Background

Company Background

Company Background:

DETAC Corporation is an Alberta-based Distance Education Consulting and Technology Company formed in 1983. The company has worked primarily in Canada and Pacific-rim countries on numerous projects in Post-Secondary, Continuing and Public-Education. Projects have involved telecommunications applications with interactive systems for video, audio and data.

Company President, Dr. G. Barry Ellis, has been actively involved in distance education on an academic and professional level for over 20 years. An advocate in the pursuit of cost effective distance education technology, he is one of the early pioneers of the distance education movement in Western Canada.

DETAC Corporation is a manufacturer's representative for many technology suppliers including:

Alphanet Systems - AGS Audio-graphic teleconferencing
AverTechnologies - Video Data Conversion
CASIO/Phonemate - Analog Videoconferencing
Forum Communications - Teleconference Bridging
ILINC - LearnLinc Interactive Software
ELMO Canada - AV Systems
CASIO Inc - Digital Imaging Technology
Sony - Sony Audio-visual Products
Willow Design - Luggage for Distance Ed. Technology.
FloForm - Custom Videoconferencing Cabinets

International Projects have included:

Columbia	Guyana	Namibia
Mauritius	Malaysia	China
Brunei	India	Kenya
New Zealand	Fiji	Mexico

As a result of international trade experience, the company has an extensive working knowledge of overseas export, consulting and inter-country education issues.

DETAC Corporation offers the following services:

Educational Telecommunications
Teaching skills with Interactive Technologies in video, audio and data
Curriculum Development
Distance Education Training
Distance Education System Design
Instructional Design and Analysis for Distance Education
Distance Education facility design

DETAC Corporation has been commissioned to write numerous studies including:

Distance Education in Alberta - AAE
Audio Graphic Telecon for DE - Stentor Canada
Post-Secondary Market Size and Definition - Telus
Distance Education Development at Olds College
Training Needs Assessment for NECH in BC
Calgary Regional Hospital District - SARGC in DE
Micro Study on Telecommunications in Prairie Rose No.5 Regional Division
Micro Study on Telecommunications in Prairie Land Regional Division
Virtual School Development for St. Paul's Academy
Education as a Niche Market for Alberta Power (Telmark) Ltd.

For the past seven years, DETAC Corporation has been the official supplier of expertise and technology for The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) at their international headquarters in Vancouver. In this capacity, DETAC has been supplying audio-graphic systems and consulting for it's member nations. Recently, DETAC completed an extensive series of educational modules on Audio and Audio-graphic Teleconferencing and Communications Bridges.

For the past few years, DETAC has been actively involved in projects involving Videoconferencing Technology. This experience has included digital, desktop and analog phone line videoconferencing hardware. Recently, DETAC has become a distributor for CASIO/Phonemate in marketing a non-computer oriented analog videoconferencing system. Development research has involved digital video cameras for NTSC TV with Macintosh and Windows 95/NT computers. A digital bridge has been developed by our Edmonton partner which allows point to multi-point use of the POTS (H.324 standards) videoconference technology.

New to DETAC are the audio and video technologies for DTH (direct to home) delivery. Many distance education systems lack capability to provide learning directly to the home. This means that learners must go to a specially equipped distance learning center for instruction. DETAC has been concentrating on hardware, software, and expertise that will provide learning to the home utilizing television, phone and standard computers. Work is being conducted to create a DTH system that will provide video, audio and data in both turnkey and components systems for the individual remote learner.

Like all industries, DETAC has been affected by Internet development and has been working on a videoconference system that uses Internet components as curriculum for interactive educational delivery. The newest member of the AGS family of technology is the AGS-12 Net Audio Interface specifically developed for Internet Telephony applications.

DETAC is now creating a new cadre of expertise in the development of the Internet as a distance education tool. Some of the areas in development are:

Internet course development for CAI on-line featuring LearnLinc software
CUSeeMe videoconferencing point to point and multi-point
Internet videoconferencing methods
Work groups and computer conferencing in D.E.
Internet phone for teleconferencing point to point and multi-point

Within DETAC Corporation, distance education applications continue to evolve in order to provide expertise in challenging learning situations as they arise.