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

Through the LEARNZ programme my students are developing more complex questioning skills and thinking critically about New Zealand and World issues. Lots of opportunities to gain skills in reading and writing, as well as in the Key Competencies.
It tied in with our statistics unit, collecting data and using it to make a difference and to advise. My class love when they can view things through the data projector and it was helpful to generate discussion. Students were kept motivated and were also interested in the jobs available in this field. LEARNZ fits with all learners.
We were teaching about NZ Rivers as a module class, combining Science and Social Studies, so it fitted the achievement objectives perfectly for our subject areas. Awesome!
As we are going to all these places for our school camp in September it was awesome to give them some background and really light the fire of the students. The activities were at the right level and there was a range of interesting things to do. The kids were very enthusiastic and were looking forward to each new day and what was happening to the experts. The learning they got from it was very real. I have got some amazing writing from the students as they try to explain complex terms like ecology and such like. It was a really good experience for me and my class, they learnt a lot about the topic and themselves. Brilliant. Have already recommended to many colleagues both in my school and at other schools.
We particularly enjoy the videos and questions, as they are effective at any time. Followed on from our water study and reinforced our learning around water ecosystems. The field trips have relevance even when they don't exactly fit a planned topic. I am hooked!
Having a variety of reading levels and activities helped the children to participate well. I have Pasifika children who thoroughly enjoyed the trip and participated fully - even forming the questions and talking on the audio conference. It gave us an opportunity to do some learning that was way outside our resources and actual ability to 'be there'. It gave a wider perspective to our thinking about water.
Our students loved being able to manage their own learning from the website and being introduced to new experiences such as the audio conferences. Great for the learners who have difficulties with literacy - easy background and listening features are excellent for them.
The experience that my students got was fabulous. They gained skills in manaakitanga, independent learning, and the ability to refine questions through inquiry. All my students, in particular my boys, thoroughly enjoyed the activities Beforehand, a lot of my students did not understand the magnitude of sustainability but there was lots of information that helped students understand it in the context of freshwater ecology. As a bi lingual class my students enjoyed using the Māori kupu in our word wall, using them in conversations with their peers and asking lots of questions about the Māori kupu in general.
Outstanding programme. Children were able to visit another locality and compare it to our work with DoC on our local river. Added an extra dimension to our Inquiry. Our special needs students enjoyed the visuals and were able to contribute to class discussions.
It is real time, here and now as well as New Zealand info and presenters which all makes it more authentic learning for children. The field trips offer current visual, aural and authentic learning for children, without a huge amount of time and preparation on the teachers part. The teacher can learn along side the children. It's easy to access, well planned and organised and encourages a passion for our beautiful country.
Supports the school curriculum in innovative ways. We live in this area and students recognised many visual features and people interviewed. It reinforced classroom learnings as it linked to this term's curriculum studies.
They are so relevant to the children who are at an impressionable age. They are now telling others what we should all be doing re health of our water sources. They were so focussed upon the videos and the short reading tasks held their attention and were relevant to what we were doing. The cultural component was relevant to all children, not specifically to just Maori or Pasifika ones. It is such a great resource for teachers and students alike.
It is a fun and educational way for the students to learn. It gives the opportunity for students to view places they may never get the opportunity to see.
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.
Great trip well presented by all involved. The topic of water and conservation of wetlands will effect all New Zealanders. Great information at appropriate reading age.
Embedded LEARNZ and then went on our own field trip to Cleardale Wetland. More on my Blog.
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.
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.
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.
It (the field trip) was related to what we were learning and generated more inquiry questions. LEARNZ motivates the students and the information is pitched at the appropriate level for my class. Another portal of learning that lifted the enthusiasm of my students.
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.
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.
Students got to continue to learn about the environment (following on from involvement in the Virtual Great Walks field trip). The detail and facts included in the background pages made things more interesting to read (or listen to!).
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.
The field trips are informative, exciting and a great learning experience. Relevant to all learners because it used correct language for te reo maori and showed how LEARNZ value te ao maori through the concepts explored. The newsletters were also great, with lots of easy steps.