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

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.
My students loved learning about the animals in the wetlands and why they are important. I have used the field trip integrated into my planning and programme.
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 a great way to motivate students and it was set at the approximate age and interest. The virtual field trip was effective and we are planning a field trip to our local wetland area next term.
Wonderfully appropriate. Supported our science focus very well, as well as the key competencies of self management, relating to others (sharing tablets, working together) and texts (reading and responding to the information).
Great for Maori and Pasifika students and ESOL.
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 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.
Our school curriculum focuses on the environment and having outside experts present information is a fantastic way to extend my students' learning and knowledge.
Very motivating. Students were engaged.
Supported inquiry questions. Connections were made between areas visited on the virtual field trip and local known areas. Questions that accompanied videos matched the questions students had in discussions.
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.
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!).
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 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.
Embedded LEARNZ and then went on our own field trip to Cleardale Wetland. More on my Blog.
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 supported excellence, high expectations, learning to learn, diversity and environmental sustainability, as well as the NZC level 4. It ticked all our Level 4 boxes. Great resource. My class can't wait to use it again.
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.
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.
This is awesome (one student, Jack, many times over)! Being my first Learnz fieldtrip I was a learner too, and found it well prepared with invaluable information to add to our Wetlands unit. The managing self aspect came into play here as well for my Year 4-8 class.
Ties in to EOTC with the school camp this week which will focus on ecological sustainability. Students are already talking about the Rangitata River with new terminology. The boys were especially entranced with it all.
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.
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.