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

The idea of virtually going to Antarctic created such a buzz and a HUGE level of engagement. It's great the way LEARNZ leaders connect with students - they present everything in such an accessible way but have high expectations that students can and will be able to understand fairly sophisticated concepts.
My students have a different view of the world we live in after this field trip. My students love the field trips.
Real life engagement with scientists on ice was interesting - great for students to see what we had been studying in real life.
The 'real-time' trip increased motivation for students and hooked them into their learning. The virtual relationship with Shelley was a highlight. A class visit from David Wallace, who visited Antarctica in 2012, reinforced all the students had seen and inquired about through LEARNZ.
This is a rich experience for students who know NZ but are often living offshore.
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.
The students particularly enjoyed the videos and the quizzes. They also commented on how much they liked how the diaries were written as if they were there. This LEARNZ Antarctica trip fitted in well with the Nature of Science aspects of questioning and using vocabulary that we were focussing on.
It has been one of the best units I have taught in my 16 years of teaching - I would recommend it to anyone. I do think that it has been particularly successful in my classroom because we signed up for the extras such as the ambassador and the audio conferencing - that's what really made it come alive for me and the children in my class.
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.
WOW, what a powerful learning tool the Audio Conference was - our extension Year 3-4 students were so engaged in listening and learning that they didn't make a sound.
The field trip was extremely appropriate and challenging. Very effective. My class really got into it - it was so well organised for teachers and students.
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.
Excellent source of information for the students, aimed at their level, well presented and easy for the students to access and work with. Students found it extremely interesting and they learnt plenty of new things about Antarctica.
It definitely ticked the boxes. A great topic. We enjoyed all that was on offer.
The field trip was very effective, especially from the view point of engagement and motivation as the students felt it was relevant and real.
Great for students to have new people connecting to them in a different way, linking many aspects of the curriculum in a real setting.
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.
Linked well to our inquiry this term on Ecosystems and Science.
Children loved every part of the experience- thoroughly engaging. Really cool for the students to be able to participate with a group outside of their immediate context!
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.
We used the Inquiry method to study Antarctica and we loved it! Shelley's videos created lots for discussion. Brilliant!
It takes us to a place we have never been and experienced before and it gives us more insights of what's happening there. It's incredibly interesting.
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.
This was an amazing way to make the learning come alive for our study of Antarctica. Very effective - personalised the learning.
This unit linked with our topic of sustainability and enabled cross curricular learning in a digital context. This type of learning resource helps students to work at their level, irrespective of where they start and their reading ability.