You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand

It provided further background for our ecology unit and class trip work. The field trip was appropriate for my class studying the wetland biome in New Zealand and we would use more of the resources next time, but this was a good beginning, looking at the videos and the photos.
Very hands on feeling to videos and a very good learning experience all up! One of my sons loves animals and the outdoors. Living in New Zealand we all should know about the importance of these areas.
Love the SOLO Taxonomy integration - that is the kind of thing we love! Great model for us of how to use such tools. The field trip was part of our Wonderful Wetlands term focus. We also went for an afternoon to Travis Wetlands in Christchurch. Good contrast of virtual and hands on. LEARNZ gives access to environments and experts that are pure quality.
LEARNZ projects always allow me to "let go" - to let the students lead the way for their learning. Ticks all the boxes - able to use an Inquiry approach to their learning.
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.
It is an amazing opportunity for the students to able to experience natural NZ. As this is our first virtual field trip we are busy exploring and familiarising ourselves with the website and using it as a warm up for Kauri (the next field trip).
The content and style of learning is so engaging for the children. Love the strong Science focus. It was a good field trip to compare local, national and global - it lent itself really well to discussion.
The children were fascinated by the virtual field trip videos. They learnt a lot of new ideas and words and talked about it for days. The field trip was effective as it showed our students that other people did what we do.
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.
The field trip supported all of the Key Competencies, attitudes and values of the NZ Curriculum, and our own school Curriculum.
Comprehensive resources in a local context. My Year 10 student gains: posting a question to an expert, literacy from background reading.
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.
Students were asked about the KC's they used during this field trip and they unanimously said: Thinking, Relating to Others, Participating and Contributing, and Managing Self. They also said they enjoy the enthusiasm of the presenters, especially Andrew (the LEARNZ Teacher).
Utilised the focus on te reo and cultural-history aspect of biodiversity. Students enjoyed the field trip as part of our ecology topic -they engaged well with the learning and were willing to contribute.
Science is an area we are trying to strengthen and this was a perfect opportunity to put the students in a real life context or study. The students were really engaged in the topic. I am looking forward to sharing with my students both the Antarctic and ANZAC Memorial Park trips. Both are topics we were already studying.
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.
Students appreciate information from different, up to date sources and they can work at their pace. Allowed for differentiated learning. Good photos.
Key competencies were all addressed through the use of this field trip and it was easy use the material to differentiate for different learners. The LEARNZ trips are motivating for students and supporting for teachers. They are broad enough to use as the basis for many Inquiry topics and versatile enough to use over a long or short period.
Provides an interactive online learning website that is safe and relevant to the student's needs and interests, in regards to protecting NZ's wildlife and environment. Māori dictionary and glossary is provided and the relevance to the past use of wetlands to Māori shows respect for their ancestors and the future of NZ.
Great to see and hear interaction and questions from students of other schools, which set high expectations for my class with questioning. The support material is excellent and students are able to connect with Science community in real contexts.
It is such a great resource as all the background research has been completed for teachers and we can rely on it as being factual with the experts involved. Having a face to experts is really important for children. Videos were also most useful for a Y2 & 3 class. We are using it as a context for our Inquiry and this topic complimented our topic as it was local to our school.
You bring the outside world to us! Boys especially are absorbed by the videos and discussions with scientists - you help turn them on to learning. The field trip helped us connect and participate with our community and is making science real and meaningful.
It is appropriate for anyone!! We had every level in our primary school- year 0-6 participating this year. It was amazing! We will use LEARNZ again because of the ignition that happens for the kids. Motivational, fun, a way for kids to take their learning home. Loved the quick responses I got from your team when I did participate in the online help.
Another valuable and appropriate topic from the LEARNZ team, as we knew very little beforehand about wetlands and their importance. LEARNZ is an excellent education tool.
Students have learned so much and they have become overnight advocates for wetlands. The LEARNZ programme really enhanced the pronunciation of Maori place names, values and importance of early Maori traditions to our lives today.