You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand
Teacher testimonials
He Hokinga Whakaaro
We have been researching about Captain Cook and we are also preparing for a Marae visit so components of the field trip have been particularly relevant. The easy background pages and the associated activities were just right for my Year 4 class. It is always interesting to learn from Shelley and Andrew while they are on location. The students develop a connection with them, particularly if they participate in an audio conference.
Very well rounded experiences. Used partly to prepare for a visit to our local Marae and learning about Matariki. Visual experiences great for class.
Great visual learning, auditory learning, and inquiry learning. I like the way Māori words are put into every context of the trip.
Terrific for the immersion phase of Inquiry. Children very motivated to go off and research independently. Just a stunning resource which enhances the quality of teaching and learning in my room tremendously!
High level of student engagement, interesting topics that are relevant to students' lives. Videos are always pitched at a good level, interesting - many of my students access them at home too.
This particular topic had all my students absolutely hooked - the 95% Maori students in my class felt it was about them and supported their culture and their own learning. I love the Inquiry focus, the research skills LEARNZ offers, the range of learning styles - with background information, diaries, audio conferences, images. All students are catered for.
Most appropriate for my Year 7&8 class. Incredibly effective in terms of meeting the desired Learning Outcomes. The most engaging learning experience the children could have.
Argo Floats
The children could connect what they learnt to their previous learning about Marine Environments. The information was really accessible through the video clips and Google Earth. We shared a video clip on our Blog so parents could also learn about the Argo Floats.
Extremely effective. Activated higher order questioning and students engaged in inquiry learning and we as a class had great discussion from the Argo Floats field trip. Keeping things simple with the live audioconferences was great. Easy for me to connect, thanks.
It is a very interactive resource and students don't have to leave the classroom to learn about specific topics in their own country.
They learnt a lot and I hear them telling others all about it. Loved the connection to the sea and the environment.
None of the students had done a trip before but now they are hooked. Some children chose to read texts again for homework. They were very interested in all the readings about the Argo floats; the students have a very positive view of what scientists are doing and learning about our oceans.
The videos and photo gallery were very popular. The children had access to tablets, which were well used as the children investigated the information supplied independently. The children enjoyed the field trip and have a much better understanding of the Argo Floats than if they had used in-class resources only.
It was fantastic. Highly engaging for our children and added another dimension to their learning. As well as gaining an understanding of Argo Floats, students also gained an insight into scientific research and careers as a scientist.
It is AWESOME! Students were engaged and intrigued by the ARGO floats field trip. They had heaps of questions and the trip enabled them to extend their critical thinking skills. The interactive nature of the website means that students can work through the material at their own pace and level. The field trips give the students the opportunity to interact with people who are experts in their field and find out information first-hand.
A group of nine Year 6 extension maths students took part in this field trip. They made gains in a wide variety of skills, especially from taking part in the audioconferences. The field trip broadened their knowledge about data collecting, and how different countries collaborate by working together to investigate the data.
It is a modern way of getting the children engaged in their learning. The children are now a lot more knowledgeable, geographically - they can identify oceans, understand currents etc. Being part of an audio conference allowed children to ask questions at their level.
Our class was fully engaged with this topic. This is a great way to connect students to environments that are more difficult to access.
Generated a lot of questions and interesting discussion after a term of learning about water and rivers. The activities provide just enough information to allow students to think and ask questions. I find the field trips allow for a range of learning opportunities and experiences for our students.
Very successful with my Year 13 Scholarship Science class. I was able to use the excellent information provided to construct a short study of the use of floats. From that we worked on questions that I constructed around Argo float data that we downloaded.
Harbours and Estuaries
It linked well with our focus on global issues and water use. It caters for a range of abilities and now that we have more devices allows students to work at their level. The live links created more reality and interest to begin with. Great stuff.
It helped my students understand about estuaries as they had no knowledge of what they were before we read about them and participated in the audioconference. Two of my students with ASD are highly excited and showing the site to their whanau, which is great. The Te Reo content and Maori perspectives in the texts and from Guest experts is also excellent and much appreciated.
The students were very motivated and learned many new things. They have changed their attitude to estuaries in our area. They particularly enjoyed the audioconferences and twitter - audioconferences are fantastic. I like the contact with scientists and other experts. Good links with careers education and Nature of Science.
The material was age appropriate (particularly liked the audio links, reading the material). The participation levels at school and at home were a lot higher than usual because material was readily accessible and easy to read and understand. Audio conferences were excellent. Having the few visual photographs kept some of my less focussed kids engaged, as did the summary sheets that they had in front of them. I was surprised at just how much they picked up. It was great to be able to ask questions via the backchannel and get immediate responses - the kids loved that.
Appropriate as an introduction to harbour ecology. Made for a useful comparison to our own harbour. My Year 12 Science students were able to compare and contrast both ecological and social values of the harbours.
It has provided us with a valuable resource about a local area and allowed children to ask local experts some questions. The information was easy for the children to understand and the videos were very informative.
Perfect for my class level. Children were engaged and gained environmental knowledge and inspiration to care for the local area. Useful resource with great planning and layout. Catered to a variety of learning styles. A valuable learning tool that engages the children in a different way. Easy to follow lessons with realistic and interesting follow up activities.
Memorial Park
Definitely appropriate to my Year 6 class, especially as it was local and all knew the area well.
I have a boys only class and they were all very interested in what was happening and how it related to WW1. It was inclusive for all students and could be adapted to cater for all needs. The audio conference was a new concept for my class and they enjoyed coming up with questions and then asking them live.
The material was pitched at the right level for year 7/8s and linked into our ANZAC day topic. It is a fantastic resource, easy to use and understand, and it compliments reading, writing and inquiry programmes. It is great to have the real world contexts for children to engage in.
Best comment was from a student who is going to Wellington and is planning to go and take a look at the construction site. It covered a range of curriculum areas and also looked at beliefs and attitudes. There was some challenging new vocabulary in this topic which was very good for the students. Other language keywords were great for low level NESB student.
Highly engaging, complimented our topic "Our Place". Supported many literacy skills, thinking, reflecting, questioning, discovering.
We had looked at the videos from Memorial Park 1 as a warm up exercise, so this followed on perfectly. After watching the videos from last November, had a student in Wellington for the weekend and was interested enough to take parents to see what was happening with the park, to update class before the 2nd LEARNZ visit. LEARNZ field trips have become an important part of learning in my senior class. Regardless of ability, students are loving the experiences.
The flow on from Memorial Park 1 through to 2 was good. Looking forward to the next one. The use of some of the technical language was great. Love the interactive nature of the field trips - especially the Twitter updates! The diaries are always interesting.
Kauri
My class always enjoys the Learnz Field Trips, regardless of the trip we enrol in. The LEARNZ teachers are so enthusiastic, it really teaches the children things that I can't.
The field trip was yet another way to utilise the tools in our digital classroom. My recommendation to colleagues is this resource, while valuable when it links to current teaching and learning, has also proven to be excellent for use with smaller groups to extend critical thinking and learning linked to a real context.
LEARNZ adds a rich IT experience to the class learning, that relates to local topics and utilises local expertise very well.
The visual and aural activities of the virtual fieldtrips, real time and recorded, are an immediate way to bring the wider environment into the classroom. The field trips and their material are flexible enough to give opportunities for a variety of uses in the classroom.
Easy to access and structured well for independent work. Just the right level and interest.
Resources that we used were excellent, thought provoking and have my whole class sold on taking care of kauri. Teaching kit very helpful, well thought out, age appropriate.
Wonderful guided learning with experts to interact with and the real time learning makes it relevant, engaging and applicable. My class found the level appropriate (they are year 6). The delivery was manageable for all students. It fitted our theme study around NZ bush and our camp in the bush.
The kids really enjoyed it and were well supported on the website, as they we able to navigate to find their way around to answer questions they had generated. I was able to take different aspects for different abilities in the class. We also followed up with a visit in our local area to a native bush stand.
This was a brilliant trip for my class. They gained a sense of guardianship responsibility for kauri. The videos were absolutely wonderful and students loved reading the diary entries also. The field trip enabled me to transport my students to a distant place, at no cost, in order to show them first hand some real NZ based learning. Students feel they know Andrew and Egbert and are keen to do more trips.
Ties in so well with the guiding principles - Education for sustainability, Treaty of Waitangi etc. My Year 4 children were engaged and able to relate this field trip to our term concept of Turangawaewae. Content interesting and informative. Well presented as usual by Andrew with passion. Children with different learning styles are well catered for and my special needs children are also keen to engage in this type of online learning.
We are in a reasonably remote area and it is great that we can interact with other schools. The Web Quest was fantastic for a range of abilities. LEARNZ is wonderful for those students who learn in different ways e.g. listening (and they can refer back to recordings to check information). We are now interested in "adopting" a local reseve and planting some natives, including kauri.
As an Enviro school it is wonderful to be interfacing with experts in the field on real issues in real time. Some of my students go onto Learnz to explore further as additional home learning. Great to hear them educating their parents about what's happening to our mighty taonga, Kauri. LEARNZ is the most marvellous educational resource for NZ teachers. This is my 14th year with Learnz and I get great great support if I need it. The staff are truly amazing at every level.
Engaging and can be tailored to the specific needs of a small group of students. Uses all of the Key Competencies. Enabled students to self regulate their learning.
Wetland Biodiversity
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.
Stewart Island
Fitted fine with our topic, Taonga. Level 2. Suits the way I like children to learn, and the children gain so much from this sort of online learning. Caters for the range of different children/cultures/needs/learning styles. Able to view the material more than once.
Geohazards
The ability to use archived material from previous trips is wonderful. Teachers can encourage interested pupils to use the materials for homework reading - the videos, photos, diaries and related activities are treasure troves for curious students with a passion for knowing more about a particular topic.