Virtual technology brings history lessons to life

The latest in virtual technology is being applied in a Dublin school to enliven the learning process.

Next Tuesday's episode of Tech TV (http://www.techtv.ie) will feature students at Sutton Park school bringing visual stimulation to their history lessons with the help of virtual reality. A collaboration between the history and information technology teachers has resulted in students learning to create their own avatars - visual representations applied in a 3D world. Combining their efforts with American students at the Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, Louisiana, the students meet in a virtual frontier and roleplay famous historical figures in a real time space. Currently using Microsoft's Virtual-Chat to communicate with each other, the students are working on building 3D worlds on the Web using Virtual Reality Modelling Language. VRML allows a programmer to create a virtual 3D world which the user can explore. The programme will explore the revolutionary technology behind the students' innovative project.

The fourth episode of Tech TV will also feature a profile of the winning entry in tonight's Golden Spider Irish Internet Awards.

The implications of electronic commerce on the travel industry will also be explored. Tech TV will compare the traditional method of booking a holiday through an agent, with the increasing trend towards organising a holiday from the desktop.