THOUSANDS of children across Britain are now making daily visits to Cumbria during their lessons, thanks to Rupert Bonington and a passion for the Lake District, which he shares with his world-famous mountaineering father Sir Chris Bonington.
Rupert's website, VirtualCumbria.net, is currently figuring in a new £50 million government learning initiative. The site is a comprehensive guide to the Lake District - and is being recommended to schools as a launching pad for lessons in creative writing to improve literacy, and to inspire an interest in walking, climbing and watersports as part of the fight against obesity in youngsters.
VirtualCumbria.net uses advanced web technology which allows visitors to pan up, down and around stunning 360-degree vistas of mountains, valleys and lakes as well as the interiors of historic houses.
Teachers are being directed to the site in advice from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) which is making millions of pounds available to schools for the purchase of interactive whiteboards.
The technology allows schools to give lessons using a variety of media, including video clips and the internet, which the DfES claims are far more exciting and involving than traditional teaching methods.
According to resource advisers of the whiteboard project, VirtualCumbria.net's fascinating and wide-ranging content makes it ideal as a learning platform. In particular, they say, the 160 interactive images of dramatic Cumbrian scenery are ideal for whiteboard presentation and for inspiring youngsters.
Chris Sutcliffe, a lead consultant for the Interactive Whiteboard Project, said: "The teacher and pupils can explore a scene in real depth, and use it as the setting for a story. The huge number of views of lakes, mountains, towns, monuments and castles are an almost limitless source of inspiration in the classroom."
Launched in February last year, www.Virtual Cumbria.net was created by Rupert - and its main intention is to inform visitors of where to explore and stay when they come to Cumbria, and to reveal less familiar corners and aspects of the county.
The website, which has scooped an award from BT, currently attracts tens of thousands of visitors every month from all over the world. But Rupert is delighted that numbers are now being swelled by school teachers and their pupils. He said: "In the past, critics have tried to make a link between computers and the stifling of creative thought. They have also claimed that computers have a part to play in the problems of obesity among youngsters which the government has pledged to fight. Yet here we have a computer-based education resource which confronts both criticisms head-on - by providing an exciting virtual world for children to write about, and by inspiring them to interact in the real world through exploration, discovery, and the taking on of new physical challenges."
l A total of £50 million is being made available by the DfES for schools to buy interactive whiteboards, split equally between the primary and secondary sectors.
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