The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I research project will develop and build a novel method and system for advancing education, in particular, in the STEM disciplines, applying the currently available computer and communication technologies. The student-system interaction will be enabled via the following four channels: text messaging (Short Message Service (SMS) using mobile phone); email; website; voice (phone line). The key feature of the system is the capability to carry out light-weight personalized dialogs with each student via SMS and email. These two channels have a number of pedagogic advantages over the website and voice channels. In particular, the system will send personalized problems, process replies, and provide answers and explanation to students. The mobile-enabled system design will allow automatic processing of the students' inputs in the free-text format and not just as one-symbol replies to multiple choice problems. The level of difficulty of subsequent assignments will be adjusted and increased based on the individual student's learning curve. The automated SMS and email processing will create a game-like experience for the student enhancing the desire to use the system and ultimately stimulating the learning process. Importantly, the location-independent access to the system makes it fully accessible to disadvantaged students.
Although the system will be first applied to STEM disciplines, the flexible design and the intrinsic free-text processing capabilities of the system make the range of potential applications extremely broad. The cornerstone principles used in the system architecture, in particular, the mobile-enabled device-independent design, allow the system to be utilized in learning at all levels from K-12 to higher and professional education, both at public and private organizations. The system can be utilized regardless of a specific education subject or topic, or a specific type of education activity, or a specific method of content delivery. The intuitive system administration functions allow any course instructor to manage the system without help from expert staff. The current size of the e-learning market globally is estimated to be $40B; this includes not only K-12 institutions but also universities, corporate and government clients. The system belongs broadly in the m-learning niche of the e-learning market; the m-learning sector is very new and is growing rapidly. A conservative estimate for the m-learning market niche globally is $1.5B by 2011. The universal applicability of the system together with its intrinsic free-text processing and mobile-enabled functionality gives it a significant momentum for gaining a sizable market share.
