You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand
I love the authenticity of the experience. Being able to tangibly hold something (the liner that was sent to enrolled classes) and discuss the layers of the landfill, it was very powerful and got the kids thinking.
Very effective as we have been studying zero waste. Students also gained skills in "Participating and Contributing" and "Managing Self".
We are looking at product lifecycle in our design class and it showed what happens to the end of products when put into rubbish, and the importance of designers to design for end of life. It enabled students to critically think through what their consumption produces and it was a great way to show students something without having to physically go.
It (the virtual field trip) helped students think about the environment and how they can contribute to looking after it. The topics related to what we were studying and we did't have to leave the school to experience it.
Effective with real time and current information that covered many facets of inquiry and opened up deeper thinking. Receiving the letter with the liner sample from CWS was fabulous! Established a very tangible connection for students.
Many accessed the website at home and shared the parts they enjoyed with their family, which was great. My boys loved the machinery and trucks. Great use of technology and targets students of all abilities.
In a very powerful way students were able to work collaboratively and at their own pace. Practical as our school is isolated rural, 40km from the nearest township and our class is mixed ability Year 6-8.
We had just gone through a process of making submissions to our local council - it will be good to continue to ask them questions now that we are knowledgeable about the Kate Valley landfill.
Being an Enviro School, this field trip provided real depth to the enviro theme. As an e-learning class, all of the resources were readily available to the students so they could have some 'student choice' in what they did. This is what 'personalised learning' is all about.
As an enviroschool, we found this field trip to perfectly fit our kaupapa and our journey regarding how to deal with waste at school and at home. Also worked very well for two reading groups to engage in synthesising information appropriately.
It was a great follow on from our litter less lunch inquiry. Good for Social Action, informing our parents about choices when purchasing goods and disposing of the waste.
This field trip was well pitched to my class level,informative and kept the students engaged. The field trip and its sustainability theme supports all learning areas of the curriculum especially science and social studies.
The field trip was followed by our trip to the Bromley Recycling Centre. So it ... completed the journey of our rubbish. Our children were engaged in following the trip and it prompted them to ask lots of questions.
As we move to inquiry learning, this is a wonderful tool for supporting teachers - scaffolding our professional development. For students, because there are several ways to access the information our lower ability readers can still complete tasks, supporting their literacy.
Looking at Landfills as intro to our Sustainability study and being able to access your fabulous resources and view audio conferences, fitted in so well. Samples (of the landfill liner) sent to us were an extra bonus.
Very effective. We were able to consolidate a lot of the learning we had been doing since our trip to the Wellington landfill. It (the virtual field trip) catered to a wide range of students and met the learning of my year 4-6's very well. The students were active participants who were challenged to think critically.
Under our sustainability inquiry during this field trip, students had a say in what they learned (student voice and agency); they were motivated to learn new things and were comfortable about this (personal agency); and they worked in groups to find answers (peer support). Also students are thinking about changes/actions needed in the future (future-focussed learning); and they worked with other students and people in the community who help them learn (connected agency).
Fabulous topic. Very easy and user friendly website, accessible for everyone. Thanks for sending the sample of the liner material used in landfills - it was very effective to see and feel the liner, and it covers a big area of technology.
I have been running an online class with my Social Studies class. The virtual field trip enabled the students to utilise a variety of tools and learning medium to enhance their learning. Linked with the topic "Sustainability" extremely well.
My year 7 and 8 students have really engaged with the trip material. Thank you for providing such an interesting resource. A lot of my students like to spend time in the bush and were keen to learn more about the application of technology in this area.
Being able to connect with real people is very meaningful for students. The drones, satellites, pests, and mapping areas became focus areas for the class and they have continued inquiring about these.
Yes the topic was good, interesting etc, linked to the human uses of the environment for 2.1 Geography and was generally interesting to students; drones are very in! So it is a great way to engage students, use technology and get students enthused about Geography.
Our focus was Social Sciences Geography and it certainly gave us some future focus discussion points. I also wanted to open their eyes to some possibilities re the use of technology and future careers.
The field trips meet the needs of lots of learners and enables multi level learning on the same topic. I like the ability to easily revise, and work can be looked at outside the classroom. Excellent links to key competencies, self management, use of 21st century learning environment.
My class enjoyed reading the information and watching the videos, especially the drones.