14  has access to incentive learning system  15 . A user experience engine  40  is a layer between Internet  126  and learner  14 , for receiving and transmitting information, requests, and responses between learner  14  and incentive learning system  15 . The communication path thus is from learner  14 , through internet accessible device  128 , through internet  126 , through user experience engine  40 , and to incentive learning system  15 . 
         [0076]    Communication between external participants  16  to incentive learning system  15  takes place through a particular corresponding channel: accredited content provider  108  communicates through accredited content channel  120 , charity  110  communicates through charity payout channel  64 , vendor  112  communicates through vendor channel  64 , and sponsored content provider  114  communicates through sponsored content channel  122 . 
         [0077]    Furthermore, just as internet  126  or other network medium is the communications medium between learner  14  and incentive learning system  15 , internet  126  or other network medium is also the means for incentive learning system  15  to communicate to other external participant  16 . 
         [0078]    In  FIG. 2 , internet  126  is depicted as an outer layer for communications to external systems and an inner layer for communications with learner. 
         [0079]      FIG. 2  shows a learning management engine  50  at the core of incentive learning system  15 , further comprising a learning management system  502 , a sponsored content database  504 , an accredited content database  506 , and a learner profile database  508 . 
         [0080]    An accredited content provider channel  22  provides the means for communication, through internet  126 , with accredited content provider  108 . Accredited content channel  22  manages that relationship and properly delivers accredited content  116  to learning management system  502  and the associated accredited content database  506 . 
         [0081]    The learning management system  502  is the means for delivering and managing both accredited content  116  and sponsored content  124 , as well as tracking learner  14  learning progress and needs. Learner profile database  508  contains specific information about each learner  14  and holds records of progress and other information associated with learning. The sponsored content database  504  holds learning content that comes from sponsored content provider  114 . Similarly, accredited content database  506  holds learning content provided by accredited content provider  108 . 
         [0082]    Surrounding learning management system  502  are accredited content channel  120 , learner communication channel  18 , charity payout engine  60 , reward redemption engine  62 , vendor channel  64 , and sponsored content channel  122 . 
         [0083]    Learner communication channel  18  provides a means for each learner  14  to communicate with any other learner  14  who is using incentive learning system  15 . 
         [0084]    The charity payout engine  60  provides a means for delivering money to any particular charitable agencies that learner  14  has designated as a recipient. Because charity  110  is an external participant  16 , charity payout engine  60  communicates through a network means, such as internet  126 . 
         [0085]      FIG. 2  also depicts reward redemption engine  62  having several subcomponents to address various kinds of rewards that are available to learner. These subcomponents include a money account repository  80 , a discount repository  82 , a social point repository  84 , and a smart point repository  86 . Each particular subcomponent contains information for that learner  14  with respect to a particular reward. Such information includes amount available, how distributed, when distributed, history, and similar information. 
         [0086]    Vendor channel  64  manages interfaces between incentive learning system  15  and vendor  112  who have access to learner  14  for marketing of products and services. Because the vendors are also external participant  16 , the medium for communications is as a network means, such as internet  126 . 
         [0087]    Sponsored content channel  122  provides means for communication between incentive learning system  15  and sponsored content provider  114 . Sponsored content provider  114  makes available learning content that is of a general nature and not necessarily for use in preparation for certain accreditation examinations. Sponsored content channel  122  manages that relationship and properly delivers sponsored content to learning management system  502  and associated sponsored content database  504 . 
         [0088]    In one embodiment, learner  14  receives points for participation and for performance on quizzes. The value of points is determined by business rules, and established by coordinator  102 . After achieving a certain number of points, which is also determined by rule and established by coordinator  102 , learner  14  is eligible for rewards. However, no reward is guaranteed. Again, rules determine which of several learner  14  who have achieved a certain number of points are winners. The financial state of incentive learning system  15  and rule determine the amount of the reward. Coordinator  102  monitors and manages incentive learning system  15  according to available funds for rewards and operational costs. 
         [0089]    In another embodiment, as well, rules as enforced by coordinator  102  may decide payout amounts to charity  110  regardless of, but also in combination with, donations by learner  14  of learner  14  rewards to charity  110 . 
         [0090]      FIG. 3  depicts the notion of several incentive learning system  15  instances, where each learner  14  is in effect in an individual bubble with respect to that learner  14 &#39;s experiences through incentive learning system  15 . However, each learner  14  has a means for communication with each other learner  14  through learner communication channel  18 , and thus may encourage each other in learning efforts, donate points or rewards, and otherwise share experiences as each may so chose. By way of example,  FIG. 3  shows a first and a second incentive learning system instantiation  90 , each of which is connected to the other through a learner communication channel  18  that in turn is connected to learner communication channel  18  for each incentive learning system instantiation  90 . 
         [0091]    In another embodiment, friends and family members may be external participants  10  to communicate and encourage learner  14 , and may participate in buying vendor  112  products and services. 
         [0092]    Turning now to what each learner  14  may see as presented by user experience engine  40 ,  FIGS. 4 through 12  show various screen representations. On all such screens banner advertisement  92  may appears and give learner  14  an opportunity to contact vendor  112 . 
         [0093]      FIG. 5  is a screen that is presented upon login, and shows progress information for the particular learner  14  based on information the learner profile database  508  and accredited content  116  undertaken. 
         [0094]      FIG. 6  shows an implementation of communication between and among several learner  14 , such communication shown here as a chat session. 
         [0095]      FIG. 6  shows a screen with the following operations: enrollment, login, preview, review of colleague achievements, friend and family support engagement, and mode. Sessions cover activities of learning, earning rewards, and giving. 
         [0096]      FIG. 7  shows a “learn to earn” session that is visible after login and after selection of a “learn to earn” mode. It shows a means for engaging quizzes on accredited content  116 , and acquiring points. Points are earned for participation as well as for success. 
         [0097]      FIG. 8  shows a screen for a typical quiz question, from the “learn to earn” mode of operation. The quiz is indentified as well as the elapsed time. 
         [0098]      FIG. 9  shows another implementation of communication between and among learner  14 , shown here as an electronic mail implementation. 
         [0099]      FIG. 10  shows an implementation of a screen that supports the learn to give mode. It presents banners and other presentations about candidate charity  110  that learner  14  may select as recipient of money earned through participation incentive learning system  15 . 
         [0100]      FIG. 11  shows an implementation of a lounge, here depicted as a doctors&#39; lounge, where learner  14  may engage in sponsored learning activities, explore vendor  112  product and services offerings, and engage in social activities such as responding to polls. 
         [0101]      FIG. 12  shows a screen intended primarily for exploring vendor  112  products and services offerings. It includes information about money and discount account balances, the money and discounts being available to apply to purchase of vendor  112  products and services. 
         [0102]    The advantages of incentive learning system  15  include, without limitation, a means for using incentives to encourage participation and learning, in a system that returns value to learner  14 , vendor  112 , friends, family, investor  104 , and charity  110 . 
         [0103]    In broad embodiment, the present innovation is a system and method for education in various categories or communities of learner  14 , where incentives for learning and participation may be varied by rule and based on feedback information from incentive learning system  15 , where each learner  14  may donate rewards to charity  110  or to another learner  14 , and where friends, family, and others may communicate encouragement to any learner  14 . 
         [0104]    While the foregoing written description of the innovation enables one of ordinary skill to make and use what is considered presently to be the best mode thereof, those of ordinary skill will understand and appreciate the existence of variations, combinations, and equivalents of the specific embodiment, method, and examples herein. The innovation should therefore not be limited by the above described embodiment, method, and examples, but by all embodiments and methods within the scope and spirit of the innovation.