Abstract:
A system and method for integrating course data is provided. A receiver comprises a computer and a mobile device. A server provides the receiver with at least one on-line course page, and transmits at least one mobile course page to the mobile device of the receiver via instant message or MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service). The on-line and mobile course pages are associated according to corresponding on-line course metadata and mobile course metadata.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to computer network technology, and in particular, to a system and a method for integrating course data.  
         [0002]     Many people take courses, such as English courses, through diverse media, such as books, and on-line via computer or mobile device.  
         [0003]     A student can begin an on-line learning using a computer at any time. On-line courses are described by metadata and typically composed in a tree structure, each node of which is a specific course page comprising course data. Learners can study an on-line course by following the structure thereof. Mobile courses are typically sent in the form of messages to a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, enabling the learner to study anywhere. The messages of mobile courses comprise simple course content and are not of such a systematic structure as on-line courses.  
         [0004]     Generally, on-line and mobile courses respectively have different data formats. Integration thereof may be realized by transforming mobile courses into course pages of on-line courses and linking the course pages and the on-line courses. The transformation of the mobiles courses, however, may consume system resources and present a consistency issues between course pages and messages. Additionally, on-line course pages with fixed links to mobile course pages lack flexibility for future use. Further, it is time-consuming to re-author on-line courses for the purposes of integration.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0005]     Systems for integrating course data are provided. An exemplary embodiment of systems for integrating course data comprises a receiver and a server. The receiver comprises a computer and a mobile device. The server provides at least one on-line course page to the receiver and, according to a schedule, transmits at least one mobile course page associated with the on-line course page in form of text messages or multimedia messaging service (MMS) messages to the mobile device.  
         [0006]     The on-line course page may comprise an on-line course. The mobile course page may comprise a mobile course. The server displays the on-line course in a first region of an interface and a link referring to the mobile course in a second region of the interface. The server delivers the mobile course and plays the mobile course on the computer when the receiver selects the link via the computer.  
         [0007]     The server further associates the on-line course with the mobile course based on on-line course metadata and mobile course metadata.  
         [0008]     The on-line course may be a linguistic course, and the mobile course comprises at least a vocabulary word, a phrase, or a grammar concept mentioned in the linguistic course. The server transmits the mobile course to the mobile device before providing the on-line course.  
         [0009]     Also disclosed is a method for integrating course data. A server provides at least one on-line course page to a receiver. The server transmits, according to a schedule, at least one mobile course page associated with the on-line course page in the form of text messages or multimedia messaging service (MMS) messages to the mobile device.  
         [0010]     The on-line course page may comprise an on-line course. The mobile course page may comprise a mobile course. The method further comprises displaying the on-line course in a first region of an interface and a link referring to the mobile course in a second region of the interface. The server delivers the mobile course and plays the mobile course on the computer the mobile course when the receiver selects the link utilizing the computer.  
         [0011]     The method further comprises associating the on-line course with the mobile course based on on-line course metadata of the on-line course and mobile course metadata of the mobile course.  
         [0012]     Additionally disclosed is a method for integrating course data. An on-line course is composed by authoring or extracting an existing on-line course page. On-line course metadata of the on-line course is authored. A mobile course is composed by authoring or extracting an existing mobile course page. Mobile course metadata of the mobile course is authored. An integration rule is composed, describing corresponding elements of on-line course metadata and mobile course metadata. When the on-line course is displayed, the mobile course is located based on the on-line course metadata and the integration rule.  
         [0013]     The disclosed method may be implemented in a program comprised in a storage medium. When the program is loaded into a machine, the machine executes the disclosed method. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]     The invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system for integrating on-line and mobile courses;  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  is a schematic view showing an embodiment of a on-line and mobile course interface;  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for integrating on-line and mobile courses;  
         [0018]      FIG. 4A  is an example of on-line course metadata;  
         [0019]      FIG. 4B  is an example of mobile course metadata;  
         [0020]      FIG. 4C  is an example of integration rules; and  
         [0021]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for integrating on-line and mobile courses. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0022]     Systems and methods for integrating on-line and mobile course pages will be described in detail in the following. Said on-line and mobile course pages may respectively include on-line courses and mobile courses. Note that on-line course pages and the mobile course pages may include other content. In  FIG. 1 , system  100  for integrating on-line and mobile course pages comprises server  110  and receiver  120 . Receiver  120  comprises computer  121  and mobile device  122 , such as a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA).  
         [0023]     Server  110  comprises a processor  111 , a transmitter  112 , on-line course database  113 , mobile course database  114 , and integration rules  115 . Processor  111  processes operations for server  110 , including receiving requests from receiver  120  and responding accordingly. For example, processor  111  can provide on-line course pages from on-line course database  113  to receiver  120  for on-line learning via an interface. In an example, server  110  displays on-line courses in a first region  210  of interface  200  and displays links referring to mobile courses associated with the on-line courses in a second region  220  of interface  200 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . First region  210  and second region  220  may be different frames of a window.  
         [0024]     Note that the links to mobile courses can be classified into categories respectively corresponding to course date  230 , keyword  240 , or title  250 . When a particular category is selected, links thereof are displayed in region  221 . Additionally, when receiver  120  selects a link utilizing computer  121 , server  110  can deliver a linked mobile course and play the mobile course on computer  121  of receiver  120  or transmit the mobile course to mobile device  122  utilizing transmitter  112 . The mobile course is then played by a mobile course player (not shown in  FIG. 1 ), such as a Java-implemented MMSClient player executed by a mobile phone. For example, a first frame may be an on-line course frame for displaying on-line course content of a certain chapter. A second frame may be a relevant mobile course frame for displaying mobile courses or other subjects associated with the chapter. A student can find mobile courses with the same course date based on correspondence of course date, keyword, or title. A method for integrating on-line and mobile course and integration rules  115  are described later.  
         [0025]     Transmitter  112  can transmit mobile courses of mobile course database  114  in the form of a text message or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages to mobile device  122  of receiver  120  according to a schedule (not shown in  FIG. 1 ). Receiver  120  can display the mobile courses accordingly. Note that the schedule for transmitting mobile courses may be determined based on course dates and times or other attributes. Transmitter  112  may be a radio signal transmitting module, such as a mobile phone or a base station of a telecommunication service provider.  
         [0026]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of a method for integrating on-line and mobile course pages.  
         [0027]     First, in step S 310 , an on-line course is composed by authoring on-line course pages or extracting existing on-line course pages. In step S 320 , on-line course metadata and actual course content are generated to facilitate correspondence of course content when the courses are displayed. In an example, on-line course metadata of an on-line course may be composed utilizing the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), fields thereof are defined in the following Table 1.  
                           TABLE 1                                   Metadata fields (xpath)   Definition                           general/title   Title of a course           general/catalogentry   Catalog of a course           general/keyword   Keywords in a course           general/date   Course date                      
 
         [0028]     Next, in step S 330 , mobile courses are composed by authoring mobile course pages or extracting existing mobile course pages. In step S 340 , mobile course metadata and actual course content are generated to facilitate correspondence of course content when the courses are displayed. In an example, mobile course metadata of a mobile course may be composed utilizing extensible markup language (XML) and fields defined in the following table 2.  
                           TABLE 2                                   Metadata fields   Definition                           title   Title of a course           catalogentry   Catalog of a course           keyword   Keywords in a course           date   Course date                      
 
         [0029]     In step S 350 , integration rules  115  are made, describing correspondence of on-line course metadata and mobile course metadata for incorporating course presentation.  
         [0030]      FIGS. 4A and 4B  show on-line course metadata  410  and mobile course metadata  420  corresponding to Table 1 and Table 2 respectively.  FIG. 4C  shows exemplary integration rules  115 . As shown in  FIG. 4C , integration rules  115  state that fields corresponding to mapping name “keyword” comprise the on-line course metadata field “general/keyword” and mobile course metadata field “keyword” and, additionally, that fields corresponding to mapping name “date” comprise the on-line course metadata field “annotation/date” and mobile course metadata field “date”. When an on-line course is selected and displayed, mobile course database  114  is searched for the corresponding mobile course based on the on-line course metadata and integration rules  115 .  
         [0031]     Note that, in an example, on-line courses, on-line course metadata, integration rules, mobile courses corresponding to the on-line courses, and mobile course metadata may be integrated in advance into one or more files which may be stored in a database, such as on-line course database  113 .  
         [0032]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for integrating on-line and mobile courses.  
         [0033]     First, in step S 510 , receiver  120  selects (or registers) desired on-line courses on server  110 . Next, in step S 520 , on-line course database  113  searches for mobile courses associated with the on-line courses based on on-line course metadata of the selected on-line courses and integration rules  115 . In step S 530 , server  110  transmits the located mobile courses of mobile course database  114  in form of text messages or MMS messages to mobile device  122  of receiver  120  according to a schedule. Receiver  120  starts mobile learning accordingly. Note that the schedule for transmitting mobile courses may be determined based on course dates and times or other attributes.  
         [0034]     For example, when an on-line course is a linguistic course, mobile courses may comprise a portion of the linguistic course, such as a vocabulary word, a phrase, or a grammar concept, and the server  110  may transmit the mobile courses to mobile device  122  of receiver  120  before providing the on-line course to receiver  120 . Thus, receiver  120  may preview the vocabulary, phrase, or grammar course content.  
         [0035]     As step S 540 , receiver  120  can study the selected on-line courses on server  110  utilizing computer  121 . Additionally, when the on-line courses are displayed, receiver  120  can select links to corresponding mobile courses. When the links are selected, server  110  can display the linked mobile courses on computer  121  of receiver  120  or transmit the mobile course to mobile device  122  utilizing transmitter  112 . The mobile course is then played by a mobile course player. Server  110  may also transmit the mobile courses to mobile device  122  of receiver  120  after providing the on-line course to receiver  120  for on-line learning. Thus, the vocabulary, phrase, or grammar concept therein may be reviewed in receiver  120 .  
         [0036]     Hence, the disclosed system and method integrates on-line courses and mobile courses to improve on-line and mobile learning flexibility and efficiency. Mobiles courses need not be transformed to course pages, thus ameliorating consistency issues between course pages and messages. Additionally, no fixed links are added to on-line course source course pages, providing flexibility for future use. Further, time required for authoring is greatly reduced since integration does not require on-line courses to be authored again.  
         [0037]     The disclosed method or some portions thereof may be implemented in a program comprised in a storage medium, such as floppy disk, disc, hard disk, or other machine-readable (such as computer-readable) storage media. When the program is loaded into a machine, such as a computer, the machine executes the disclosed method. The disclosed method or some portions thereof may be implemented in program codes which may be transferred in a transmission medium, such as cable, optical fiber, or others. When the program codes are received, loaded, and executed by a machine, the machine executes the disclosed method. A general-purpose processor associated with the program codes may provide operations to simulate a particular device designed with special logic.  
         [0038]     While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.