The CABER Project is an extension of the successful CLUTCH Millennium Awards Scheme format in which parents of school-age children in Milton Keynes were provided with the means to research an aspect of local community history and to publish their work as a web site. Their research activity, which would involve them in using computers and digital audio- visual equipment, enabled them to benefit from what we describe as an ICT with a Purpose project; those taking part pick up the skills they need in order to undertaken the job. This has been shown to remove barriers and improve the quality of learning by making the computer the means to an end – the end being to capture aspects of local history for others to share.

The CABER project extends this concept by testing the means by which we carry out a similar project at a distance. The basic idea is that teachers, pupils and parents at schools at a distance are provided with training resources, web forums and online learning tools at a distance using broadband internet connectivity. Individual tutoring and support is provided by teacher-mentors based at a local area cluster hub school.