Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and information processing program

Abstract

To provide an information processor, an information processing method and an information processing program for grasping the degree of understanding of a student during a lesson in real time, and for facilitating the selection of teaching material contents suitable for the lesson and the review of the lesson.SOLUTION: The information processing apparatus 10 is an information processing apparatus that supports a class by a teacher user using a teacher user terminal, and includes a captured data acquisition unit 12 that acquires a camera image from each of student user terminals of student users who take the class, an understanding level determination unit 13 that estimates an understanding level of the student user for the class on the basis of the camera image, and a display control unit 14 that aggregates the estimated understanding levels of the student users and displays transition of the understanding levels in the class on the teacher user terminal.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] An embodiment of the present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and an information processing program. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, in the field of school education, individual children and students have been provided with devices for learning, and the development of online educational environments using the Internet has progressed. Online learning uses digitized learning materials and teaching materials, and by accessing learning information via the Internet, students can quickly access a variety of knowledge.

[0003] In addition, by making online classes possible using learning devices, students can take classes at home just as if they were attending school, which has the added benefit of allowing education to be provided flexibly according to the student's physical condition and other circumstances.

[0004] On the other hand, when students are able to take classes from home, teachers cannot see the students' faces in person, which can make it difficult to fully grasp the students' level of understanding of the lessons.

[0005] Conventionally, a class support system has been disclosed that estimates the emotions of students attending a class via a camera, allowing a teacher to grasp the level of understanding of each student in the class. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2023-061407 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] While conventional technology can estimate students' emotions and display their understanding status to teachers, allowing them to grasp the level of understanding of each student, it is sometimes impossible to respond appropriately when a student's level of understanding drops during class because it does not provide information on which parts of the explanation a student's level of understanding drops. It is also difficult to consider areas for improvement after class. Furthermore, with a wide variety of teaching content available, it can be difficult to select appropriate teaching materials even if there are differences in students' levels of understanding between materials.

[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of these circumstances, and aims to provide an information processing device, an information processing method, and an information processing program that can grasp students' level of understanding during class in real time, and make it easy to select teaching material content appropriate for the class and to review the class. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] An information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention is an information processing device that supports lessons taught by a teacher user using a teacher user terminal, and is characterized by comprising: a photographic data acquisition unit that acquires camera images from each of the student user terminals of the student users attending the lesson; an understanding level determination unit that estimates the student users' levels of understanding of the lesson based on the camera images; and a display control unit that aggregates the estimated levels of understanding of the student users and displays the progress of the levels of understanding during the lesson on the teacher user terminal. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] Embodiments of the present invention provide an information processing device, an information processing method, and an information processing program that can grasp students' level of understanding during class in real time, and make it easy to select teaching material content appropriate for the class and to review the class. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on a teacher user terminal when the level of understanding of student users is determined based on camera images acquired by the student user terminals of the students. [Figure 3] (A) Graph showing the change in the number of students with low comprehension over time from the start of the class, (B) Graph showing the change in the percentage of students with high and low comprehension over time from the start of the class. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of information on the average level of understanding of students and the used parts of the content where the level of understanding was low, for each teaching material content used by a teacher user in a lesson. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of an information processing method according to the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing device 10 according to this embodiment.

[0013] First, the overall configuration will be described. The student user terminals 20 refer to terminals such as PCs and tablet terminals owned by each student user that are capable of communicating with an external network. The student users refer to children and students receiving education at educational institutions such as elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools (including children and students receiving education at cram schools, etc.). The information processing device 10 is communicably connected to each of the student user terminals 20 and transmits and receives various data to and from the student user terminals 20.

[0014] The student user terminal 20 is equipped with a camera 30. The camera 30 is capable of constant communication with the student user terminal 20 and is an imaging unit that captures an image in front of the display screen (display) of the terminal. The camera 30 may be built into the display screen of the student user terminal 20, or may be arranged on the side of the display screen of the student user terminal 20 and externally connected to the main body of the student user terminal 20. Images captured by the camera 30 include still images, videos, etc. The acquired image data is transmitted to the information processing device 10. The image data is constantly transmitted to the information processing device 10 after the teacher user starts a lesson. Alternatively, the image data may be transmitted to the information processing device 10 at regular intervals (for example, every one minute) after the lesson starts.

[0015] The student user terminal 20 may also include a biometric information acquisition device (not shown). The biometric information acquisition device is a device for acquiring vital information of the student users, such as body temperature, respiratory rate, and heart rate. The acquired vital information of each student user is transmitted to the information processing device 10. Note that the biometric information acquisition device may be any device that can acquire the vital information of the student users, and may be limited to a device worn by the student users, i.e., a non-contact device.

[0016] The teacher user terminal 40 refers to a terminal such as a PC or tablet terminal owned by each teacher user that is capable of communicating with an external network. The information processing device 10 is communicably connected to the teacher user terminals 40 of the teacher users. Note that, although FIG. 1 shows one teacher user terminal 40 owned by teacher user X, the teacher user terminals 40 of each teacher user belonging to the school are communicably connected to the information processing device 10.

[0017] Here, the teacher user refers to a teacher who educates children or students, such as a staff member of an educational institution such as an elementary school, a junior high school, or a high school (including a teacher who teaches at a cram school, etc.). The teacher user terminal 40 may be equipped with a camera 30. The teacher user may teach using one terminal, or may teach using separate terminals, one for displaying educational material content and one for displaying the students' understanding.

[0018] 1 shows an example in which a teacher user X at an elementary school A teaches students A, B, C, D, and other students who belong to the same class (sixth grade class A), and each of students A, B, C, and D has a student user terminal 20 (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d).Student D is taking lessons at home via the Internet.

[0019] The information processing device 10 according to the embodiment is a server that supports lessons taught by a teacher user using a teacher user terminal 40, and after the lesson begins, estimates each student's level of understanding of the lesson based on camera images acquired from the student user terminal 20, tallying up the estimated levels of understanding of the student users, and displays the progress of the level of understanding during the lesson on the teacher user terminal 40 in real time.

[0020] A specific configuration of the information processing device 10 according to this embodiment will be described. The information processing device 10 includes a data storage unit 11, a photographed data acquisition unit 12, an understanding level determination unit 13, and a display control unit 14.

[0021] The functions of each unit constituting the information processing device 10 may be realized by executing a predetermined program code using a processor, and are not limited to such software processing. For example, they may be realized by hardware processing using an ASIC or the like, or may be realized by a combination of software processing and hardware processing.

[0022] The data storage unit 11 stores various information such as teaching material content (textbook data, educational videos, etc.) to be used in lessons by the teacher user of the teacher user terminal 40. For example, when the teacher user gives a lesson, the teacher user opens the teaching material content, and the screen is distributed to the student user terminal 20 and used for learning.

[0023] The photographed data acquisition unit 12 acquires camera images from each of the student user terminals 20 of the student users attending the class.

[0024] Specifically, after the start of a class, the photographed data acquisition unit 12 acquires camera images of the area in front of the student user terminal 20 from each of the student users. When the class starts, the unit 12 receives input from the teacher user terminal 40 regarding the start of the class, and starts acquiring camera images from the student user terminal 20. When the class ends, the unit 12 receives input from the teacher user terminal 40 regarding the end of the class, and stops acquiring camera images.

[0025] The understanding level determination unit 13 estimates the student user's understanding level of the lesson based on the camera image captured by the camera 30 of the student user terminal 20.

[0026] The level of understanding is an index showing whether a student user has understood the content of the lesson, and may be, for example, an index such as high or low level of understanding. Regarding the method for estimating the level of understanding, if the facial expression of the student user identified from the camera image is a negative expression such as a confused or stiff expression, it is determined that the student user has not made much progress in understanding the content of the lesson and has a low level of understanding. Note that, to determine a negative expression, facial expressions corresponding to human emotions are learned in advance and a learning model is used. Also, if the student user identified from the camera image exhibits positive behavior such as nodding, it is determined that the student user has made a good understanding of the content of the lesson and has a high level of understanding. Note that, for positive behavior, the behavior of the person in that case is set in advance (for example, moving the jaw up and down).

[0027] Also, if during class the student's gaze is not directed at the display screen of the student user terminal 20 for a predetermined time (for example, one minute), it may be determined that the student has a low level of concentration and a low level of understanding. Furthermore, the student user's level of understanding may be determined based on vital information such as the student user's heart rate and respiratory rate acquired from a biometric information acquisition device. For example, if the heart rate or respiratory rate is high, it may be determined that the student is confused or nervous, and therefore the level of understanding may be low.

[0028] Furthermore, during the lesson, information for confirming whether or not the student has understood may be sent to the student user terminal 20, and for example, a button that allows the student to indicate whether or not they have understood may be displayed on the terminal, and the level of understanding of each student may be determined based on the answers received from the students. Furthermore, instead of a direct confirmation method such as asking whether or not the student has understood the lesson, a button that allows the student to express their feelings, such as whether or not the lesson is enjoyable, may be displayed on the student user terminal 20, and the level of understanding of each student may be determined based on the answers received from the students.

[0029] Note that multiple indicators may be set to estimate a low level of understanding, and if even one of the indicators is met, the level of understanding may be determined to be low, and if none of the indicators are met, the level of understanding may be determined to be high. Furthermore, the level of understanding may be classified as low, medium, or high depending on the number of indicators met. Furthermore, if there is an error in the assessment of a student's level of understanding, for example, if a student is assessed as having a low level of understanding but actually understands the content of the lesson, such a case of incorrect assessment of the level of understanding may be learned, and this learning model may be used to correct the assessment from the next time onwards.

[0030] 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the teacher user terminal 40 when the student user's level of understanding is determined based on camera images acquired by the student user terminal 20 of each student. Here, we consider a case where teacher user X of class 6A teaches a lesson on June 3, 2024, using content A, in the subject: arithmetic, and teaching item: how to calculate volume.

[0031] The teacher user terminal 40 can acquire and display camera images of all student users, and the student users' levels of understanding determined by the understanding level determination unit 13 are displayed as information about each student user. For example, students D and F have confused facial expressions and are determined to have low levels of understanding. As shown in FIG. 2, for students with low levels of understanding, the color and thickness of the display frame of the image may be changed to clearly indicate to the teacher user which students have low levels of understanding.

[0032] The display control unit 14 tally up the estimated levels of understanding of the student users and displays the transition of the levels of understanding during the lesson on the teacher user terminal 40. Specifically, the number of student users estimated to have a high level of understanding and the number of student users estimated to have a low level of understanding are calculated at regular intervals (for example, every five minutes) from the start of the lesson, and the transition of the student users' levels of understanding, for example, the transition of the number of student users estimated to have a low level of understanding, is displayed in real time on the teacher user terminal 40. By displaying the transition of the levels of understanding in real time, the teacher user can take action such as returning to explain again when the level of understanding becomes low, and can change the teaching policy during the lesson.

[0033] Furthermore, as the teacher user's lesson progresses, the locations of the educational content used in the lesson and the aggregated information on the level of understanding may be associated and saved. Specifically, if 10 students have a low level of understanding 30 minutes into the lesson, the locations of the educational content used during that time (for example, the page number of the educational content) are automatically associated and saved. Furthermore, the teacher user may select the locations of the educational content used and associate them with the level of understanding at that time.

[0034] The display control unit 14 then displays the transition of the level of understanding in the lesson, superimposed on the parts of the learning material content being used in the lesson. The transition of the level of understanding is displayed to show which parts of the learning material content are being used in each period of the lesson. This allows the teacher user to check which parts of the learning material content are difficult to understand when there are a large number of students with low levels of understanding.

[0035] 3A and 3B are graphs showing an example of displaying the transition of the level of understanding. Fig. 3A is a graph showing the transition of the number of students with a low level of understanding in chronological order from the start of the class.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 3(A), when teacher user X of class 6A is teaching a lesson on subject: arithmetic, teaching item: how to calculate volume using content A, the transition in the number of student users estimated to have a low level of understanding is displayed in real time on teacher user terminal 40. At each time during the lesson, the locations where content A is being used are displayed. For example, 35 minutes after the start of the lesson, the number of student users estimated to have a low level of understanding reaches a maximum of 10, and it can be seen that they were using page 25 of content A at that time.

[0037] FIG. 3(B) is a graph showing the change in the percentage of students with high and low levels of understanding over time from the start of the lesson.

[0038] Figure 3(B) is a graph that visually displays the percentage of students with high and low levels of understanding, making it easy to see what percentage of the total students in the class understand the material.

[0039] After the lesson is over, information regarding the progress of the level of understanding is stored in the data storage unit 11, and the teacher user can check it by accessing the information processing device 10. This allows the teacher user to check the state of the level of understanding of past lessons at any time.

[0040] Furthermore, the data storage unit 11 may store, for the same teaching item, each of the teaching material contents used by the teacher user in a lesson in association with the aggregated information on the level of understanding. The teacher user can check the information on the level of understanding associated with each of the teaching material contents by accessing the information processing device 10. When a teacher user gives a lecture using different teaching material contents for the same teaching item (unit), the teacher user can determine which teaching material content is suitable for teaching that teaching item by storing the information on the level of understanding associated with each content.

[0041] 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of information on the average level of understanding of students and the parts of the content where the level of understanding was low for each teaching material content used by a teacher user in a class. Here, the average level of understanding indicates the average number of students who had a high level of understanding during the entire class period.

[0042] As shown in Figure 4, for each piece of content, the average level of understanding of students and the parts of the content where understanding was low are recorded. From this, it can be seen that content B has the highest average level of understanding in the subject: arithmetic, teaching item: how to calculate volume, and is therefore the most appropriate content.

[0043] Next, the operation of the information processing device 10 according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the information processing method according to this embodiment (see FIG. 1 as appropriate).

[0044] After the class starts, the photographed data acquisition unit 12 acquires a camera image of the area in front of the terminal from each of the student user terminals 20 of the student users (S10).

[0045] The understanding level determination unit 13 estimates the student user's understanding level of the lesson based on the camera image captured by the camera 30 of the student user terminal 20 (S11).

[0046] The display control unit 14 tallyes the estimated levels of understanding of the student users and displays the progress of the levels of understanding in the lesson on the teacher user terminal 40 (S12, S13).

[0047] In this way, the information processing device of this embodiment makes it possible to grasp the level of understanding of students during a lesson in real time, and makes it easy to select teaching material content suitable for the lesson and to review the lesson.

[0048] The program executed by the information processing device 10 is provided by being pre-installed in a storage circuit such as a ROM. Alternatively, the program may be provided by being stored in an installable or executable file on a computer-readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, CD-R, memory card, DVD, or flexible disk. The program executed by the information processing device 10 may also be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network.

[0049] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and spirit of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as defined in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0050] 10...information processing device, 11...data storage unit, 12...photographed data acquisition unit, 13...understanding level determination unit, 14...display control unit, 20...student user terminal, 30...camera, 40...teacher user terminal.

Claims

1. An information processing device that supports a lesson by a teacher user using a teacher user terminal, a photographic data acquisition unit that acquires camera images from each of the student user terminals of the student users attending the class; an understanding level determination unit that estimates the student user's understanding level of the lesson based on the camera image; a display control unit that aggregates the estimated levels of understanding of the student users and displays a transition of the levels of understanding in the lesson on the teacher user terminal; An information processing device comprising:

2. As the lesson progresses, the locations of the teaching material content used in the lesson are associated with the aggregated information on the level of understanding and are saved.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

3. the display control unit displays a portion of the teaching material content used in the lesson superimposed on the transition of the level of understanding in the lesson.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:

4. and storing the collected information on the level of understanding of each of the teaching material contents used by the teacher user in the lesson in association with the same teaching item.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:

5. An information processing method for supporting a lesson by a teacher user using a teacher user terminal, comprising: acquiring camera images from each of the student user terminals of the student users attending the class; a step of estimating the student user's level of understanding of the lesson based on the camera image; a step of aggregating the estimated levels of understanding of the student users and displaying a transition of the levels of understanding in the lesson on the teacher user terminal; An information processing method comprising:

6. The computer acquiring camera images from each of the student user terminals of the student users attending the class; a step of estimating the student user's level of understanding of the lesson based on the camera image; a step of aggregating the estimated levels of understanding of the student users and displaying a transition of the levels of understanding in the lesson on a teacher user terminal; An information processing program characterized by executing the above.

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