Method and system for distributing instructional content for augmentation via asynchronous communications within a group
In one implementation, an asynchronous communications system for distributing communications among selected users whereby those users can generate and distribute new content based upon received communications may include a server for maintaining a plurality of asynchronous communicated content. The communicated content includes a video communication, a transcript synchronized to at least a part of an audio track of the video communication, a distribution list of recipients of the communicated content, and any annotations made to the communicated content. The system further includes an interactive graphical user interface operable on a device of a user. The device is in communication with the server to access communicated content received by the user. The graphical user interface includes a video region for playing a video communication of communicated content, a transcript region for displaying at least a part of the transcript synchronized to an audio track of the video communication, and an interactive menu having annotation options for the user to select that is responsive to the user (i) highlighting a text excerpt from the synchronized transcript, (ii) selecting at least one of the asynchronous annotation options, and (iii) generating an annotation to be associated with the highlighted text excerpt.
1 . An asynchronous communications system for distributing instructional content among faculty and a group of students, the system comprising:
a server for maintaining a plurality of instructional content, wherein the content includes textual passages; and
a graphical user interface operable on a device of a student of the group, in communication with the server to access instructional content maintained by the server, and configured to generate an interactive display that includes:
a first region for displaying textual instructional content communicated to the group, and
an interactive menu of a plurality of types of selectable communication functions,
wherein the graphical user interface is responsive to the student (i) highlighting a text excerpt from the communicated instructional textual content, and (ii) selecting, from the interactive menu, a type of communication function to be associated with the highlighted excerpt, and
wherein the graphical user interface is further configured, based on the selection and the highlighted text excerpt, (i) to augment the communicated instructional content in a different region of the display, and (ii) depending upon the selected type of communication function, to make the augmentation accessible via the server to faculty or other students that the student selects to be recipients from the group by sending a message notification respectively to inboxes for selected recipients of a message and,
upon the message being opened by a selected recipient via an interactive graphical user interface operable on a device of the recipient, the augmentation to the communicated instructional content is displayed.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein when the selectable type of communication function is an augmentation, the graphical user interface enables the student to configure the augmentation as a textual annotation, an audio annotation, a video annotation, or a combination thereof.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first region displays a transcription of an oral communication, and the interactive graphical user interface is configured to provide a visual indication on the transcription that the student associated the highlighted text excerpt of the transcription with a selected type of communication function.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the interactive graphical user interface is further configured to display augmentations made to the communicated content made by faculty or other students.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein when the selected type of communication function is an augmentation, the interactive graphical user interface is configured to display annotations generated by the student, by faculty, or by other students.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the types of communications functions in the interactive menu can include at least one of (i) dictionary lookup requests, (ii) asking a question to the faculty that generated the content, and (iii) indicating disagreement with a portion of the content, and wherein the third region of the graphical user interface provides selection options for the student to select a subset of students in the group to access the annotation.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein when the selected type of communication function is a lookup annotation function, the lookup operation includes a textual content retrieved from a third-party source based on the highlighted text excerpt.
8 . A method for distributing, to a group of students, instructional content that can be augmented asynchronously and redistributed, the method comprising:
receiving, from a server, instructional content selected for a student that includes textual content, wherein the server maintains a plurality of asynchronous instructional content; and
in a graphical user interface operable by a student:
displaying the instructional content, including the textual content in a first region of the display;
generating an interactive menu of a plurality of types of communications functions from which the student can select, wherein the graphical user interface is responsive to the user (i) highlighting a text excerpt from the textual instruction content in the first region, and (ii) selecting, from the interactive menu, a type of communication function to be associated with the highlighted excerpt at least one of the asynchronous annotation options, and
wherein the graphical user interface is further configured, based on the selection and the highlighted text excerpt, (i) to augment the communicated instructional content in a different region of the display, and (ii) depending upon the selected type of communication function, to make the augmentation accessible via the server to faculty or other students that the student selects to be recipients from the group by sending a message notification respectively to inboxes for selected recipients of a message and,
upon the message being opened by a selected recipient via an interactive graphical user interface operable on a device of the recipient, the augmentation to the communicated instructional content is displayed.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein when the selectable type of communication function is an augmentation, the graphical user interface enables the student to configure the augmentation as a textual annotation, an audio annotation, a video annotation, or a combination thereof.
10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising changing a text style of text excerpts in the displayed portion of the first region that are associated with the displayed augmentations.
11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the augmentation includes a textual content retrieved from a third-party source based on the highlighted text excerpt.
12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the first region displays a transcription of an oral communication, and the interactive graphical user interface is configured to provide a visual indication on the transcription that the student associated the highlighted text excerpt of the transcription with a selected type of communication function.
13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the graphical user interface is configured to provide a visual indication in the transcript region that the student associated the highlighted text excerpt of the transcript with a selected type of communication function.
14 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the types of communications functions in the interactive menu can include at least one of (i) dictionary lookup requests, (ii) asking a question to the faculty that generated the content, and (iii) indicating disagreement with a portion of the content, and wherein the third region of the graphical user interface provides selection options for the student to select a subset of students in the group to access the augmentation.
15 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out, a method for distributing communications among selected users using an asynchronous communication system, the method comprising:
receiving, from a server, instructional content selected for a student that includes textual content, wherein the server maintains a plurality of asynchronous instructional content; and
in a graphical user interface operable by a student:
displaying the instructional content, including the textual content in a first region of the display;
generating an interactive menu of a plurality of types of communications functions from which the student can select, wherein the graphical user interface is responsive to the user (i) highlighting a text excerpt from the textual instruction content in the first region, and (ii) selecting, from the interactive menu, a type of communication function to be associated with the highlighted excerpt at least one of the asynchronous annotation options, and
wherein the graphical user interface is further configured, based on the selection and the highlighted text excerpt, (i) to augment the communicated instructional content in a different region of the display, and (ii) depending upon the selected type of communication function, to make the augmentation accessible via the server to faculty or other students that the student selects to be recipients from the group by sending a message notification respectively to inboxes for selected recipients of a message and,
upon the message being opened by a selected recipient via an interactive graphical user interface operable on a device of the recipient, the augmentation to the communicated instructional content is displayed.
16 . The storage medium of claim 15 , wherein when the selectable type of communication function is an annotation, the graphical user interface enables the student to configure the augmentation as a textual annotation, an audio annotation, a video annotation, or a combination thereof.
17 . The storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises displaying augmentations that are (1) made by other users and (2) selected for the student.
18 . The storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the first region displays a transcription of an oral communication, and the interactive graphical user interface is configured to provide a visual indication on the transcription that the student associated the highlighted text excerpt of the transcription with a selected type of communication function.
19 . The storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises changing a text style of text excerpts in the displayed portion of the transcript that are associated with the displayed augmentations.
20 . The storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the interactive menu further includes user selection options for the student to select a subset of the recipients for whom the augmentation is to be displayed, wherein the graphical user interface is configured to change a text style of text excerpts in the displayed portion of the transcript that are associated with the selected type of communication function.