You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand
Teacher testimonials
Antarctica
Led to better engagement and met the learning towards taumata 5 tikanga ā-iwi marau in the TMOA. Outcomes for my kura were evident and supported our kura value system or mātāpono, kaitiakitanga (guardianship of our earth mother Papatuānuku) and rangatiratanga (self-determination that comes from our own actions).
The trips like Antarctica are fantastic. It enables all children no matter what ethnicity or socioeconomic group to explore the world. My teaching practice has been transformed as LEARNZ allows me to present learning with a digital approach, using multiple computers and devices and guiding students in combination with Google Classroom.
Listening to someone who was there reinforced how close we are to Antarctica and viewing the videos diaries really focused the students into the whole experience. The readings and activities made students manage their time appropriately.
The LEARNZ personnel and experts feel like real friends or students' own personal teacher, which helps to make the learning experiences very potent. They field trips like Antarctica are great and I just love the work you all do to make them interesting and engaging. Thank you.
Students said it was great because it simulated going to Antartica and it was awesome seeing (our ambassador) BuzzBee there. It was easy to set up my programme using Google classroom so students and their families could see what was happening whenever they wanted.
The context of this Antarctica learning trip was helpful to discuss the ESS topic (L5): Earth systems. Students learnt lots of new things about Antarctica and sea ice formation, with some good extra teaching material and activities to extend students.
Great resource with a variety of media. Very comprehensive, providing students with another layer of learning material connected to real world around them.
I really enjoy the learnz trips. My class loved learning about preservation and discovery in Antarctica. It delved into the deeper questions.
Catered to the needs of all students. Tasks were easily differentiated for all curriculum levels. Great opportunity for students to make connections with the wider community.
It was in line with our learning focus for this year of being a fully digital classroom. Online help was all good.
LEARNZ is a great way to study a topic using a medium that is accessible to all, even my low vision student and those with poor reading skills. The Antarctica field trip supported the science and social studies areas of the curriculum and much more, such as the key competencies.
My class of all boys love the LEARNZ background readings and activities; their non-fiction reading levels have all improved. They like the fact that they can work at their level and at their own pace. They all love science and anything (like LEARNZ) that helps develop their understanding of how our world works.
It made the students aware of the value of the work done in Antarctica, both in the past and in the present, more effectively than just reading about it.
Students love them (LEARNZ field trips) - they are engaging, use real life contexts which have an impact on students' lives, encourage whanau involvement. Fabulous resource.
It has taken my students to new worlds of understanding, given them purpose and focus to read and write about a 'real-life' topic that is of interest to them.
We integrated the learning across all curriculum areas, which was easily done. All my students enjoy learning in this way and the background reading was perfect for my Year 4 class.
It definitely ticked the boxes. A great topic. We enjoyed all that was on offer.
We loved the field trip! Thanks so much for all that you do. It is such an engaging way to connect with various areas of the curriculum.
Real life engagement with scientists on ice was interesting - great for students to see what we had been studying in real life.
Having all of the Antarctica resources together makes it very easy for students to self-explore the parts of the topic they are especially interested in. The real benefit for us has been having all of the audio with the readings for my lower readers; they prefer to listen and the NZ accent of the reader is a bonus.
I thought LEARNZ did a great job of mixing up content that covered multiple curriculum areas in a logical and accessible way. Most of the time my Year 8-9 class were engaged and absorbed by what was happening. Well done.
My curriculum focus was supported fully by the LEARNZ Antarctica programme and two NIWA scientists visiting the class in person helped no end to endorse what we had learned. Some students were able to really drive their own learning, while having the two levels for reading enabled some of my less able readers to participate more fully.
Students became very curious with lots of wonderings about Antarctica and they decided that science is really cool. The field trip made for fun learning and helped us use the i-pads and laptops more effectively for independent research.
Excellent presentation and a great learning experience for the students. Students really enjoyed a different approach to learning and it was good that the weaker readers were able to participate.
This was so engaging for our class. This is a great way to bring science alive in the classroom and it led to so many discussions.
Students were highly engaged, especially by the videos and photos of our ambassador. Students who need extra support with literacy really appreciated the easy to read background material.
Interactive, engaging and highly motivating. Helps create partnership between home and school as students are extremely keen to share the field trip experiences with their parents.
Rather than just researching independently about Antarctica, the students enjoyed having a variety of tools at their fingertips. The mixture of videos, photos, quiz etc kept students interested and being able to listen to the information rather than having to read it is highly beneficial.
This field trip has been the highlight of the year for all the students. Amazing enthusiasm from the whole school.
It was a very REAL and engaging focus for a lot of different interest groups. Use of the Audio conferences was a first and was very impactful for the students.
Garden Bird Survey
It was fantastic - my students learnt so much about the birds in our backyard and also about our native birds. I have used LEARNZ for many years now and it is the first thing I look at when planning my year, for either inquiry units or pure units that I can cover on real kiwi issues that the kids can understand.
It allowed students to work independently and collaboratively depending on their age. It encourgaged values - respecting our environment. And met a need for science.
Geohazards
We live in a geothermal area so its relevance to our community makes this field trip appropriate. The field trips are a shared social experience that provides the opportunity for students to encounter and explore novel things in an authentic New Zealand setting.
Whats the Plan Stan?
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.
Fitted in well with our civil defence week. Engaged the students. Have recommended to colleagues and our whole team will use this next year.
Our students are manly visual learners so through watching the videos they were able to sustain attention longer and retain more information. Also every activity in the field trip, I believe, has in some way reflected the Key Competencies and Values in the Curriculum.
The fieldtrip background pages allowed my Year 8 class of very diverse abilities to engage at their various levels - at least a quarter of the class really appreciated the audio text! It was also a great opportunity for my students to integrate inquiry learning into our course.
The field trip really helped the children to think and plan ahead what they would do to keep safe in an emergency. The videos linked to disasters that could happen in our area.
Activities (interactive) are great. Visiting places and discussing in short (video) clips are useful. Students had information at a variety of levels and had access to an expert, allowing teacher to become facilitator.
It led to a combination of other tasks including preparing their own households in the event of a disaster, getting to know their neighbourhood and even who can assist in times of need. Children can explore the information independently, challenge their understanding with the quizzes and then be encouraged to follow-up with related tasks and websites.
It was like second nature to this term's inquiry and fitted like a glove. It was leveled and delivered at an excellent level and the content was perfect for my Year 8 class.
Fitted with our science unit, values of looking after others, and furthered competencies such as speaking and listening and communicating using written language.
Most children went home and planned emergency supplies and procedures. We integrated reading, mapping, videos, discussing, writing, maths, presenting ideas, as well as health and safety procedures. We had a lot of fun.
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.
Tied the emergency drills that we practice in the school into a wide context. It supported the learning we were doing in class.
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.
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.
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.
Direct connection to what we were studying in our syndicate, all resources in one place, real people and real context helped engage the children in the learning. All resources are New Zealand appropriate and very suitable for my Year 5&6 class. I felt very supported with instant responses to the emails I sent.
My multi-levelled students thoroughly enjoyed participating in watching the movies and learning through accessing the background pages and quizzes. LEARNZ is a great package of information and up to date footage, that makes usage and planning of the unit very easy for me as a teacher.