Server apparatus, learning assistance method, and recording medium

Abstract

The present invention provides a server device, a learning assistance method, and a recording medium, which can immediately and easily confirm and effectively learn to what extent a sentence set by oneself as a learning object is searched by other users. When a user attribute of a summary object is set in a communication terminal, a user specifies a sentence and instructs "sentence search", a learning assistance server (10) searches the specified sentence with an encyclopedia, and determines whether the specified sentence is included in the top of a search ranking and whether the specified sentence is included in the top of an average search frequency ranking based on search history data of the summary object. When the specified sentence is included in the top of the search ranking, the server (10) displays a message (M1) notifying of the top of the search ranking in the summary object together with a search result of the specified sentence in the communication terminal (20), and when the specified sentence is included in the top of the average search frequency ranking, a message (M2) notifying of the top of the average search frequency ranking in the summary object is displayed.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority under the Paris Convention based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-159061 filed on September 23, 2020 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-37608 filed on March 9, 2021, and the contents of these Japanese patent applications form part of this specification. Technical Field

[0002] This invention relates to a server device, a learning assistance method, and a recording medium for effectively assisting users in their learning. Background Technology

[0003] Electronic dictionaries are commonly used by students when they need to look up the translations or meanings of sentences they don't understand during their studies.

[0004] Electronic dictionaries, such as English-Japanese dictionaries and Japanese-English dictionaries, often include a vocabulary book function that allows users to record the words (phrases) they look up using the dictionary. This vocabulary book function allows users to review previously searched words or check off words they've memorized, facilitating self-study.

[0005] As shown in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-13829, a learning assistance system has been proposed that maps the vocabulary information of multiple users' electronic dictionaries to the users' attribute information and records it in a server. Based on the information recorded in the server, it is possible to know the word learning status corresponding to the user's attributes. Summary of the Invention

[0006] For example, when students are studying for exams, they may have the following needs: to easily confirm the extent to which other users have searched for the statements they consider to be learning objects, and to study them efficiently.

[0007] The present invention was made in view of such a problem, and aims to provide a server device, a learning assistance method, and a storage medium that can easily determine the extent to which statements regarded as learning objects have been queried by other users, and to efficiently carry out learning.

[0008] Solution for solving the problem

[0009] The server device of the present invention has:

[0010] The communications department, which communicates with communications equipment;

[0011] The storage unit stores the search history of at least one user's encyclopedia searches, corresponding to each user's user attributes; and

[0012] Control Department

[0013] The control unit is configured as follows:

[0014] In the communication device, text specified by the user is received via the communication unit. If it is determined that the received text exists in the search history stored in the storage unit corresponding to the user attributes set by the user using the communication device, then...

[0015] The communication device displays the following information: the text specified by the user is retrieved by the user corresponding to the user attribute. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a learning assistance system 1, which includes an embodiment of the server device, learning assistance method, and recording medium of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 2 This is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the learning assistance server 10.

[0018] Figure 3 This shows a portion of dictionary data stored in dictionary database storage area 12b, which contains English words that are entries in an English-Japanese dictionary and corresponding translations of explanatory information for those English words.

[0019] Figure 4 Figure (A) shows an example of the search history data of each user stored in the search history data storage area 12d. Figure (B) shows an example of the search history of user A.

[0020] Figure 5 Figure (A) shows an example of the search history summary data stored in the search history summary data storage area 12e. Figure (B) shows the ranking of searched English words within a week, based on the search history of English-Japanese dictionaries corresponding to the range of users with a certain user attribute. Figure (C) shows the ranking of the average number of searches based on the search history.

[0021] Figure 6 This is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the communication terminal 20.

[0022] Figure 7 This is a diagram showing the summary object setting screen GT displayed on the touch panel display unit 21 according to the dictionary application 23b of the communication terminal 20.

[0023] Figure 8 This is a diagram showing the learning object filtering condition setting screen GJ displayed on the touch panel display unit 21 according to the dictionary application 23b of the communication terminal 20.

[0024] Figure 9 This is a flowchart illustrating the terminal processing performed according to the dictionary application 23b of the communication terminal 20.

[0025] Figure 10 This is a flowchart illustrating the server processing of the learning assistance server 10, which is executed in response to the terminal processing of the communication terminal 20.

[0026] Figure 11 This is a diagram showing the screen transition of the text display screen GD corresponding to the "sentence (word) search" in the state where the dictionary application 23b of the communication terminal 20 is started.

[0027] Figure 12 This is a diagram showing the screen transition of the text display screen GD corresponding to the "Search History Summary" in the state where the dictionary application 23b of the communication terminal 20 is started.

[0028] Figure 13 This is a diagram showing a portion of the encyclopedia data, which includes the sentences of encyclopedia entries stored in storage area 12b1 of an encyclopedia database as another embodiment, and the explanatory text, images, and sounds that correspond to the explanatory information of those sentences.

[0029] Figure 14 This is a diagram illustrating an example of the search history data of each user stored in the search history data storage area 12d of another embodiment. Figure (A) shows an example of the search history of user A, and Figure (B) shows an example of the search history data of user B.

[0030] Figure 15 This is a diagram illustrating an example of search history summary data stored in the search history summary data storage area 12e of another embodiment. Figure (A) shows a ranking of English words searched within a week, based on the search history of English-Japanese dictionaries corresponding to the range of users with a certain user attribute. Figure (B) shows a ranking based on the average number of searches in the search history.

[0031] Figure 16 This is a diagram showing the screen transition of the text display screen GD corresponding to "phrase (word) retrieval" in another embodiment of the communication terminal 20.

[0032] Figure 17 This is a diagram showing the screen transition of the text display screen GD corresponding to the "Search History Summary" in another embodiment of the communication terminal 20. Detailed Implementation

[0033] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0034] (Structure of the implementation method)

[0035] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a learning assistance system 1, which includes an embodiment of the server device, learning assistance method, and recording medium of the present invention.

[0036] The learning assistance system 1 comprises: a learning assistance server 10, which is set on a communication network such as the Internet; and a communication terminal (communication device) 20, which has an application program (in this case, a dictionary application) installed on the learning assistance server 10.

[0037] The communication terminal (communication device) 20 can be configured as a smartphone, tablet computer terminal, electronic dictionary, PC (personal computer), mobile phone, e-book, portable game console, etc., which has the function of communicating with the learning assistance server 10.

[0038] <Functions of Learning Assist Server 10> The learning assist server 10 has at least the following functions (10a) to (10e).

[0039] (10a) The function of storing and managing user information (including ID: identification information, attribute information: school / academic year / class) of the communication terminal 20 with the dictionary application installed.

[0040] (10b) Based on the dictionary database stored in the learning assistance server 10 or the communication terminal 20, the function of storing the search history of the sentences retrieved by the user using the dictionary for each user.

[0041] (10c) Based on the search history of each user's statement, summarize the search ranking of statements of all users or sub-user attributes, and show the average number of searches of each searcher (user) in the statement, etc.

[0042] (10d) The following function applies: When a user searches for any statement using a dictionary, within the user range corresponding to the user's set user attributes, the search ranking shows the order of the number of searches for the searched statement. If a statement ranks highly (e.g., within the top 10), the communication terminal 20 currently using the dictionary displays a message M1 notifying the statement of its high search ranking (e.g., "Other users are also searching"). Furthermore, if both the searched statement ranks highly and its average search count ranks highly (e.g., within the top 5), the communication terminal 20 currently using the dictionary displays a message M2 notifying the statement of its high average search count ranking (e.g., within the top 10) (e.g., "This word is difficult for other users to remember"). Message M2 can be any message related to a relatively high average search count, and is not limited to the above.

[0043] (10e) The following function: When any text range of a user that includes multiple statements is designated as the learning object, among the multiple statements included in the text of the specified range, the statements in the user's own search history and the statements in the search history of the user range corresponding to the user's set user attributes are comparatively highlighted on the text specified in the communication terminal 20.

[0044] <Functions of Communication Terminal 20> According to the installed dictionary application, the communication terminal 20 has at least the following functions (20a) to (20f).

[0045] (20a) The function of allowing users to arbitrarily set user attributes as the summary object, which are based on the retrieval history of each user's statements stored in the learning assistance server 10.

[0046] (20b) The function of searching any sentence of the user using a dictionary based on the dictionary database stored in the learning assistance server 10 or the communication terminal 20.

[0047] (20c) When performing a dictionary search on any statement of the user, the function sends the search object statement and user attributes set arbitrarily by the user as the collection object to the learning assistance server 10.

[0048] (20d) Displays the search results of any statement retrieved by the user using the dictionary, and displays information M1 and M2 on the touch panel display unit 21 according to the information of the search object statement that ranks highly in the search results or the information of the search object statement that ranks highly in the average number of searches received from the learning assistance server 10.

[0049] (20e) When an arbitrary text range of a user, including multiple statements, is designated as the learning object, the function of sending the text of the specified range and user attributes arbitrarily set by the user as the summary object to the learning assistance server 10.

[0050] (20f) Displays text within a range specified by the user and changes the text display according to the search history summary results received from the learning assistance server 10 (this information is used to make statements in the user's own search information and statements in the search history of the user range corresponding to the user's set user attributes comparatively emphasized on the text being displayed).

[0051] <Circuit of Learning Assist Server 10> Figure 2 This is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the learning assistance server 10.

[0052] The circuitry of the learning assistance server 10 includes a control unit (CPU: central processing unit) 11, a storage unit 12, a recording medium reading unit 14, a communication unit 15, an input unit 16, and a display unit 17, which function as a computer.

[0053] The control unit 11 controls the operation of each part of the circuit according to the server control program 12a stored in the storage unit 12, based on the input signal corresponding to the user operation from the input unit 16, or the signal received by the communication unit 15 from the communication terminal 20 on the communication network N.

[0054] The server control program 12a can be pre-stored in the storage unit 12, or it can be read into the storage unit 12 from an external storage medium 13 such as a CD-ROM via the recording medium reading unit 14 for storage.

[0055] Server control program 12a includes at least a program for performing the functions (10a) to (10e) described above.

[0056] In addition to the storage area of ​​the server control program 12a, the storage unit 12 also ensures that there is a dictionary database memory area 12b, a user management data storage area 12c, a retrieval history data storage area 12d, a retrieval history summary data storage area 12e, a forgetting characteristic data storage area 12f, an important word data storage area 12g, and a job data storage area 12h.

[0057] In dictionary database storage area 12b, various dictionary data, such as English-Japanese dictionary, German-Japanese dictionary, French-Japanese dictionary, and Japanese dictionary, are stored in the form of sentences as entries and corresponding explanatory information such as translations, semantics, example sentences, and explanations.

[0058] Figure 3 This shows a portion of dictionary data stored in dictionary database storage area 12b, which contains English words that are entries in an English-Japanese dictionary and corresponding translations of explanatory information for those English words.

[0059] In the user management data storage area 12c, for each user of the communication terminal 20 with the dictionary application installed, a user ID (user identification information: in this case, the application ID) is mapped to the user's attributes (in this case, school, academic year, class, preferred school, level of the exam to be taken, etc.). Furthermore, the user's attributes are periodically updated by the user, for example, during the annual update period.

[0060] In the historical data storage area 12d, each user ID managed in the user management data storage area 12c is stored, and the entries (statements) retrieved by the user using the dictionary are matched with their retrieval dates.

[0061] Figure 4 Figure (A) shows an example of the search history data of each user stored in the search history data storage area 12d. Figure (B) shows an example of the search history of user A.

[0062] In the retrieval history summary data storage area 12e, the following data is stored: based on the retrieval history of each user's statements stored in the retrieval history data storage area 12d, the retrieval history summary data includes, for example, all time periods, by year, by month, by week, etc., the retrieval ranking of statements for all users or by user attributes (by academic year, by class, etc.), the average number of retrievals of statements, etc.

[0063] Figure 5 Figure (A) shows an example of the search history summary data stored in the search history summary data storage area 12e. Figure (B) shows the ranking of searched English words within a week, based on the search history of English-Japanese dictionaries corresponding to the range of users with a certain user attribute. Figure (C) shows the ranking of the average number of searches based on the search history.

[0064] The forgetting characteristics data storage area 12f stores data showing the optimal review time (e.g., 1 day after the first time (second time) / 3 days after the second time (third time) / 10 days after the third time (fourth time) / 30 days after the fourth time) based on human forgetting characteristics.

[0065] The 12GB important word data storage area stores data on important words that users should review (such as words that frequently appear in exams like junior high school entrance exams, high school entrance exams, university entrance exams, and proficiency tests).

[0066] In the work data storage area 12h, various data generated or acquired by the control unit 11 through the control of the actions of each part are temporarily stored as needed.

[0067] In the learning assistance server 10 configured in this way, the control unit 11 controls the operation of each part of the circuit according to the commands recorded in the server control program 12a, and the software and hardware work together to achieve the various functions described in the following description of the operation.

[0068] <Circuit of Communication Terminal 20> Figure 6 This is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the communication terminal 20.

[0069] The circuit of the communication terminal 20 includes a control unit (CPU) 22, a storage unit 23, a recording medium reading unit 25, a communication unit (Wi-Fi communication / mobile communication) 26, and a touch panel display unit 21, which functions as a computer.

[0070] The control unit 22 controls the operation of each part of the circuit according to the communication terminal control program 23a and the dictionary application program (dictionary application) 23b stored in the storage unit 23, based on the input signals corresponding to user operation from the touch panel display unit 21, or the signals received by the communication unit 26 from the Web server (including the learning assistance server 10) on the communication network N.

[0071] The communication terminal control program 23a and the dictionary application 23b can be pre-stored in the storage unit 23, or they can be read into the storage unit 23 from an external recording medium 24 such as a memory card via the recording medium reading unit 25, or they can be downloaded from a web server (in this case, a program server) on the communication network N and stored in the storage unit 23.

[0072] The dictionary application 23b includes at least a program for performing the functions described above (20a) to (20f).

[0073] In addition to the storage areas for the communication terminal control program 23a and the dictionary application 23b, the storage unit 23 also includes a data storage area 23c for summary object settings, a data storage area 23d for learning object filtering conditions, and a data storage area 23e for assignments.

[0074] In the data storage area 23c for the summary object setting, user attributes that are arbitrarily set by the user for the learning assistance server 10 as summary objects are stored. These attributes are used to summarize the search ranking of statements based on each user's search history, the average number of searches for statements, and so on. Here, the user attributes that serve as summary objects are arbitrarily set by the user for the case of performing "statement (word) search" and for the case of performing "search history aggregation" by setting the scope of text including multiple statements (words) as learning objects.

[0075] Figure 7 This is a diagram showing the summary object setting screen GT displayed on the touch panel display unit 21 according to the dictionary application 23b of the communication terminal 20.

[0076] The user operates by touching the screen and specifying the "Summary Object Setting" item (not shown) in the menu of the touch panel display unit 21 as displayed by the dictionary application 23b. This displays the Summary Object Setting screen GT. The user selects the summary object for "sentence (word) search" and the summary object for "search history summary" from the summary object selection list TL and sets the summary object accordingly. The list TL categorizes the user's attributes into items such as by academic year, by class, by preferred school, and by level of proficiency test, creating a summary table.

[0077] The number of summary objects can be set to either single or multiple.

[0078] Here, in the summary object setting area of ​​the summary object setting screen GT when "Search History Summary" is performed, attribute markers (red) RE and (blue) BL are added according to the attributes of the set summary object to display different attributes that can be identified by color.

[0079] In the data storage area 23d for the learning object filtering conditions, when performing "search history summary", the user can arbitrarily set the learning object filtering conditions for filtering sentences (words) set as learning objects from the range of text, and store them.

[0080] Figure 8 This is a diagram showing the learning object filtering condition setting screen GJ displayed on the touch panel display unit 21 according to the dictionary application 23b of the communication terminal 20.

[0081] The touch operation displays the "Filter Condition Setting" item (not shown) in the menu of the touch panel display unit 21 according to the dictionary application 23b, thereby displaying the learning object filter condition setting screen GJ. According to the displayed learning object filter condition setting screen GJ, select one of the following as the filter condition: "Top search frequency", "Forgetting characteristics", "Important words" or "Unconditional".

[0082] If the text range includes sentences (words) that are frequently searched in the search history and are difficult to remember, select "Top Search Count". If the text range includes sentences (words) that are effective for review based on forgetting characteristics, select "Forgetting Characteristics". If the text range includes sentences (words) that are important words that should be reviewed, select "Important Words".

[0083] The number of criteria for setting learning object filtering conditions is not limited to one or more.

[0084] In addition, the user attributes set by the user as the summary object according to the summary object setting screen GT, and the learning object filtering conditions set by the user according to the learning object filtering conditions setting screen GJ, may not be stored in the communication terminal 20, but may be stored in the user management data storage area 12c of the learning assistance server 10, corresponding to the user ID of the user who set the summary object and the learning object filtering conditions.

[0085] In the work data storage area 23e, various data generated or acquired by the control unit 22 through the control of the actions of each unit are temporarily stored as needed.

[0086] In the communication terminal 20 configured in this way, the control unit 22 controls the operation of each part of the control circuit according to the commands recorded in the communication terminal control program 23a and the dictionary application 23b. The software and hardware work together to achieve the various functions described in the operation description below.

[0087] (The actions of the implementation method)

[0088] Next, the operation of the learning assistance system 1 in the implementation method will be explained.

[0089] Figure 9 This is a flowchart illustrating the terminal processing performed according to the dictionary application 23b of the communication terminal 20.

[0090] Figure 10 This is a flowchart illustrating the server processing of the learning assistance server 10, which is executed in response to the terminal processing of the communication terminal 20.

[0091] Figure 11 This is a diagram showing the screen transition of the text display screen GD corresponding to the "sentence (word) search" in the state where the dictionary application 23b of the communication terminal 20 is started.

[0092] In communication terminal 20, when dictionary application 23b is activated (step T1 (Yes)), when data of English text set by the user as a learning object is received from a web server on, for example, communication network N (Internet), control unit 22, as follows: Figure 11 As shown, a text display screen GD is generated to decompress the received English text data, and the touch panel display unit 21 displays it.

[0093] In order to use a dictionary to search for the words included in the English text displayed on the GD screen, such as... Figure 11 As shown, when the user touches (long presses) the word "various" as the search target, the control unit 22 recognizes and displays the specified word "various" and displays the [Search] button SK corresponding to the word "various".

[0094] When the [Search] button SK for the word "various" is touched, and the instruction is to perform a "word search" (step T2 (Yes)), the control unit 22 retrieves the attribute data of the summary object (e.g., a high school third-year student) from the summary object setting data storage area 23c when performing a "statement (word) search" (step T3).

[0095] The control unit 22 sends the user ID of the communication terminal 20, the search target word "various", and the attribute data as the summary object to the learning assistance server 10 (step T4).

[0096] In the learning assistance server 10, when it receives the user ID, the search target word "various", and attribute data as the summary object sent from the communication terminal 20 (steps S1, S2 (yes)), the control unit 11 retrieves the received word "various" based on the English-Japanese dictionary stored in the dictionary database storage area 12b and obtains explanatory information including the translation corresponding to the word "various" (step S3).

[0097] Then, based on the received attribute data of the summary object, the control unit 11 determines whether the search object word "various" is included in the search ranking of the summary object (high school third-year students) stored in the search history summary data storage area 12e (reference). Figure 5 (A) The first few (within 10 digits) of (step S4).

[0098] If the word “various” is among the top search terms in the summary object (high school third-year students) (step S4 (yes)), the control unit 11 adds a top search ranking marker (step S5).

[0099] Furthermore, the control unit 11 determines whether the search term "various" is included in the average search frequency ranking of the summary object (high school third-year students). Figure 5 (B) The first few digits (within 5 digits) (step S6).

[0100] If the search term "various" is among the top few in the search rankings of the summary object (senior high school students), but not among the top few (within 5) in the average number of searches (step S6 (No)), the control unit 11 sends the search result data, including the top search ranking marker added in step S5 and the description information of the word "various" retrieved using the dictionary, to the communication terminal 20 corresponding to the user ID received in step S1 (step S8).

[0101] In the communication terminal 20, when it receives search result data including the top search ranking markers sent from the learning assistance server 10 (steps T5, T6 (Yes)), the control unit 22... Figure 11 As shown, at the bottom of the text display screen GD, the message M1 "Other users are also querying" is highlighted (step T7). This message notifies that the word "various" retrieved by the dictionary is ranked high in the search results, and the search results window W displays the description information "various" including the word "various" (step T10).

[0102] Therefore, users can easily and immediately confirm when searching with a dictionary that the word "various" they learned by searching with the dictionary is also being widely searched and studied by users, such as high school seniors who are their competitors for university entrance exams.

[0103] Furthermore, in the learning assistance server 10, if the search target word "various" is among the top few in the search ranking of the summary object (high school third-year students) (step S4 (yes)) and further among the top few in the average search count ranking (step S6 (yes)), the control unit 11 adds an average search count ranking marker in addition to the search ranking marker added in step S5 (step S7), and sends the search result data, including the added search ranking marker and average search count marker, as well as the description information of the word "various" retrieved by the dictionary, to the communication terminal 20 corresponding to the user ID received in step S1 (step S8).

[0104] In the communication terminal 20, when it receives search result data including the top search ranking marker and the top average search count marker sent from the learning assistance server 10 (steps T5 to T8 (Yes)), the control unit 22... Figure 11 As shown, at the bottom of the text display screen GD, message M1 "Other users are also searching" is prominently displayed (step T7). This message indicates that the word "various" searched using the dictionary is ranking highly in the search results. In addition, message M2 "This word is not easy for other users to remember" is prominently displayed, indicating that the word is ranking highly in the average number of searches (step T9). Then, the search results window W displays the search results including the descriptive information "Various..." for the word "various" searched using the dictionary (step T10).

[0105] Thus, users can immediately and easily confirm, when searching with a dictionary, that the word "various" they learned is among the most searched words by high school seniors who are their competitors for university entrance exams, and that it is a difficult word to remember that ranks highly in terms of average search frequency among these competitors.

[0106] Figure 12 This is a diagram showing the screen transition of the text display screen GD corresponding to the "Search History Summary" in the state where the dictionary application 23b of the communication terminal 20 is started.

[0107] In communication terminal 20, such as Figure 12 As shown in (A), when the touch panel display unit 21 displays the text display screen GD that decompresses the English text data, when the user U touches (long presses) to specify the range of the English text to be set as the learning object, the control unit 22 recognizes and displays the specified range of the text H and displays the [Display Search History] button HK.

[0108] When the [Show Search History] button HK is touched, and the instruction is performed to set the specified text range as the learning object for "Search History Summary" (step T11 (Yes)), the control unit 22 retrieves the attribute data of the summary object (e.g., "self" and "3rd Grade A Class") from the summary object setting data storage area 23c when performing "Search History Summary" (step T12). Here, even if "self" is a member of "3rd Grade A Class", it can be set to exclude "self" from the attributes of "3rd Grade A Class".

[0109] In addition, the control unit 22 obtains the learning object filtering conditions set by the user from the learning object filtering condition data storage area 23d (step T13).

[0110] The control unit 22 sends the user ID of the communication terminal 20, the text data of the specified range, the attribute data of the summarized object (including the data of the color that can identify the attribute), and the learning object filtering condition data to the learning assistance server 10 (step T14).

[0111] In the learning assistance server 10, when it receives the user ID, the data of the specified range of text, the attribute data of the summary object, and the filtering condition data of the learning object sent from the communication terminal 20 (steps S1→S9 (Yes)), the control unit 11 extracts the words contained in the text and generates a word list (step S10).

[0112] When the learning object filtering conditions are set ("highest search frequency", "forgetting characteristics" or "important words") (step S11 (Yes)), the control unit 11 deletes words that do not meet the filtering conditions from the words in the word list generated in step S10 according to the set learning object filtering conditions, and filters the words in the word list (step S12).

[0113] For example, when "highest search count" is set as the selection criterion for learning objects, the control unit 11 ranks the average search counts stored in the search history summary data storage area 12e. Figure 5 (B) Filter the words in the word list to find the words that are most frequently searched (within the top 10) and are not easy to remember, which are the words that should be reviewed.

[0114] Furthermore, for example, when "forgetting characteristics" is set as a selection criterion for learning objects, the control unit 11 maps the words contained in the word list to the received user ID (e.g., "123456787"), and retrieves the English word retrieval history data (including retrieval date: reference) stored in the retrieval history data storage area 12d. Figure 4 (A)) and the forgetting characteristic data storage area 12f stores the optimal review time since the last learning time based on human forgetting characteristics, and filters out words that are effective for review.

[0115] Furthermore, for example, when “important words” are set as the filtering criteria for learning objects, the control unit 11 filters the words contained in the word list to those that are frequently tested in exams such as university entrance exams and are stored in the important word data storage area 12g, i.e., words that are important words that should be reviewed.

[0116] Control unit 11 sets the count value n of the number of summary objects (attribute data) set by the user to "1" (step S13), and the word list generated in step S10 or step S12

[0117] Extract the search history data of the summary object n=1 (in this case, "self") from the words in the search results (see [reference]).

[0118] Test Figure 4 (A) contains previously retrieved words (step S14).

[0119] Control unit 11 sets an emphasis color (red) for recognition of the words in the extracted word list based on the summary object n (here, "itself"). (RE: Reference) Figure 7 (Step S15).

[0120] The control unit 11 determines whether the count value n of the summary object (attribute data) is the last (in this case, "2") (step S16). If it is not the last (n=2) (step S16 (No)), the count value n is incremented (+1) and set to n=2 (step S17).

[0121] Then, from the words in the word list generated in step S10 or step S12, extract the search ranking of the summary object n=2 (here, "Grade 3 Class A") (see reference). Figure 5(A) The first few words (within 10 characters) of the extracted word list (step S14)

[0122] The words are set to be recognized based on the summary object n (here, "Grade 3A").

[0123] accent color (blue BL: reference) Figure 7 (Step S15).

[0124] When the count value n of the summary object (attribute data) is the last one (n=2) (step S16 (Yes)), the control unit 11 updates the word list generated in step S10 or step S12 to a word list that only includes words with search history set as emphasis color for each summary object (here, "self" and "Grade 3A Class") in steps S14 and S15 (step S18), and sends the updated word list (search history summary result) data to the communication terminal 20 corresponding to the user ID received in step S1 (step S19).

[0125] In the communication terminal 20, when it receives word list (retrieval history summary results) data sent from the learning assistance server 10 (step T15 (Yes)), each summary object in the received word list has a retrieval history, and the control unit 22 sets the emphasis color based on the words in it, such as Figure 12 As shown in (B), in the text displayed on the text display screen GD within the user-specified range, words with search history in the summary object "self" are highlighted using red RE. Additionally, words with search history that rank highly in the summary object "Grade 3A" are highlighted using blue BL (step T16).

[0126] Thus, users can immediately and easily confirm, for example, the English words they want to learn from the English words contained in the text within the specified range of the learning object, and the words that are being studied by others in the top search rankings of the user-defined "3rd Grade A Class" as their university entrance exam rivals.

[0127] Additionally, when the aggregated object is set to only "self", the aggregated search history results for "self" are displayed. When only user attributes such as "Grade 3A" are set, the aggregated search history results for users corresponding to the set user attributes are displayed. Here, if "self" was a member of "Grade 3A", the settings will exclude "self" from the "Grade 3A" attribute.

[0128] In the implementation method, the case where the user sets the sentence as the learning object to be an English word is described, but it is not limited to this. Other languages ​​are of course possible. It goes without saying that the same can be done for example, for sentence (word) retrieval and retrieval history summary which are technical terms.

[0129] (Summary of Implementation Methods)

[0130] According to the learning assistance system 1 of the implementation method, in the communication terminal 20, the user attributes of the summary object (e.g., a senior high school student who is a competitor in the exam) are set (23c). When the user specifies (H) a statement and instructs to perform "statement retrieval", the learning assistance server 10 retrieves the specified statement using a dictionary based on the dictionary database (12b) and determines whether the specified statement is included in the top few of the search ranking (12e) based on the search history data (12d) of the summary object in the past dictionary search. In addition, it determines whether the specified statement is included in the top few of the average number of searches ranking (12e).

[0131] Then, if the specified statement is among the top few in the search rankings, the learning assistance server 10 displays the message "Other users are also querying" M1 together with the search results (W) of the specified statement retrieved using a dictionary on the communication terminal 20. This message notifies that the search ranking in the summary object is high. Furthermore, if the specified statement is among the top few in the average search count rankings, the message "This word is not easy for other users to remember" M2 is displayed together with the search results (W) of the specified statement retrieved using a dictionary on the communication terminal 20. This message notifies that the average search count in the summary object is high.

[0132] Therefore, users can immediately and easily confirm, when searching with a dictionary, that the sentences they have learned by searching with a dictionary are ranking high in the search results of the user-defined summary object, are being widely searched and learned, and are not easy-to-remember sentences that rank high in the average number of searches in the summary object.

[0133] Furthermore, in the communication terminal 20, when a range of text including multiple statements is specified and the instruction (HK) is given to perform "search history summary", the learning assistance server 10 extracts the statements in the search history (12d) of the user who instructed to perform "search history summary" and the top few statements in the search ranking (12e) of the summary object from the statements contained in the text within the specified range.

[0134] Then, the learning assistance server 10 compares and displays the statements in the user's search history and the statements contained in the top few of the search rankings of the summary object in the text that the user is displaying in the user-specified range on the communication terminal 20 by means of identification, for example, color coding (HRE / HBL).

[0135] Therefore, users can immediately and easily confirm, when specifying a range of text, the sentences contained in the text within the range specified as the learning object, the sentences that "I" searched for in the dictionary to learn, and the sentences that are being studied by others in the top search rankings of the summary object.

[0136] Therefore, the learning assistance system 1 implemented in this way can immediately and easily confirm the extent to which the statements set as learning objects have been queried by other users, and can carry out efficient learning.

[0137] Furthermore, the above-described embodiments illustrate the retrieval of sentences set as learning objects by the user from various dictionary data such as English-Japanese dictionaries, German-Japanese dictionaries, French-Japanese dictionaries, and Japanese dictionaries stored in the dictionary database storage area 12b. However, the types of databases used as retrieval objects are not limited to dictionary data; they can also be encyclopedia data such as encyclopedias and illustrated books.

[0138] In encyclopedic data, the descriptive information corresponding to the phrases used as entries includes images such as pictures, paintings, and photographs, or may include sound.

[0139] For example, if the encyclopedia data is an encyclopedia and the entry is the name of a "bird," the image would be a painting or photograph of a "bird," and the sound would be the call of a "bird." Even with the various dictionary data mentioned above, it goes without saying that dictionary data includes, for example, images representing the entry (statement) and pronunciations of the entry (statement).

[0140] The following describes another implementation method, in which the user selects a sentence as a learning object from encyclopedia data that includes images and sounds from the description information of the entry words (sentences).

[0141] Encyclopedic data includes not only encyclopedias, but also data from all kinds of books that include explanatory information for a statement as an entry, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and illustrated books.

[0142] (Another implementation method)

[0143] Figure 13 This is a diagram showing a portion of the encyclopedia data, which includes the sentences of encyclopedia entries stored in storage area 12b1 of an encyclopedia database as another embodiment, and the explanatory text, images, and sounds that correspond to the explanatory information of those sentences.

[0144] exist Figure 13In the encyclopedia data shown, the phrase (word) "various" as an entry word stores the explanatory text (translation) of that phrase, and stores corresponding image data, such as multiple (various) images, and audio data of example sentences.

[0145] As a search result for encyclopedia data as an object of encyclopedia search (entry words (statements), for example, an image display button for displaying images and a sound output button for outputting sound are displayed. The user can specify the image display button to open the image data for display and specify the sound output button to open the sound data for output.

[0146] Figure 14 This is a diagram illustrating an example of the search history data of each user stored in the search history data storage area 12d of another embodiment. Figure (A) shows an example of the search history of user A, and Figure (B) shows an example of the search history data of user B.

[0147] In the historical data storage area 12d, for each user ID stored and managed in the user management data storage area 12c, the corresponding entries (statements) retrieved by the user using the encyclopedia, their retrieval date, whether there is image confirmation (i.e. whether the image in the description information has been confirmed), and whether there is sound confirmation (i.e. whether the sound has been confirmed) are stored.

[0148] Figure 15 This is a diagram illustrating an example of search history summary data stored in the search history summary data storage area 12e of another embodiment. Figure (A) shows a ranking of English words searched within a week, based on the search history of English-Japanese dictionaries corresponding to the range of users with a certain user attribute. Figure (B) shows a ranking based on the average number of searches in the search history.

[0149] In the retrieval history summary data storage area 12e, the following data is stored: based on the retrieval history of each user's statements stored in the retrieval history data storage area 12d (including whether there is image confirmation and whether there is voice confirmation), the retrieval history summary data is summarized for all users or by user attributes (by academic year, by class, etc.), including the retrieval ranking of statements, the average number of retrievals of statements, the ratio of images corresponding to confirmed statements (image confirmation rate), and the ratio of voice corresponding to confirmed statements (voice confirmation rate).

[0150] Figure 16 This is a diagram showing the screen transition of the text display screen GD corresponding to "phrase (word) retrieval" in another embodiment of the communication terminal 20.

[0151] Using an encyclopedia database (12b1) with another implementation, a learning assistance server 10 that retrieves historical data (12d) and historical summary data (12e) can perform an encyclopedia search when the user specifies, for example, the phrase "various". This is similar to the implementation described above. Figure 16 As shown, for the display communication terminal 20, when the search ranking of the statement is high in the summary object, the message "Other users are also querying" M1 is displayed together with the search results window W containing the description information "various" for the statement "various". This message notifies that the search ranking in the summary object is high. When the average search count ranking of the statement is high in the summary object, the message "This word is not easy for other users to remember" M2 is displayed together with the search results window W containing the description information "various" for the statement "various". This message notifies that the average search count ranking in the summary object is high.

[0152] Furthermore, if the image confirmation rate of the summary object corresponding to the statement "various" is high (e.g., 50% or higher), the thumbnail GS of the image corresponding to the statement "various" and the message "Other users are likely using image memory" MG, retrieved from the encyclopedia database (12b1), are displayed as a notification to the summary object, along with information indicating confirmation, including the image. When a thumbnail GS is specified via touch operation, the learning assistance server 10 opens and displays the image corresponding to the statement "various".

[0153] Furthermore, if the sound confirmation rate of the summary object corresponding to the statement "various" is high (e.g., above 50%), the sound icon IS, which includes the message "Other users are also confirming sound data," is also displayed as a notification summary object, indicating that the confirmation information, including the sound, has been received. When a touch operation is used to specify the sound icon IS, the learning assistance server 10 turns on the sound corresponding to the statement "various" and outputs it.

[0154] Therefore, when users search using the encyclopedia, they can immediately and easily confirm that the sentences they have learned by searching the encyclopedia are ranking high in the search results of the user-defined summary object, are being widely searched and learned, are not easy-to-remember sentences that rank high in the average number of searches of the summary object, and that the summary object is also confirming the image and sound corresponding to the sentence.

[0155] Figure 17 This is a diagram showing the screen transition of the text display screen GD corresponding to the "Search History Summary" in another embodiment of the communication terminal 20.

[0156] Utilizing an encyclopedia database (12b1) with another implementation, a learning assistance server 10 that retrieves historical data (12d) and historical summary data (12e), when, for example, a user... Figure 17 As shown in (A), when specifying (H) a range of text including multiple statements and instructing (HK) to perform "retrieval history summary", the process is the same as in the above implementation. Figure 17 As shown in (B), the user's communication terminal 20 will display the statements (HRE) in the user's search history and the statements (HBL) contained in the top few of the search rankings of the summary objects in a comparative manner, for example, by color recognition.

[0157] Furthermore, for the top-ranked search results of a summary object containing certain statements, if the image confirmation rate of that summary object is high (e.g., 50% or higher), a thumbnail GS of the image corresponding to that statement (here, "complex") retrieved from the encyclopedia database (12b1) will be displayed as a notification that the summary object has also been confirmed, including the image. When a thumbnail GS is specified via touch operation, the learning assistance server 10 will open and display the image corresponding to the statement "complex".

[0158] Furthermore, for the top-ranked statements in the search results of a summary object, if the voice confirmation rate of that summary object is high (e.g., above 50%), the sound icon IS is associated with that statement (in this case, "approach"), displaying information that the summary object has also been confirmed, including the voice confirmation. When a touch operation is used to specify the sound icon IS, the learning assistance server 10 turns on the voice corresponding to the statement "approach" and outputs it.

[0159] Thus, users can immediately and easily confirm, when specifying a range of text, the statements contained in the text within the range specified for the learning object, the statements that "themselves" searched for in the encyclopedia, the statements that are being studied by the top-ranked search results of the summary object, and the images and sounds corresponding to those statements that the summary object also confirms.

[0160] Additionally, in reference Figure 16 and Figure 17 In another embodiment described, the display of the thumbnail GS when the image confirmation rate of the summarized object is high, and the display of the sound icon IS when the sound confirmation rate of the summarized object is high, are only performed if the user has not confirmed the image or sound corresponding to the statement (see reference). Figure 14 (The search history shows "no" for image confirmation / "no" for sound confirmation), which allows the user to notice that the summary object remembers the statement based on images and sounds.

[0161] Therefore, through the learning assistance system 1 of another embodiment, it is possible to immediately and easily confirm the extent to which the statement set as the learning object has been queried by other users, and whether other users are relying on the image and sound corresponding to the statement to memorize and learn efficiently.

[0162] The processing methods in the learning assistance system 1 described in the above embodiments, namely Figure 9 The flowchart shows the terminal processing in communication terminal 20. Figure 10 The flowcharts shown illustrate various methods, including server processing in the learning assistance server 10, all of which can be stored and distributed as programs executable by a computer on recording media of external recording devices such as memory cards (ROM cards, RAM cards, etc.), disks (floppy disks, hard disks, etc.), optical discs (CD-ROMs, DVDs, etc.), and semiconductor storage. Furthermore, the control unit (CPU) of the electronic device reads the program recorded on the recording medium of the external recording device into the storage device, and controls the operation through the read program, thereby enabling the various functions described in each embodiment to be realized and performing the same processing using the methods described above.

[0163] Furthermore, the data of the program used to implement each method can be sent on the communication network (N) in the form of program code. The data of the program can be read from the computer device (program server) connected to the communication network (N) to the electronic device and stored in the storage device, thereby enabling the various functions described above to be implemented.

[0164] Furthermore, in each embodiment, the case where the communication terminal 20 has a touch panel display 21 and the text display screen GD displayed on the touch panel display 21 is used to specify the range of statements as search objects and the range of text as learning objects is described, but it is not limited to this. When the communication terminal 20 has a non-touch panel display, such as a PDA (personal digital assistant), the same operation can of course be performed by buttons or pointing devices to realize the same learning assistance system 1.

[0165] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to any particular embodiment, and various modifications can be made during the implementation phase without departing from its spirit. Moreover, embodiments can be appropriately combined to achieve combined effects. Furthermore, various inventions are included in the embodiments, and various inventions can be extracted by selecting combinations from multiple disclosed technical features. For example, even if several technical features are deleted from all the technical features shown in the embodiments, the problem can be solved and the effect obtained; in this case, the configuration in which the technical feature was deleted can be extracted as an invention.

Claims

1. A server device, characterized in that, have: The communications department, which communicates with communications equipment; The storage unit stores retrieval history data corresponding to each user's user attributes, the retrieval history data showing the retrieval history of searching a specified text specified by at least one user using an encyclopedia; and Control Department The control unit, via the communication unit, acquires the text data corresponding to the specified text specified by the specified user through the communication device. If it is determined that the specified text corresponding to the acquired text data was previously retrieved using search history data based on user attributes set by the specified user, then in this case, the communication device is output with information indicating that the specified text was previously retrieved by the user corresponding to the user attributes. The specified text includes specified statements. The control unit will use information indicating that the specified statement was retrieved by a user corresponding to a user attribute set by the specified user as the information, and display it on the communication device together with the specified statement specified by the specified user in the communication device. Based on search history data, the control unit generates a ranking of the average number of searches per user for each search term in the search history. The search history data is stored in the storage unit corresponding to the user attributes set by the specified user through the communication device. If the specified statement is ranked within a certain position in the average search count ranking, the second information indicating that the user corresponding to the user attribute set by the specified user of the specified statement has a relatively high average search count will be displayed on the communication device together with the statement specified by the specified user in the communication device.

2. The server device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The control unit generates a search ranking of statements in the search history based on the search history data. The search history data is stored in the storage unit corresponding to the user attributes set by the specified user through the communication device. If the specified statement is ranked within a certain position in the search ranking, the first information indicating that the specified statement was searched by the user corresponding to the user attribute set by the specified user will be displayed on the communication device together with the display of the specified statement specified by the specified user in the communication device.

3. The server device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The specified text includes multiple specified statements. The control unit extracts, from the plurality of specified statements corresponding to the text data obtained via the communication unit, the first statement from the retrieval history data stored in the storage unit corresponding to the specified user of the communication device, and the second statement from the retrieval history data stored in the storage unit corresponding to the user attributes set by the specified user through the communication device. The extracted first and second statements are identified from the plurality of specified statements displayed on the communication device and displayed on the communication device.

4. The server device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The control unit generates a search ranking of statements in the search history based on the search history data. The search history data is stored in the storage unit corresponding to the user attributes set by the specified user through the communication device. From the multiple specified statements corresponding to the text data obtained via the communication unit, the statement within a certain position in the search ranking is extracted as the second statement.

5. The server apparatus according to claim 3 or claim 4, characterized in that, The control unit obtains the plurality of specified statements from the communication unit, filters the statements according to the filtering conditions set by the specified user through the communication device, and extracts the first statement from the search history data stored in the storage unit corresponding to the specified user of the communication device, and the second statement from the search history data stored in the storage unit corresponding to the user attribute set by the specified user through the communication device.

6. The server apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that, The storage unit stores human forgetting characteristics and important words. The filtering conditions include at least one of the following: a first filtering condition, filtering from the plurality of specified statements that the number of searches in the search history of the specified user is more than a specified number; a second filtering condition, filtering from the plurality of specified statements that, based on the search date of the statements in the search history of the specified user and the forgetting characteristics stored in the storage unit, are statements suitable for review at a certain time. And the third filtering condition, from the plurality of specified statements, filters statements that are consistent with the important words stored in the storage unit.

7. The server apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, The storage unit stores search history data representing the search history of at least one user searching for text through an encyclopedia, along with confirmation information for at least one of the images or sounds corresponding to the text, along with each user's user attributes. The control unit is configured as follows: If it is determined that the specified text corresponding to the acquired text data is a statement contained in the search history stored in the storage unit corresponding to the user attribute set by the specified user through the communication device, and the image corresponding to the specified text is an image confirmed based on the confirmation status, then in this case, the communication device displays information indicating that the specified text was retrieved by the user corresponding to the set user attribute, and information related to the image. If it is determined that the specified text is a statement contained in the search history stored in the storage unit corresponding to the set user attribute, and the sound corresponding to the specified text is a sound confirmed based on the confirmation status, then in this case, the communication device displays information indicating that the specified text was retrieved by the user corresponding to the set user attribute, and information related to the sound.

8. The server apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that, The storage unit stores search history data representing the search history of at least one user through encyclopedia search statements, along with confirmation information for at least one of the images or sounds corresponding to those statements, and stores them in association with each user's user attributes. If, based on the confirmation status of the search history corresponding to the set user attributes, the control unit determines that the image corresponding to the second statement is a confirmed image, then, among the multiple specified statements in the specified text, the control unit displays the image-related information corresponding to the extracted second statement on the communication device. If, based on the confirmation status of the search history corresponding to the set user attributes, it is determined that the sound corresponding to the second statement is a confirmed sound, then the sound-related information corresponding to the extracted second statement is displayed on the communication device in the plurality of specified statements of the specified text.

9. The server apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that, The information indicating that the image has been confirmed is a thumbnail used to indicate the display of the image in the encyclopedia. The information indicating that the sound has been confirmed is a sound icon used to indicate the sound output of the encyclopedia.

10. A learning assistance method, characterized in that, It has a storage unit that stores retrieval history data corresponding to each user's user attributes. The retrieval history data shows the retrieval history of at least one user searching for text using the encyclopedia. Retrieves the text data corresponding to a specified text specified by a specified user through a communication device. If it is determined that the specified text corresponding to the acquired text data was previously retrieved using search history data corresponding to user attributes set by the specified user, then in this case, information indicating that the specified text was previously retrieved by the user corresponding to the user attributes is output to the communication device. The specified text includes specified statements. The information indicating that the specified statement was retrieved by the user corresponding to the user attribute set by the specified user is used as the information and is displayed on the communication device together with the specified statement specified by the specified user. Based on search history data, a ranking of the average number of searches per user for each search term in the search history is generated. The search history data is stored in the storage unit corresponding to the user attributes set by the specified user through the communication device. If the specified statement is ranked within a certain position in the average search count ranking, the second information indicating that the user corresponding to the user attribute set by the specified user of the specified statement has a relatively high average search count will be displayed on the communication device together with the statement specified by the specified user in the communication device.

11. A computer-readable medium storing a program, characterized in that, The program causes the computer to perform the following: Retrieves the text data corresponding to a specified text specified by a specified user through a communication device. If it is determined that, based on the retrieval history data of the storage unit, the specified text corresponding to the obtained text data has been retrieved, wherein the storage unit stores the retrieval history data corresponding to the user attributes set by the specified user, representing the retrieval history of at least one user searching for text in the encyclopedia, and stores these retrieval history data in correspondence with the user attributes of each user, then the communication device outputs information indicating that the specified text was retrieved by the user corresponding to the user attribute. The specified text includes specified statements. The information indicating that the specified statement was retrieved by the user corresponding to the user attribute set by the specified user is used as the information and is displayed on the communication device together with the specified statement specified by the specified user. Based on search history data, a ranking of the average number of searches per user for each search term in the search history is generated. The search history data is stored in the storage unit corresponding to the user attributes set by the specified user through the communication device. If the specified statement is ranked within a certain position in the average search count ranking, the second information indicating that the user corresponding to the user attribute set by the specified user of the specified statement has a relatively high average search count will be displayed on the communication device together with the statement specified by the specified user in the communication device.

Images