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Testimonials

Wetland Biodiversity

I used this trip as part of my reading programme. Using ICT helped the children who were more visual learners. It enabled the children (Year 4-6) to use and improve their reading strategies across the curriculum. It motivated the children in their learning and was enjoyable for them. It put learning into an authentic context and gave the students easy access to experts who could extend their understanding.

Katryn Russell from Gore Main School

We enjoyed the audio conferences - the children who were involved in them will never forget that experience. This was the first time I have been on a virtual field trip and was pleasantly surprised at how much 5 year olds were able to get from it. Having Percy the Pukeko go as our ambassador helped the 5 year olds follow along. There was also lots of discussion to and fro between the children and parents.

Deborah Lamont from Methven School

The quality of resources is exemplary. Being able to access audio to support the readings is crucial for a number of learners in my class. The field trip met all of the learning intentions outlined by the LEARNZ overview and opened new lines of discussion and knowledge for all students.

Beverley Kemp from Karoro School

Student engagement in LEARNZ field trips is always high - they had also recently visited a local wetland. The knowledge students gain from listening to experts, developing questions, reading and viewing the videos and diaries is compelling learning! Highly motivating for students and teacher workload is reduced!

Lynn Burrell from Tangowahine School

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.

Rosemary Benns from Rangeview Intermediate

The videos make it easy for all students to access and understand what is happening. Material was accessible for different learning styles. Students really enjoyed it, they were able to ask questions and get answers, it encouraged deeper critical thinking and students worked cooperatively to learn.

Shelley Galloway from Mt Somers Springburn School

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.

Nick Sakaria from Finlayson Park School

Thank you, this was fantastic for my class. It worked well with our topic. Children were able to undertake this independently and were able to answer the questions after watching the videos.

Kirsty White from Grantlea Downs School

Love the SOLO Taxonomy integration - that is the kind of thing we love! Great model for us of how to use such tools. The field trip was part of our Wonderful Wetlands term focus. We also went for an afternoon to Travis Wetlands in Christchurch. Good contrast of virtual and hands on. LEARNZ gives access to environments and experts that are pure quality.

Megan Feller from Elmwood Normal School

Very purposeful learning. Supported our bi-cultural focus. Supported different learning styles. Found it very easy to incorporate into our long term plan and to integrate across learning areas. 

Amanda Ferguson from Wakanui School

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.

Joanne Phillips from Te Mata School Havelock North

It provided further background for our ecology unit and class trip work. The field trip was appropriate for my class studying the wetland biome in New Zealand and we would use more of the resources next time, but this was a good beginning, looking at the videos and the photos.

Joanne Eason from Cathedral Grammar School

Great for our integrated units. Fun and engaging. Allows students to greater understand ICT and the topic at the same time. I was able to adapt the materials and information provided so that it aligned with our school values, structure and learning areas we are focusing on at the moment. Fantastic and well organised. Thank you.

Patrick Wyatt from Weedons School

The children were fascinated by the virtual field trip videos. They learnt a lot of new ideas and words and talked about it for days. The field trip was effective as it showed our students that other people did what we do.

Frances Grover from Te Mahia School

Students felt they learned a lot. The LEARNZ trip was used to introduce our inquiry and then provided a good follow up. We also visited a local wetlands and planted trees. The key competencies of Thinking, and Participating and Contributing were well covered. The field trip integrated well with Science, Social Science, Art and English. There was also a good emphasis on ecological sustainability and community engagement.

Kathleen Rutherford from Sacred Heart School Dunedin

Watching the students get excited about their role (we were a speaking school, which was a breeze) and then watching them make connections in their learning, has been a real highlight. They built connections with the area the trip took us to and linked it to our local community and loved connecting what they were reading and hearing with specific people.

Cheryl Dunick from Spring Creek School

Many of my students found the Māori Tikanga section the most interesting. I also liked that the learning was rewindable and allowed for student agency. The opportunity to experience a virtual field trip really excited the children and motivated them to want to find out more, as it provided a meaningful and authentic learning context that included SOLO and built on our own 'Freshwater Frolicking' field trip to The Groynes.

Anna Wright from Templeton School

It is an amazing opportunity for the students to able to experience natural NZ. As this is our first virtual field trip we are busy exploring and familiarising ourselves with the website and using it as a warm up for Kauri (the next field trip).

Leane Barry from Glen Innes School

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. 

Britta Martin from Otari School

Another valuable and appropriate topic from the LEARNZ team, as we knew very little beforehand about wetlands and their importance. LEARNZ is an excellent education tool.

Tracey Thomson from The Clan in a Caravan Homeschool

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.

Christie Harwood from Our Lady of Victories

The field trip supported all of the Key Competencies, attitudes and values of the NZ Curriculum, and our own school Curriculum.

Lorraine Southey from Pirinoa School

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.

Diane Henderson from Ohaeawai School

We used it as part of immersion for starting off on our journey of restoring a Wetland. It prompted questions, wonderings and enhanced their interest. Being able to send along an Ambassador was fantastic as it helped the younger members of our Wetlands group relate to what was happening.

Jillian Hodgson from Shotover Primary School

Our Inquiry was Sustainability this term and students really got into the field trip. It was a spectacular way for students to practice the Key competencies and meet people online they would otherwise have no access to.

Karen Blatchford from Tai Tapu School

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