NCSA NEWS

Students Learn VRML at ACCESS Workshop

released July 18, 2000

Thirty minority students from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD, are attending a Virtual Reality Markup Language (VRML) training workshop July 17-20 as part of the Academic Global Excellence (AGE) program. With funding from the Alliance, the workshop is jointly sponsored by the Maryland Virtual High School (MVHS), the CAVE group at Virginia Tech (VT-CAVE), and the Alliance Center for Collaboration, Education, Science, and Software (ACCESS). Ron Kriz, director of VT-CAVE, is providing the VRML training, which included an introductory demonstration in January and a two-day workshop in March for seven teachers and mentors from the AGE program. Training sessions are held at the ACCESS Center.

The VRML workshop is part of a four-week summer institute during which 90 students from grades 7 through 10 are gaining skills they need to successfully complete a science research project. Computer technology is an integral part of all their summer institute classes. In addition to using standard software for word processing, spreadsheet analysis, and presentations, some of the students are learning to use STELLA software and materials from the MVHS to build computer models related to environmental science. The students attending the July workshop are learning VRML to create 3D visualizations.

AGE, a partnership of seven organizations, supports and assists minority students in their quest for academic success while attending Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools. Providing students with advanced computer training opens their eyes to career opportunities that they may not have previously considered.

 

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