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.
My class is very multi-cultural and has a varied spread of ability. The field trip allowed an inclusive learning programme to take place where every student felt success! All students were highly engaged and motivated ... I cannot emphasise this enough as the field trip created such a buzz of excitement, they could hardly wait to see what was happening within the field trip every day. As a teacher it was an exhilarating experience to see every student caught up in the learning. The knowledge the students gained from the field trip developed critical thinking skills. Everything is available on the LEARNZ website - it's a wonderful resource that creates real life science experiences for students. As a teacher it is easy to navigate the website and use the resources available. It also enables me as a teacher to creatively adapt resources/ knowledge for the students in my class.
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!
First time we tried a field trip - so much potential - it was great. We were learning together. Great timing for Te Wiki o Te Reo - Maori place names.
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.
We are planting our local waterway so this field trip helped the students understand why and how and where and when. "Wai Care?" was our focus for the term - used this field trip extensively.
Students who watched videos were motivated to set up a fresh water tank at school. Good science, reinforcing concepts of food webs and freshwater ecosystems.
This method of learning was highly suited to a select group of my Year 9 students as it allowed them to self-manage, focus on learning, and at a later stage 'practice' through an EOTC field trip to a local freshwater stream. Excellent and most effective.
Students were captivated by this context. An outstanding resource to facilitate effective learning.
We found it really interesting and helpful towards our inquiry topic "Wai Care". It gave us a whole new perspective on nature and wildlife. We enjoyed feeling like we were out there with you experiencing it. LEARNZ ... helps all learners.
Following the Inquiry model for the field trip meant students were co-constructing their own learning. It provides current and informative resources. Students were able to form good research questions.
Effective because it took my class to a place that they would not necessarily get to in reality. Provided good information at an appropriate level.
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.
Comprehensive resources in a local context. My Year 10 student gains: posting a question to an expert, literacy from background reading.
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.
The trips are well planned and resourced - especially with the use of field experts, and provide a wealth of material students can use to aid their studies. The multi-level pitch of these field trips makes them suitable for a range of ability levels, and they can be self-paced.
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.
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.
Real life visuals and information were very specific and had a greater impact on my students and myself then scrolling through unlimited amounts of information via search engines. It supported my students learning with in-depth knowledge on worldwide topics from within New Zealand. Learnz caters for all learning needs. Totally appropriate.
The field trip supported all of the Key Competencies, attitudes and values of the NZ Curriculum, and our own school Curriculum.
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.
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.
Students valued the inclusion of speakers who related the land and resources to an earlier style of living on the land by Maori, in pre-European times.
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.
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.