REFERENCE TO COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING APPENDIX

A computer program listing appendix submitted electronically via EFS-Web in ASCII text accompanies this application and is incorporated by reference. The name of the ASCII text file is “SPRD_Computer_Program_Appx,” created on 25 Oct. 2017 and is 12,416 bytes.

BACKGROUND

Technological Field

The invention generally relates to the field of electronic books (e-books) and in particular to a framework for tools for interacting with e-books and other electronic documents.

Description of Related Art

E-books have become an important channel for distribution of publications, including fiction and non-fiction literature of virtually all types. The technology is adaptable to enable linking of many types of enrichment tools to content of the publications, including dictionaries, internet searching tools, text searching tools, advertising channels, and so on. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 9,678,634, entitled EXTENSIBLE FRAMEWORK FOR EREADER TOOLS, by Murray et al., issued 13 Jun. 2017.

One limitation on growth of e-book publishing arises with respect to use in an educational context, including use by children. Also, other than some special purpose e-readers, the platforms used for reading the e-books are often mobile phones and tablets that are not well adapted to the display of content from e-books. It is desirable for example to display segments of the e-books in a way that preserves literary integrity expressed by the author in paragraph and chapter boundaries of the text. However, the limited display available on a portable phone, for example, can present a technological limit on the segment displayed in terms of having a large enough font for the reader and a portion of the text that can express a substantial fact or concept in the work. The widely variant sizes of paragraphs and chapters as formed by the authors makes these literary boundaries unsuited in a technological sense to be utilized for defining the segment of the work being displayed on these kinds of platforms. This incongruity contributes to discomfort and inefficiency in the reading experience, and deters use of small format displays.

It is desirable to provide a technology than can extend the use of e-books for children, in educational contexts and on mobile devices.

SUMMARY

A technology is described for managing engagement and presentation of an electronic document such as an e-book in a way that makes it both efficient on small platform devices, and engaging in a way that can encourage use of the devices. The technology includes an electronic document including metadata that partitions the electronic document for engagement using a reader application, and a computer system architecture solving problems related to validating traversal of electronic documents in computer systems, and supporting utilization of the electronic document in a game-like process.

A computer executed reader application is described that utilizes the electronic document and metadata, and manages presentation of the content of the electronic document. The reader application in an embodiment described herein executes a process that includes retrieving an electronic document including content and container metadata. The container metadata identifies engagement containers within the electronic document that comprise respective segments of the content. The container metadata is metadata that is distinct from or in addition to metadata that identifies literary boundaries, such as paragraph and chapter boundaries. The procedure also includes retrieving engagement data linked to the engagement containers in the electronic document. The engagement data comprises parameters of an engagement based on the segments of content in the linked engagement containers. The engagement defined by the engagement data comprises a user interface sequence by which a reader validates review of the segment of content, such as a challenge/response (e.g, question and answer) sequence, based on content of the linked engagement container. The reader application includes a procedure to traverse engagement containers identified in the container metadata of a particular electronic document. The procedure includes for a current engagement container, displaying content of the current engagement container on the display, and accepting from user input at the platform, an engagement signal for initiation of engagement of the current engagement container, such as by clicking a button on a touchscreen interface to indicate that the reader has reviewed the content. The procedure includes, after receipt of the engagement signal for the current engagement container, enabling an engagement tool on the platform. The engagement tool presents prompts on the display for the engagement based on the parameters defined in the engagement data linked to the current engagement container. The procedure then accepts user input at the platform in response to the prompts presented in the engagement. After receipt of the data in response to the prompts, the procedure selects a next engagement container in the electronic document, and can assign points for the current engagement container based on the received data and the parameters defined in the engagement data. Also, the procedure sends a notification to the server-side node validating traversal of the current engagement container.

The reader application can include a pacing procedure used to enable display of a selected engagement container. Thus, in selection of a next engagement container, the pacing procedure is applied. The pacing procedure retrieves parameters defining an assigned pace for completing the particular electronic document, such as a target assignment completion date or a specified number of chapters or paragraphs in the document. Also, the pacing procedure can apply parameters defining a time of day during which access to the particular electronic document is allowed. The pacing procedure can enable or disable presentation of a selected engagement container based on the pacing parameters. Thus, if the selection of the current engagement container occurs outside the allowed time of day, then the reader procedure can present a notice to the reader indicating that access is prevented during this time. Also, if the reader procedure has traversed a number of engagement containers that correspond with an assigned number of chapters or paragraphs to be read in a given day or other time period, then the reader procedure can present a notice to the reader indicating that access is prevented because of the pacing limitations.

A computer system architecture described herein comprises a server application executed using one or more server-side nodes, and two types of applications executed on client-side nodes. One of the types of client-side applications is characterized as a supervisor application controlled for example by a parent, teacher or tutor, and the other type of client-side applications is characterized as a reader application utilized by a student or child to read the electronic document.

The server-side node executes a server application including computer programs and database tools for executing a server process. The server process includes maintaining access to a library of electronic documents, such as e-books, that include content and container metadata in addition to markup like paragraph and chapter boundaries. The container metadata identifies engagement containers within the electronic document that comprise respective segments of the content. This process also includes maintaining access to engagement data for the electronic documents in the library. The engagement data is linked to the engagement containers in the electronic documents and comprises parameters of an engagement based on the segment of content in the linked engagement containers. Engagement defined by the engagement data can comprise a question and a response, where the system at the reader presents the question as a prompt or challenge in the display, and the user inputs the answer as a response to the challenge, to validate that a reader had reviewed the segment of content defined by the linked engagement container.

The process executed at the server can include maintaining supervisor account records. The supervisor account records identify a set of reader accounts under supervision. The process executed at the server can also include maintaining reader account records. The reader account records can store identifiers of electronic documents assigned to the reader accounts, and indications of progress in the assigned electronic documents that is determined by monitoring the engagement on each engagement container.

The server application can include executing an application program interface including parameters and procedures executed using the server-side node by communication with a network node or network nodes executing supervisor applications and reader applications.

The API can include a procedure or procedures in communication with the supervisor applications that add reader accounts to the set of reader accounts in the supervisor account record, to add particular electronic documents to the reader accounts in the set of reader accounts, to add parameters of assignments of the particular electronic documents to reader accounts and provide access to a particular supervisor application to reader account records of reader accounts added by the particular supervisor application.

The API can include a procedure or procedures in communication with the reader applications to provide access to the particular electronic documents in the reader accounts, to provide access to the engagement data for the particular electronic documents in reader accounts, to deliver parameters of the assignments of particular electronic documents in the reader accounts, to deliver parameters indicating progress in the assigned electronic documents, and to receive notifications from the reader applications of progress in the particular assigned electronic documents.

According to a configuration described herein, the system includes a supervisor application having a unique login, and a reader application configured for use by a child or student without sharing personal identifying information with the presentation system in general. The system is configured for traversing the electronic document in a manner that enables validation of progress and promotes engagement by the reader, and a server which maintains data sets used for delivering electronic documents, tracking progress in the electronic documents by the readers, delivering status information to the supervisor application and to the reader application.

These tools are configured to manage presentation of electronic documents in the manner of running computer implemented games, where the games involve traversing electronic documents, including presenting content to the readers in “spoonfuls,” performing engagement exercises linked to the spoonfuls that validate reading of the electronic documents, and executing algorithms for awarding points based on the quality and success of the performance of engagement exercises.

The supervisor application in an embodiment described herein includes tools for assigning electronic documents to specific reader apps under its supervision. Also, the supervisor application enables the establishment of performance parameters, such as the amount of time within which completion of the reading of the electronic document must be completed, time of day windows in which the reader application can be engaged, and other performance parameters. The supervisor application also enables assigning rewards to readers that encourage engagement with the assigned electronic documents.

The procedure at the reader application includes notifying the server of progress through the electronic document, including the engagement containers reviewed, the score assigned to each engagement container, the time duration in which the engagement container was displayed, and other parameters of the engagement.

Embodiments of the technology include maintaining an accumulated point total for the electronic document by combining the points awarded upon validation of the engagement containers traversed. The points can have positive or negative values depending on parameters specified for the engagement by the engagement metadata. There can be a plurality of engagement types presented by the engagement tool, where the engagement data can assign an engagement type to linked engagement containers.

In support of the presentation system, a delivery mechanism is provided herein that is embedded inside the electronic document using metadata tags to define engagement containers which enclose a “spoonful” of content. The system includes data structures binding the engagement containers to engagement data such as questions and answers and other components associated with the spoonful that support the presentation. Images, paragraph, chapter and other style features designed by the author and related to the literary integrity of the electronic document can be left unaltered in the electronic document overlaid by the metadata described herein that supports the engagement process during presentation.

In an embodiment described, different access authorization procedures are used for access to the reader account record and access to the supervisor account record.

In a system described herein, an application program interface API comprising a set of parameters and procedures is implemented by a server with complementary procedures in the supervisor application and the reader app, enabling the server to communicate with a supervisor application and a reader application to support presentation of the electronic document, to maintain data about status of electronic documents, and to support maintenance and delivery of engagement parameters. In this manner, progress in the electronic documents is maintained apart from the reader app, enabling portability of the engagement with the electronic document from platform to platform without loss of status information, and enabling real-time and off-time monitoring of progress using the supervisor application.

Implementation of the technology described herein includes storage of computer programs in memory, based on a non-transitory data storage medium or data storage media, the computer programs configured for execution by data processors to perform the procedures of one or more of the supervisor app, the reader application and the server. In some embodiments, the memory is part of a network node configured to execute one or more of the procedures described herein. In other embodiments, the memory is a portable memory device.

Other aspects and advantages of the technology described herein can be seen on review of the drawings, the detailed description and the claims, which follow.

