POTS Versus Planes
In a decision of the
Northland School Division Board, it was decided
that DETAC Corporation would supply a set of
Turnkey Videoconferencing systems based on the
Casio LT-70P that would use single telephone
links for interactive video, compressed audio and
data viewing. The audio was based on the AGS Audio Conferencing system - built by Alphanet System Ltd.
Each center is located in a tiny, native, village
school in a remote area in Northern Alberta. They
are Atikameg, Calling Lake, Trout Lake, Conklin,
Keg River, and Paddle Prairie.
Three additional portable
systems were configured based on the use of the Willow Design Case.
The teacher, instead of
flying around the huge 740,000 sq. mile school
division, could be located at any school having a
stationary system or at one of the temporary
sites set up in a tiny school. They can see, hear
and show content to learners hundreds of miles
away.
The new program started
with a series of comprehensive workshops in the
summer of 1996. The first day of the workshop was
technical training for the Division's distance
education staff and proving the operation of the
systems. Day 2 and 3 were teacher in-service
professional development. Lead teachers from each
of the main schools are trained on operations,
teaching and student communication. Much of the
time was spent on-line practicing with different
forms of interaction; audio, video, document
cameras and data.
The results of the first
year of usage were mixed. Some schools made
excellent use of the hardware. Others had trouble
integrating into the daily routine of teaching
operations. One center experienced audio
challenges because of very poor phone lines. This
was rectified by switching to a two-line
operation. Most teachers agreed that the most
useful part of the system, apart from the
interactive audio, was the document camera system
(Elmo EV-500AF Visual Presenter) which allowed
the teachers to show learners literally anything;
books, graphs, charts overheads, drawings and/or
real objects.
The actual system cost the
Division less than $16,000 per site which is less
than 25% of the cost of a digital videoconference
room system. The portable sites assumed that the
school had computers, TV/VCR combinations and
analog phone lines.
The actual list of hardware
contained in a Turnkey Casio/AGS Videophone
system is as follows:
• Casio LT-70P
• DETAC Videoconference Cabinet
• 2 Sony 27" KV27V15 TVs
• ELMO EV-500AF Visual Presenter
• DETAC Cable Tray
• Averkey 3 VGA / NTSC Signal Converter
• AGS-4DTH / AGS-7MX Teleconference System
• Special 30' Cable Set
• Casio QV-10A Digital Camera
• Push-to-Talk Microphone / Headset
With the above technologies, one school can
teach learners in any other school.
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