An educational programme called XL Catlin Arctic Live! is under way in Bermuda and other countries.

It allows classes of children around the world to connect and interact live with scientists and explorers both in the Arctic and at various scientific institutions.

Several local schools, including Somersfield Academy, Prospect Primary, Northlands Primary and Purvis Primary are in this programme.

On Wednesday last week students at Prospect Primary were on line using an internet service called Periscope.

Periscope is an online tool which allows the programme organisers to reach and interact with a huge online audience and bring the amazing frozen north to classrooms.

Students from Prospect Primary and Purvis Primary were able to ask questions and have the team answer them via Twitter. With Arctic Live! on Periscope the classes joined others from around the world in discovering the beautiful Arctic all at the same time.

The mission of the Arctic Live programme is to bring this remote environment to life for students across the world using the latest communications technology. Teaching about the changing environment and extreme science is made real through a combination of technologies now driving education and understanding. Students can live chat via video link with the expedition team, view virtual-reality video or 360 degree photospheres of Arctic research from the comfort of the classroom and back all this up with a swathe of resources created in collaboration with teachers, explorers and scientists.

The Arctic Live model is the brainchild of classroom teacher turned expedition educator, Jamie Buchanan-Dunlop. “When I was trying to teach about these amazing places in the classroom, I realised that traditional methods simply weren’t cutting it. The future of the Arctic is too important to leave to ageing textbooks or a few slides,” he explains.

“Technology is moving so fast, it’s incredible.

“Five years ago, you wouldn’t have imagined that virtual reality video would be a feasible classroom tool or that you could video chat from the middle of the Arctic.

“I don’t know where this technology will end up, but anything teachers can use to bring these places to life has to be a bonus.”

Arctic Live forms part of XL Catlin’s Oceans Education programme which is focused on increasing ocean literacy around the world. It is a collaboration between XL Catlin, Digital Explorer, the British Antarctic Survey, who operate the UK Arctic Research Station and Skype in the classroom, now part of the Microsoft Educator Community.

It runs from 7-11 March 2016 in Longyearbyen, Svalbard and then from the UK Arctic Research Station in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard from 11-18 March 2016.