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

Relates well to developing thinking and analysis skills, applying information and evaluating conservation issues. Students used the information as a basis to do further research on NZ Great Walks.
It helped to put our school values and KC's in a real learning experience - one which the students could discuss. It also allows my class to have access to experts.
Students said about the live audioconferences: "We got to talk to real people who are actually there" and "We get to ask questions and they actually listened to us". This field trip enabled my students of different academic abilities to all access the same information in a number of different ways, which led to great discussion and debate about aspects of physical activity and conservation.
Our Inquiry is called "Waipahihi Kakariki". We are a pilot school involved in Kids Greening Taupo so it was very appropriate to our Inquiry. We are wanting to plant natives to bring back native birds into our area so this field trip supported it well.
It was a great support for the Virtual Great Walkers competition, that we have entered in. Lots of helpful information that covered all areas. Valuable resource.
This field trip ... encouraged students to develop Future Focused thinking - how the way we interact with our environment now, impacts on the future.
It was very engaging for all students and they learnt a lot. It was also easy to integrate across the curriculum. Very effective to encourage fitness and knowledge of other New Zealand Great Walks.
Great for extension group. Broad range of materials for reading and writing.
For the Year 7/8 class I was working with, the field trip tied in perfectly with their camp (Borland Lodge). It worked well using the background pages as build up prior to camp, then using the audio-conferences the week following the camp.
The students had their own inquiry questions and enjoyed the freedom to move around the field trip. They are learning to refer to their evidence in their statements of writing, and a LEARNZ field trip is a great resource for doing that.
Giving the students the option of listening to the background pages is fantastic! It takes away the fear of trying to read something that is 'too hard'. It also develops a familiarity with the LEARNZ teacher.
It was an excellent insight into exploring a new area that not a lot of children had visited before. The children came up with a lot of great questions, especially around saving native birds and the effect of a beach mast this year.
Our class is studying ecology in the lead up to our annual camp so the information was very fitting in all aspects.
Students are focussed and engaged. They have a purpose. "This is fun, I didn't know you can learn like this". During camp we studied the native birds and plants and compared them to the field trip. A great effort went into using our thinking skills to prepare for camp and doing the research.
Children inspired to walk tracks and parents wanting to join them. Great topics, different way of presenting things in class, able to get involved through audioconferences. Differentiated readings and audio/video options meant all class could access information, including Special Needs children.
We connected this field trip with an older one - Restoring the Kepler. By doing this, students began to look at ways that they can contribute in the wider community as well as our school community, working towards a common goal. Maori students in the class particularly liked the glossary - we also added more to our own one on the wall.
Engages the students. Interesting material which covers a breadth of issues and topic areas. Students gained an understanding of the Antarctic food web.
The audio conversations were brilliantly done along with the accompanying videos, plus questions being typed and answered while online. I have been intrigued and surprised by how much my young students have taken on board during the trip.
Very effective, especially the videos. Fantastic with much of the planning done for the time-poor teacher. This field trip is fully supportive of Principles, Key values and Competencies as well as learning areas of our curriculum, thanks.
The whole field trip has added a sense of authenticity to student learning. This really is a wonderful way to give us invaluable learning experiences - students have been so engaged and have been thinking of their own experiments to test some of the things that they have learnt.
It has taken my students to new worlds of understanding, given them purpose and focus to read and write about a 'real-life' topic that is of interest to them.
The trips like Antarctica are fantastic. It enables all children no matter what ethnicity or socioeconomic group to explore the world. My teaching practice has been transformed as LEARNZ allows me to present learning with a digital approach, using multiple computers and devices and guiding students in combination with Google Classroom.
The students were highly motivated throughout this field trip. A fantastic resource that can be used easily within any classroom setting to support classroom programmes around skills and attitudes we are fostering with our children.
It was a very REAL and engaging focus for a lot of different interest groups. Use of the Audio conferences was a first and was very impactful for the students.
This is a rich experience for students who know NZ but are often living offshore.