You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand
Very appropriate for year 7/8 students. They absolutely loved being able to look at the resources, especially the photo/video content. It gave maximum opportunity to discuss what they were looking at and learning.
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.
The field trip was very effective, especially from the view point of engagement and motivation as the students felt it was relevant and real.
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.
This field trip has been the highlight of the year for all the students. Amazing enthusiasm from the whole school.
This field trip was very appropriate for my Year 4 class as we used it under the theme of Kaitiakitanga. I feel the effectiveness (of the virtual field trip) can be gauged by the involvement and the questions asked by the children, and this Antarctica study has really had them enthused and doing independent research of their own. It is fascinating to discover how much knowledge the children take home and discuss with their families.
Linked well to our inquiry this term on Ecosystems and Science.
We used the Inquiry method to study Antarctica and we loved it! Shelley's videos created lots for discussion. Brilliant!
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.
For my Year 4 class enjoyed the learning experience. The virtual field trip raised their awareness of how special and unique Antarctica is and made them think about being the guardians of the area.
The LEARNZ virtual journey to Antarctica was great because EOTC is not possible in Antarctica for a school classroom to do for real. The opportunity to hear real scientists talk to the LEARNZ representative, Shelley Hersy, was very valuable and also helped us form some of our science goals.
This was an amazing way to make the learning come alive for our study of Antarctica. Very effective - personalised the learning.
It was a great way to learn about people places and animals without actually being there.
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.
The field trip supported the development of Key Competencies, and provided up-to-date information relevant to Education for Sustainability.
Very appropriate for Year 5/6 students, who loved the 'real' experience. Covers lots of the curriculum areas, from reading groups to individual programmes with students who have special needs. Web site means students can follow up at home and share with family what they have learnt.
Engages the students. Interesting material which covers a breadth of issues and topic areas. Students gained an understanding of the Antarctic food web.
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.
Seeing people passionate about their interest is so encouraging for kids. We were focusing on fossils and limestone of North Otago, so it was useful comparing with Waitomo.
This field trip tied in nicely with our Science topic this term. Students were highly engaged throughout the field trip and are highly passionate about using LEARNZ in the classroom.
Fantastic - we were going to Waitomo on our field trip, and the timing and content could NOT have been better. Greatly improved audioconferences - the backchannel improved engagement, and the kids were highly interested in hearing their questions asked over the Internet, and the immediate responses.
It was such an engaging learning experience for my Year 9 class. This was my first experience (with a LEARNZ field trip) and I was so pleased it was a success.
Suited all students regardless of their knowledge of International airports. All were interested in the behind-the-scenes look at how an airport works.
The field trips work for independent and well as peer work. They ignited passions the students didn't even know they have! I have a number of low ability readers in my class, being able to listen to the text is fantastic.
The field trip was a great way for the students to use technology to access information. They could decide what they wanted to find out about Airports and this gave them choices in their learning. I like the interactive nature of the field trips and having an ambassador creates a great connection for the children. Great multilevel materials for all levels.