TORONTO — Canadians who can remember the world before the Internet know a time when history was learned with textbooks, pens and paper instead of computer screens, keyboards and the world wide web.

And even as modern technology deployed on two continents serves to resurrect the memory of 68,000 Canadian soldiers who gave their lives in the First World War, the ancient art of letter writing is for some proving to be just as effective.

Since Tuesday, the names of Canada's First World War dead have been flickering on the sides of buildings in cities across Canada, as well as in London, England, in a nightly dusk-till-dawn tribute in the runup to Remembrance Day, Nov. 11.

The project to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of the war, called "Vigile 1914-1918 Vigil," uses a high-tech light display in public spaces to help ensure the Canadian consciousness remembers their sacrifices.

"It is using computer technology in a very innovative way that reaches out to I think actually all facets of society today -- certainly to youth," said Jim Wright, Canada's high commissioner to the U.K.

"There is an educational component to what we are all trying to do here: to make sure people never forget."

But while the light show marks the occasion of remembrance in an amazing way, the good old-fashioned method of putting pen to paper can make an impact on young people that pixels can't match, said Jeremy Diamond, managing director the Dominion Institute.

In an attempt to get young people thinking about the Great War, the institute -- committed to fostering "an appreciation of the Canadian story" -- staged a contest for teens aged 14-18, who were asked to write letters as if penned during the conflict.

"In a weird way, technology plays such a central role in young people's lives that when you actually ask them to sit down and write something ... that's kind of cool to them," Diamond said from his office in Toronto.

"Fifteen-year-old kids don't write letters anymore. So it's almost like we've kind of flipped it on its head a little bit."

The letters are being judged by a jury that includes Paul Gross, the writer, director and star of the epic First World War film "Passchendaele," and John Babcock, Canada's only living veteran of the "war to end all wars."

One of the prizes is a trip to Belgium to tour the battlefields of Passchendaele.

Diamond said he was expecting a few dozen letters from budding history buffs. But when teachers across the country made it part of a class assignment, the institute was bombarded with more than 3,000 submissions.