You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand
Testimonials
Wetland Biodiversity
Students were engaged. They went on to the website in their own time, of their own accord as well as at school and shared this learning with their families. It was great having the different levels (L.1-2 and L.2-3) to chose from with the activities so I could cater for the different needs in my classroom. Having an ambassador was also very engaging for students. Great coverage of a topic. Easy to use. Engaging. Student led learning. Caters for different levels. Māori content. ICT use. Good effective learning.
Te Ireland from Karoro School
I particularly used the field trip in a Science context and looking at work scientists do (science capabilities). Videos had lots of content that was appropriate to use to discuss what scientists do. Community and participation as well as ecological sustainability were principles that were supported by the wet land field trip. We had a discussion about the drought as our overarching topic this year is water.
Britta Martin from Otari School
The field trip dove-tailed nicely with a trip we made to a wildlife reserve and reading material covered in class. Students were able to make connections with prior learning and consider some of the threats to wildlife with a view to how they could make changes or take action to make a difference. I have learners with a range of needs and some particularly benefit from having learning presented digitally.
Cara Carser from Westburn School
Very motivating. Students were engaged.
Gillian Taylor from Cockle Bay School
Used to support digital devices in science at high school and an opportunity to experience the South Island. Some videos included Maori content - used as a role model for students. Pronunciation of Maori place names helped me as a teacher, as I try to improve and utilise Te Reo in the science class.
Lucy Meagher from Havelock North High School
Fitted in very well with our Term School focus of Kaitiaki and Science focus of Living World. Preparing for the audio conference extended our students thinking and created a whole new level of class discussions and understanding.
Richard Kerr from Avondale Intermediate
I LOVE the trips, as do my students. They are fun, relevant, interesting, and informative. The videos are fantastic as usual and so informative. Those who are interested were given the class log in details and they are watching the videos at home with family. I have had several comments from parents about how much they are all enjoying them.
Caroline Arnold from Lepperton School
We were studying a local waterway and were able to compare the bio-diversity between our waterway in the Far North with a fresh waterway in the South Island. The students were motivated to research their topic, find out more about their own community and particularly enjoy the audio conference and following their ambassador.
Diane Henderson from Ohaeawai School
Embedded LEARNZ and then went on our own field trip to Cleardale Wetland. More on my Blog.
Stuart Cooke from Methven Primary School
I feel it covered all areas of the key competencies - I used it to foster new learning relationships within our class, and it was an excellent tool to draw out my innovative thinkers. Due to the video nature of this field trip, the students were very engaged.
Kathryn Rayson from Brooklyn School Motueka
The field trip provided good enrichment activities with plenty of scope for differentiation. The classes were involved, interested and thinking. They were able to relate the videos to their own experiences and knowledge. The field trips are useful for working collaboratively with other teachers and also as a basis for an enrichment model of gifted and talented education.
Leone Baylis from Fairburn School
The students loved it. It gave me an easy way to extend the knowledge of my more able students while also engaging my less able students. Great for peer work. Because of the way this was set up, I was able to create links to my class page, which encouraged students to access the class page out of school hours. We are also currently in the early stages of Enviro-schools; this helped get students thinking about what is going on around us as well as human impact.
Marcia Ferguson from Rosebank School Balclutha
It saves teachers valuable time. It is great to have the experts and a meaningful context for inquiry learning. My Year 3/4s learnt about braided rivers and were able to develop open questions for the audio conference. It was good to have a voice-over for the background pages. The panoramic section was excellent for making inferences.
Lynn Burrell from Waikite Valley School
LEARNZ adds depth to a study, and purposeful inquiry for reading groups. The background reading and the videos gave students a wide appreciation of the diversity of our native wetlands.
Katherine Webster from Waimairi School
Ability to have contact with scientists and other experts provides an authentic learning experience. We were able to learn about other wetlands and compare them to our local wetlands. Great background information and resources. Thank you!
Sonjia Campbell from Mercury Bay Area School
Project Crimson
It was perfect for exploring our theme - Bounce Back / Adapt. My students loved talking to an expert.
Emma Watts from Upper Moutere School
Many of our reading and writing strategies and progressions were able to be met by the field trip, as well as integrating our topic studies. I also used the diary readings as a shared reading activity, which was great. Students recorded questions throughout the audio conferences and we posted them in the Ask an Expert forum. Shelley responded that evening and we were able to integrate that into the classroom programme the next day. The students loved seeing their personal questions answered.
Nichola-Marie Hunt from Coastal Taranaki School
It matched our concept for the term 'Our Place' - the way we interact with living things affects our place. We will use LEARNZ again because it motivates the students, information is at your fingertips, it has well informed experts and it's lots of fun.
Patricia Harrison from Titirangi School
It is a great way to learn. Students are made aware of important conservation issues in a fun way. The various activities cover a variety of learning styles.The topics can often be linked to local communities.
Caroline Arnold from Lepperton School
The students found the videos and photos to be very interesting. They developed their knowledge of pest threats in NZ and also developed a positive attitude to how they can help with campaigns like Project Crimson & Living Legends. LEARNZ is an excellent programme.
Philip Lightbourne from Kairanga School
They are well planned and provide us with a link to experts and sites we would not usually visit. Excellent for developing literacy and numeracy in a purposeful context.
Douglas Drysdale from Bunnythorpe School
It complements my classroom programme and provides fantastic learning opportunities undercover of ICT.
Deborah Young from Bamford School
Great to learn about our New Zealand icons. I always enjoy Learnz and have been using it for the last 6 or 7 years because it is an absolute gem to all teachers and students.
Daniele Cuthbert from Edgecumbe School
I find the field trips a great way of introducing vocab and scientific language to students. As well as teaching inquiry skills and science knowledge students are reading for information and engaging with text, video and audio information to present findings.
Stuart Cooke from Methven School
Kids Restore the Kepler
The biggest benefit was being able to relate to it on a personal level and also to be able to follow up on it in our local community.
Jane Pearson from Hira School