You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand

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.
This field trip was so appropriate for my class - they really enjoyed it and were excited to receive the 3 liner samples from the landfill at Kate Valley. As a teacher, this LEARNZ field trip has seen me use more technology in the classroom, while still including activities like interviews and visiting speakers.
This trip gave the students an insight into ecological sustainability. We also tied in a visit from a council person which gave students an insight into our own rubbish process. Students really enjoy watching the videos at home, which can then encourage further discussion on the topics with families.
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.
The field trip supported our delivery of the curriculum - especially having the ambassador, as he gave an added interest and focus. Students found it user-friendly and easy to access on our Chromebooks.
This field trip tied in nicely with our work looking at how we can care for the environment. It also tied in with our maths which included students collecting and analysing their own data about the rubbish we have in our class, at home and around school. The boys in particular were actively engaged; students were amazed at what they didn't actually know about the process that our rubbish goes through.
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".
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.
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.
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.
Exceptionally appropriate for this age group - particularly the videos, web board and photos. The class also loved having Walt (the class mascot) there.
In the backchannel it was really interesting to have our questions answered during an audioconference when we weren't a speaking school. This was a Maths group involved in this trip, so it was ideal for providing authenticity to their Maths, alongside the natural integration with all other areas of the curriculum.
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.