Not many laptops are delivered by kayak free of charge by a group of men armed with bearspray and a shotgun.

But a remarkable expedition to do just that is launched today by a Scottish polar explorer in a bid to forge new educational links with Inuit schoolchildren in Greenland.

Craig Mathieson and two fellow adventurers will navigate iceberg-filled fjords to drop off computers at remote primary schools so that pupils can use the internet to work with Scottish youngsters on joint projects exploring climate change.

The Northern Lights Greenland Expedition 2009 has already secured Sir Robert Falcon Scott's grandson, Falcon Scott, as its patron, and is endorsed by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.

Explaining the idea as he began a £20,000 fundraising campaign, Mr Mathieson said: "I have done a lot of my polar training in Greenland and I know school teachers on the island of Kulusuk, where we are going to start the expedition next summer.

"They have internet access now, but their school computers are really old. Without laptops, they can't use the internet properly. They are so cut off from the rest of the world in every sense. I think it would be great for them and Scottish schoolchildren to be able to communicate and work together on environmental projects.

"Climate change is having a drastic impact on the sea ice there, which means there is a lack of seals for hunting which they rely on."

Kayaks are being used in order to make the expedition carbon-free, but travelling "green" will bring its own hazards for Mr Mathieson and his team.

The 39-year-old father of three said: "We will have to be careful of the broken sea ice because the bergs can flip over. There is little chance of seeing polar bears at that time of year but we will still have to be armed, probably with flares, some bearspray and, as a last resort and something I have never had to use, a pump action shotgun.

"The biggest danger will be from a wind called the piteraq, which is a form of cyclone which builds up on the icecap and gets blasted through the fjords."

Each kayak will be like a "mini-freighter" with around 150kg of gear, including food and fuel. The team plans to cover 10 miles a day for around three weeks.

They have just received three laptops from Scottish chartered accountancy firm Johnston Carmichael. If the first venture succeeds, Mr Mathieson hopes to repeat it in Greenland and also other countries.

There is strong reacto from Scotland, where 250 Scottish primary schools have expressed an interest in the scheme.

One of the first schools that is going to take part is Deanburn Primary School in Bo'Ness, West Lothian, where Mr Mathieson and his wife and children live.

Headteacher Mhairi Ogilvie said: "This expedition will create a very exciting opportunity for pupils here to communicate with children who have first-hand experience of the impact of climate change.

"Being able to discuss these issues with pupils of a similar age and a very different background is a way of making them very real and very relevant."

Falcon Scott, who is also the son of the world-famous conservationist Sir Peter Scott, said: "I think that it is a really great idea to link schools across the world, especially between Scotland and Greenland because their coasts are quite similar.

"Both have to endure harsh weather, we have wind and rain while they have ice and snow, and both have been effected by changing sea levels.

"I went on an expedition to Greenland with my father in 1972 when I was 18 and even then the glaciers were shrinking and we knew the climate was warming."

A spokesman for the Royal Scottish Geographical Society added: "I think Craig is keeping the spirit of adventure alive and doing so in a very responsible way.

"Exploration has always been about purpose and what he is doing has a real purpose in educational terms.

"It is also about involving young people, which is something we also support."