You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand
I used it as part of my independent learning and group reading sessions. This field trip showed the children how they can be managing their own safety.
I adapted it to be useful for my Year One class. I concentrated on How to keep ourselves safe during Earthquakes and Tsunamis. It assisted my delivery of interesting authentic material for my students.
It was a good starting unit for our term theme of survival and sustainability. The web site structure allowed them to take ownership of their learning and explore. Overall, it was a good way for students to hear from an expert and gain knowledge and insight.
It was well organised and at the students' levels so no-one was left behind. They now have a good understanding of what to do next in the case of an emergency.
It made my children more aware that floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters don't just happen to other people in other places but can happen anywhere at anytime. Thank you, I am enjoying learning along with my class!
Children engaged with this resource and were excited to learn about disasters in this way. Background pages were a great support to the children's learning as they were easy to use as an independent or group or whole class activity, especially with two reading levels and with the read-aloud option.
Very effective not only because of its relevance to the area we live in but also because it enables students to think critically and develop connections within our community. Using LEARNZ trips encourages me to leverage digitally into other areas of my teaching.
The field trip was appropriate for our class of Yr 3 students and met many aspects of the NZ curriculum. Students are now highly motivated to find out more about hazards/disasters that are likely to impact them at some stage.
This field trip linked in really well with our Science Inquiry and the real world nature of the field trip, which the children felt connected to and motivated them to self-direct their learning and go further. I have had excellent learning from my children from the LEARNZ Virtual Field Trips. I think they are fantastic.
Totally appropriate for my Y3&4 class, with the children being very engaged with their learning. Love the videos and photos which make the content accessible to all children, no matter their reading ability.
The children were engaged and enjoyed having their questions answered in real time. All the background material with links to NZC was fantastic and we could weave this in to our reading, writing, health and science learning.
It is a great platform for the children to engage with their parents about what they are learning, in this case to get families to talk about how to be prepared. The children love seeing real people in real time. They engage with the learning but also relate it to the people on screen as if they are their friends.
It was great to have real-life experiences recounted and for students to be able to communicate with scientists. The "What's the Plan, Stan?" topic was relevant, and seeing the conference call made students even more interested.
It got the class thinking deeply about the actualaties that would happen, particularly in our area of Porirua, even though the field trip was based in Auckland. The class enjoyed being part of a New Zealand-wide group during the audio conferences.
LEARNZ virtual fieldtrips are incredibly engaging. There is plenty of supportive material, the experts are effective communicators with a wealth of knowledge, and the experience really gets the children buzzing! Thanks for everything you do!
Timely reminder of our readiness for an emergency, also tied in our fire drill with the field trip. Gives students access to experts without having to go anywhere, particularly beneficial for our small isolated Y1-8 school.
The trip encouraged a great deal of thinking, with students participating in discussions where they could develop empathy for others in disaster situations. They were able to do lots of reading and writing in a meaningful context.
Connects with studets' wider lives, and engages the support of their families, whānau, and communities. Another vehicle that can be used to engage students with like-thinking students across the motu.
Tied the emergency drills that we practice in the school into a wide context. It supported the learning we were doing in class.
We gained valuable information from the experts. We practised 'Managing Self' while completing the web conference task sheets.
A great resource for reading and inquiry. Students really enjoy the reading and activities.
Linked to emergency procedures practised during the year. Online, current, and relevant to curriculum.
Participation helped students to learn to work together as a team, so they were able to formulate appropriate questions to put to the experts. Really created an awareness of the need to have an emergency plan.
All of my students, including Maori Pasifika and ESOL, have good understandings as a result of the LEARNZ What's the plan, Stan field trip. It was helpful having experts answer inquiry questions my student had, and videos helped certain students gain a deeper understanding.
Field trips like these help build connected, lifelong, sustainable learners.