Internet-Based,
On Demand Education and Training Paper ID #: FEC3682
Abstract Worldwide, renowned institutions are striving to accelerate
successful language learning programs that result in reliable, language-fluent
graduates. This can be difficult at
best. We believe that an Internet-based
language learning tool like Read~Verse Company’s Lesson~Designer can
significantly assist both instructors and students in successfully meeting
their objectives. A description of this
advanced software solution follows: Keywords:
Tools for
teaching Arabic, Chinese,
Japanere
1.
Introduction
Lesson~Designer is a
new, Internet-based, software system that offers significant benefits to
language instructors, students, and school administration. Developed using leading edge, Internet-based
software, Lesson~Designer is designed
to alleviate many of the tedious and costly aspects of teaching. Once an instructor composes class material
(lessons, tests with answers, etc.), the data is entered into the system. Lesson~Designer
automatically codes the information, and at the instructor’s command, makes the
material available to each respective student.
The student completes the lesson, and then takes a test. Lesson~Designer
then grades the test, and sends the results back to the instructor or, if the
instructor so wishes, to the instructor and the student. Stringent protective security measures are
built into the system; students will not be able to access quiz answers.
Lessons can be modified and enhanced at the discretion of the instructor
whenever and as often as he/she feels necessary. Lesson~Designer
will simply note and incorporate the change(s) into the updated material. Thus,
without the delays, the costs of reproduction and distribution, and the time
spent marking examinations; instructors can reduce costs and utilize their
professional time more effectively in planning and improving course material and
instruction methods and communicating directly with students. 2. Lesson~Designer includes these
functions: 4 The complete contents
of a lesson. 4 A list of questions
(multiple choices, fill in, true or false). 4 The correct
answers. Lesson~Designer automatically marks and grades the test(s) with
options to send the results to an instructor only, the student and instructor,
or to other recipients. 4 Lesson~Designer keeps track of all of the lessons
that a student takes with date, time, and grades. 4 It will keep track of
all of the lessons an instructor created with date and time. 4 An instructor can
copy a foreign language, English text, or a combination of both, and paste and
store it. 4 An instructor will be
able to copy an existing lesson, and/or create new ones. 4 The system also
includes multi language vocabulary lists. 4 Lesson~Designer correctly displays multiple
languages without special keyboards or configurations for the recipient’s P.C. 4 Lesson~Designer
has an Arabic abacus that enables the typing of Arabic without installing
special software. Abacuses for other
languages can be provided for an additional fee. 4 Lesson~Designer frees teachers from spending
considerable time on administrative tasks.
It handles them automatically. 3. Lesson
Designer will provide the following services: 4 An instructor can
create a new lesson, update an existing lesson(s), or copy and paste to create
a new one. 4 Practice sessions to
drill students can be created with Lesson~Designer.
4 Instructors can
create student placement tests. 4 An author of a lesson
can charge a royalty fee for lessons. 4 An instructor can
edit a lesson before publishing them. 4 An instructor can
print one or many lessons. 4 The instructor and/or
administrator must authorize access to each lesson. 4 Plus many additional
services 4. Lesson~Designer has various additional operational efficiency features that include: 4.1 Deployment: Assuming
a significant number of copies of software are globally maintained on your
network, it is very costly and time consuming to keep user systems current on
the latest release(s) of each language software text editor. Lesson~Designer
needs to be updated only once on the Internet at which point it is available
globally for all users. 4.2 Compatibility: There are
16 different character sets that Microsoft supports for each of different
Arabic speaking countries. If, to cite
an example, a user in 4.3 Cost: The
production and distribution of class materials usually involve considerable
costs. With Lesson~Designer and its
utilization of the Internet, these costs are minimized. Instructors can compose, update, manipulate,
and distribute course materials without prohibitive, conventional costs 4.4 Standard: Each
Arabic text editor has it’s own standard procedures and "short cuts"
that make maintaining one standard very difficult. With Lesson~Designer
a standard is built into the system. 4.5 Accessibility: A
stand-alone PC system that has a foreign language text editor will require accessing
that computer to compose a document in that language. With Lesson~Designer,
it is accessible globally via the Internet. 4.6 Training: Moving
staff from one country to another may require additional training for using a
new text editor. With Lesson~Designer
orientation is required only once because of the use of the universal character
set. 4.7 Administrative: Lesson~Designer, residing on the server, provides
centralized administrative control in determining the delivery and fulfillment
of class objectives, leading to tighter awareness and assurance that
curriculums are being followed, and promised syllabuses are being
delivered. This facilitates the
maintenance of continuing, high education standards. 5. Now, in summary what is so unique about
Lesson~Designer? 4 Lesson~Designer is Internet-based; no additional
software is required. 4 Teachers can focus on
teaching. They need not concern
themselves with administrating tasks. 4 Language sets are
included. Teachers need not install
language character sets. 4 There is only one
universal character set on Lesson~Designer
for each language. Thus, teachers and
learners can communicate globally (this solves the complex issue of 16
different country character sets in the Arabic Language). 4 For instructors there
is no license fee for Lesson~Designer. While there is a monthly fee per student,
there is no required minimum. 4 Lesson~Designer has an advanced Arabic abacus for
typing Arabic letters and words using a mouse on the internet. Competitive software requires both teachers
and students to memorize the keyboard combination to type vowels (Tashkeel) 4 Lesson~Designer includes most languages. There is no need to install additional
language character sets on the receiver machines. 4 An additional
advantage to Lesson~Designer is that
no matter how many users there are locally or worldwide, only one copy
of Lesson~Designer is required for
each server in the network. 6. Multi
language Capability We are pleased to announce our
development of an exciting and important technology breakthrough; one that
enhances the capability of truly teaching worldwide. Lesson~Designer now includes a new, powerful,
multi-language handling feature. As we
know, language barriers can seriously limit the effectiveness of reaching
students worldwide, or, from a defense or international business standpoint can
seriously affect information gathering and the conducting of business. To solve this dilemma expensive solutions may require communicants
around the world to communicate not only in English but all foreign
languages. Even if we accept this
expensive, unrealistic solution, the recurring replacement and rotation of
staff and the resultant language training required will be time consuming and
expensive. Another solution would be to communicate with email
messages. Here, however, the recipient
(a sales executive, for example) would be at the risk of not being able to read
the sent text due to incompatible language character sets. Still another solution would
be to install all anticipated language character sets (another costly
investment) on a recipient’s personal computer.
Once anyone on the receiving end opens a foreign language email message
the text will most likely be illegible, forcing the recipient to try different
character sets for decoding the received message. Even then it is probable that the message
will not be sufficiently legible and, equally critical, a crucial business
opportunity or key information could be lost.
Precious time wasted attempting to decode an illegible message could be
a key factor in failing to secure a lucrative deal or making a strategic
decision. With Lesson~Designer information will be legible at once. Lesson~Designer, then, is an effective and
efficient solution. It requires only a
native language digital keyboard on the sender’s end and an Internet
connection. A sender’s message typed in
his/her own native language will be kept character-intact until the recipient
accesses that message. Thus, non-English
speaking students, customers, suppliers, information sources and agents -
Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Russian, French, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Greek –
using their respective language digital keyboard, can use Lesson~Designer for typing and sending a note in their own native language. No matter what language keyboard or system configuration is utilized,
with Lesson~Designer the receiver receives the same characters that the sender
types. No special character receiver
sets are required on the receiving end. Lesson~Designer, which resides on the
server, permits the acceptance of “strange” character sets. Thus, while most systems require both
receiver and sender to have the same language handling “configuration”, with Lesson~Designer, it does not matter what
character set the sender or receiver is using.
Why? Because Lesson~Designer was designed from the ground up as an
Internet-based system and not as a local PC-based system. As the sender types a message, Lesson~Designer retains those characters
intact as written. Also, implicit in the
design of Lesson~Designer are
powerful security measures. 7.
The Koran Databases For
Arabic students who wish to gain a more profound and thorough understanding of
the Muslim psyche and culture, Read~Verse also offers, on-line, with several,
powerful search engines, its Koran database.
7.1 Over 17,000 Arabic Words and Arabic Word Roots Read~Verse based its powerful Arabic learning database on the most widely consulted book in the Middle East, The Koran, said by scholars to be the complete, technical source for Arabic language. As with the King James Version of the Bible and its influence on English, the Koran is a treasury of Arabic literature that has kept the Arabic language alive and vibrant. With this dynamically rich resource we are able to offer students online, through the Internet, an abundant Arabic vocabulary list of over 17,000 words (the average person's vocabulary is in the range of 5,000 words) with sentences that illustrate the usage of these words. In addition the database includes Arabic word roots for over17, 000 words, making it the largest offering of Arabic word roots on the Internet. 7.2 Read~Verse
has several search engines That
can help students find correct information about the Koran immediately in real
time. Instructors can assign a
translation task to one or many students to critique the translations of 4
different authors against the Arabic text.
There are up to 6236 unique, critiquing tests for students. This unique
teaching tool with its huge database was designed to provide Arabic instructors
with a very large volume of materials for testing the competence of
Arabic-learning students at any level. Again, the huge database is based on
what is considered the ultimate testing document in Arabic, the Koran. Students who can proficiently translate a
verse from the Koran to English can be said to have a command of the Arabic
Language. 8. Now, you may legitimately ask, what is so unique
about Read~Verse suite software? Read~Verse suite is unique because: 4 Read~Verse is
Internet-based; no additional software is required 4 Teachers can focus on
teaching. They need not concern
themselves with administrating software. 4 Language sets are
included. Teachers need not install
language character sets. 4 There is only one universal
character set on Read~Verse for each language.
Thus teachers and learners can communicate globally (this solves the
complex issue of 16 different, country character sets in the Arabic Language). 4 Read~Verse software
is free for all teachers. While there is
a charge is per month per student, there is no required minimum. 4 Read~Verse provides
the root and the usage of over 17,000 Arabic words. 4 Read~Verse has an
advanced Arabic abacus for typing Arabic letters and words using a mouse on the
internet. Competitive software requires
both teachers and students to memorize the keyboard combination to type vowels
(Tashkeel). 4 In time
Lesson~Developer will include most languages, and there maybe no need to
install additional language character sets. 4 Read~Verse includes
powerful search engines that enable users to efficiently search the entire
Koran: 4 In English by
topic. 4 In Arabic with one
word, two words or by topic 4 In English or Arabic
by chapter and verse number Students and teachers
can use 6234 tests for critiquing the translation from Arabic text to 4
different English translations. 9. Conclusions 4 A school
administration will be better able to manage, administer and evaluate the
quality of its course curriculum, and by offering widening online classes, to
expand its student base and enhance revenue. 4 Instructors can
design and build class curriculums and update them instantly, thereby avoiding
reprinting cost. 4 Instructors, with the
responsibility of "delivering" class curriculums, will gain efficiency
by not only having to constantly repeat proper usage sentence structure, but in
being able to replicate their successful class materials as well 4 Students will be able
to repeat a lesson where and as often as they wish. In addition, with instructor approval, they
can take quizzes with the software marking their answers. This will facilitate
and expedite the learning process. 4 Lesson~Designer supports multi-language
environments. Special keyboards and/or
configurations are not required to receive foreign language character sets. For
additional information, please visit http://www.lessondesigner.com/
and http://www.readverse.com/ About the Authors Mahmoud Elsayess, President Mr. Elsayess has over 35 years as an Information Technology
professional. His technical and managerial background include expertise and
experience with IE/IEF(CASE), IMS/DB/DC, IDMS/R, ORACLE, DB2, MS ACCESS, COBOL,
Visual Basic, MQSeries (Client \ Server) HTML, Java, C++, and ASP. He is also
proficient in PHP, MYSQL, Apache, and Flash. Senior responsibilities with an
impressive array of renowned organizations including The Auto Club of Southern
California, Mr. Silverman brings to Read~Verse over 40-years of
computer systems experience. His knowledge and expertise with application
software gained from senior management responsibilities with some of the
world's largest companies provide a rich resource for Read~Verse. His national
and international senior Sales and Marketing responsibilities for several
renowned companies including Comments and feedback are
welcome, and should be directed to: Mahmoud
Elsayess, President MahmoudElsayess@lessondesigner.com Or ArnieSilverman@lessondesigner.com Read~Verse Company References Read~Verse has several search
engines that can help your students to immediately find correct information
about the Koran. Another benefit is that
you can assign a translation task to one or many of your students to critique
the translations of 4 different authors against the Arabic text. You can have up to 6236 unique critiquing
tests for your students. This unique
teaching tool with its huge database was designed to provide Arabic instructors
with a very large volume of materials for testing the competence of Arabic
learning students at any level. The huge database is based on what is
considered the ultimate testing document in Arabic, and that is the Quran. Students who can proficiently translate a
verse from the Quran to English can be said to have a command of the Arabic
Language. These several powerful search
engines for the Koran that can be found on:
http://www.readverse.com/ |