You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand
Testimonials
Wetland Biodiversity
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
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.
Gabriel Hawke from St Mary's School (Hastings)
This field trip has helped me to step out of the classroom and look at what is on our doorstep. It is great for the children to learn about authentic contexts.
Beth Summers from Hinds School
It was very relevant as we visited our own local Maungatautari wetland, so it was great to compare.
Pamela Furze from Roto-O-Rangi School
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.
Cara Carser from Westburn School
Linked closely to students understanding their immediate environment while involved in EOTC (school camp in this case). I see students engaged in the topic when involved with LEARNZ plus they tend to find more information and other areas of interest linking to the particular topic.
Jason Shaw from Geraldine High School
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.
Caroline Arnold from Lepperton School
Used to support digital devices in science at high school and an opportunity to experience the South Island. Some videos included Maori content - used as a role model for students. Pronunciation of Maori place names helped me as a teacher, as I try to improve and utilise Te Reo in the science class.
Lucy Meagher from Havelock North High School
Embedded LEARNZ and then went on our own field trip to Cleardale Wetland. More on my Blog.
Stuart Cooke from Methven Primary School
Very hands on feeling to videos and a very good learning experience all up! One of my sons loves animals and the outdoors. Living in New Zealand we all should know about the importance of these areas.
Hannelie van der Linde from Van der Linde Family Home School
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.
Leone Baylis from Fairburn School
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.
Marcia Ferguson from Rosebank School Balclutha
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.
Lynn Burrell from Waikite Valley School
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.
Katherine Webster from Waimairi 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 content and style of learning is so engaging for the children. Love the strong Science focus. It was a good field trip to compare local, national and global - it lent itself really well to discussion.
Jan Thompson from Banks Avenue 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
The field trips are informative, exciting and a great learning experience. Relevant to all learners because it used correct language for te reo maori and showed how LEARNZ value te ao maori through the concepts explored. The newsletters were also great, with lots of easy steps.
Nicola Burtenshaw from Longburn School
Ability to have contact with scientists and other experts provides an authentic learning experience. We were able to learn about other wetlands and compare them to our local wetlands. Great background information and resources. Thank you!
Sonjia Campbell from Mercury Bay Area School
Great engagement in our inquiry topic. Great content in differentiated forms. Connected to the environment and groups involved in community. Experts' content was put into language the students could understand.
Stuart Cooke from Methven School
This type of learning appealed to my Year 6 boys. It's a good way to use ICT in the classroom for learning interesting topics. It can be flexible and self-managed. It was helpful being able to access it online to suit our timetable and good that students could access the information at home.
Stephanie Johnson from St Joseph's School Timaru
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
Students were asked about the KC's they used during this field trip and they unanimously said: Thinking, Relating to Others, Participating and Contributing, and Managing Self. They also said they enjoy the enthusiasm of the presenters, especially Andrew (the LEARNZ Teacher).
Seuga Frost from Ohau School
Utilised the focus on te reo and cultural-history aspect of biodiversity. Students enjoyed the field trip as part of our ecology topic -they engaged well with the learning and were willing to contribute.
Lucy Meagher from Havelock North High School
Set at the perfect level for My Class of year 7/8 students. They took in so much information! There are lots of different ways the students are engaged through text, video, listening, and interacting. It was good to have the Māori aspects included in the Wetlands study.
Amy Clode from Grantlea Downs School