You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand
An interesting style of learning - lots of potential. This has been a great experience as a teacher and for the class.
While all students benefit from the material, I found this one to be especially relevant to our local Maori students. It was also very useful as part of our reading programme when used with a graphic organiser for finding, selecting and retrieving relevant information.
This field trip supported the key competencies and learning areas well.
This field trip was perfect for our combined Māori and Health studies for Term 1. My class were able to use this at school and in their home with parents. Very satisfying to observe students personalising the learning.
It supported my year 9 topic of migrations. A great way of bringing the subject alive.
It was excellent, it fitted in really well with our topic as well as curriculum values, principals, KCs. Students got a lot out of the Waka virtual field trip and were excited by it.
Students could see links between real voyages (now) and those made by our ancestors. The programme was well thought out, informative, and had many options to use it in a variety of ways. It was engaging, fun, and a great way to learn something through a different medium.
It helped to provide a traditional context for teamwork, which was the focus of our inquiry last term. I felt the information was a good level for our learners (year 4).
The students were able to be self directed through this field trip. They then published a blog about their experiences.
The visual content helped quite a lot of discussion. So many real life experiences that the children can piggy back onto. The Field Trip was an asset for all the class. Thank you.
We had been involved in the Geohazards VFT so the children were well briefed and ready to take part in ShakeOut. The class really looks forward to taking part in the LEARNZ trips.
Was topical and at appropriate level for my student. Encouraged good discussion and gave excellent information. Student said "That was great. Can we do another one?"
All my students could relate to the information according to individual ability and interest levels. LEARNZ opens up a whole new dimension of making outdoor teaching a reality.
The kids thought it was a cool way to learn and they also said that the Shakeout drill now made a lot more sense i.e. why we do it. We found that the variety of different ways the information was presented made it interesting and accessible for all levels.
LEARNZ is doing a brilliant job and this is a fantastic resource for all teachers and students. Excellent contextual learning, and made really good links to the NZC. I loved how there was appropriate Māori and Pasifika language included to support our learners, while the inclusion of both easy and more difficult support materials allows for differentiation.
It broadened students' thinking and understanding of the large scale of the event and excited them about the topic. The ability to access information, colleagues and a world which we otherwise wouldn't have access to makes the learning process really meaningful.
This field trip was a short mini-unit to prepare students for the national shake out drill and was in addition to our School Curriculum plan.
Relevant to topic at school and it was all current. Great tool.
It supported the Shakeout event we were participating in. It also supported the curriculum well. Visuals are excellent and information is current. The videos led to good discussions and recall of prior knowledge.
Reinforced other learning on natural disasters, emergency procedures and being prepared.
Enjoyable to hear first hand accounts - made it more real for the children.
The children saw themselves being part of a wider community, participating with other schools and learning from their questions. It was especially useful to have Te Reo words to complement the learning.
The field trip allowed children to think deeply about emergencies, which was relevant to what we were learning in class about preparing an emergency plan. It was real life experiences from children to children which was great and the children were engaged because it was with other learners at their level.
This was my first time on LEARNZ and I loved it. Apart from the well-prepared unit as such, the level of motivation for the kids was instant, high and continued through-out the whole series of lessons.
It was good to have a child's perspective in the videos and background pages were good science information. The field trip enabled and empowered students to have an understanding of others' experiences and the impact these experiences have on themselves and the world in which they live.