You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand
Teacher testimonials
Waterview Connection
Students really enjoyed the opportunity to take part in the competition. And really good to gain skills in cross-curriculum links.
Year 10 classes enjoyed it and thought it worthwhile. Very good for career pathways (a school-wide goal), especially enginnering. Helped the students know what is happening in their local area. Supported NZ Curriculum. Vision - connected, actively involved. Principles - inclusion, community engagement. Values - innovation, inquiry and curiosity, community and participation, ecological sustainability. Key competencies - thinking, managing self, relating to others, participating and contributing. Learning area - real life physics.
100% engagement! Lots of discussions both in the classroom and in homes. Really good for the children to see the teams on the videos talking about work place treaties, working together, effective communication and all the things we talk about at in the classroom - quite a few lightbulb moments for students.
The vast amount of information, data, videos and teaching resources were incredible. I fully appreciate all the hard work the team puts in to make these learning opportunities so effective.
On so many levels, this field trip has enhanced, extended and promoted learning for our students. Fantastic opportunity for students living next door to gain deeper understandings into what is required to achieve this massive project. Multi Language support is awesome. Pictures and videos are particularly important for special needs and also ESOL learners.
Opera
We were able to link this field trip with our school learning about performance, and our "showcase" which will be at the end of this term. The content was accessible to all students, with them able to listen to the information if they were unable to read it. Students were particularly engaged when taking part in the audioconference and asking questions, live.
I used it with a learning group within my class and it supported their understanding very well. The flexibility in the level of involvement was great. We joined last minute based on an emerging interest/need within the group and it engaged them wonderfully. Great use of eLearning.
It was really successful and appealed to both boys and girls, who embraced the whole opera idea. Students' KCs developed well and the use of devices proved really successful. Great resource: cross-curricular, useful for literacy, and Maori keyword translations were appreciated.
Used this for my music unit this term. It was exciting for the kids. Great opportunities to participate and contribute to each other's learning. The learners used what they discovered in many ways.
This term's topic is wearable arts, so the field trip was a perfect immersion into the world of performance and costuming. It was useful for increasing interest in the world and performing arts, and I was able to use the information and interactive questions as an effective reading activity, which I then used as a prompt for writing.
This field trip tied in perfectly for our school focus this term, as we are putting on our own school production so it was great for the students to learn about the variety of roles involved. Helped develop deeper understandings about the Arts, particularly with Understanding Drama in Context (UC) and Communicating and Interpreting (CI).
We used this as an ignition to our art and drama unit. Added depth to children's learning and they enjoyed the interactive experience. The pre and post assessment showed a lot was learned during the field trip and some children asked their parents if they could go to a performance
This field trip tied in perfectly with our own school production and really got the ideas and understanding flowing. The videos kept the kids attention and sparked their interest for more.
Allows the students to go beyond their own back door and extend their learning to other areas and experiences that may not be available otherwise. Encouraged the Arts and English curriculum areas and I have noticed my children listening to different music during class time.
From the beginning, our learners were very interested and engaged. We overlaid SOLO taxonomy as an activity pathway and for children to set goals and evaluate progress in terms of being supported, self managed or self directed learners. We have found all the Learnz field trips give a great scaffolding for explicit teaching of skills, and effective tools for those children who learn differently, such as oral material and videos to provide information.
It was a great way to expose the Year 7 and 8s to something new and different, and to learn at their own pace. I have had very focused classes during each lesson. It covered all The Arts, with visual art (props and scenery), as well as dance, drama and music.
In terms of the students' topic specific language, and all talking about things in the same context, it was fantastic. It also spread into the community and the children were sharing what they learnt with their parents.
This trip led to our kids being more excited than ever about putting on our own show! Thanks for the encouragement! It's great to see Learnz embracing the Arts like this - you broaden our appreciation of what is around us.
Well-integrated, interactive, inquiry based. Encouraged thinking, questioning, and valuing other cultures. A visually impaired student commented: "I could listen for myself, I didn't have to use a reader".
LEARNZ is a fun way to learn, that exposes students to things that are happening nationally and globally. It is real life learning. Lots of fun and high interest videos. Students could relate to the (performers') need to practise, and rest too, which links nicely to lots of classroom learning areas.
Fantastic use of The Arts in the NZ curriculum and all key competencies. Highly engaging for all students.
Fitted in nicely to the curriculum (The Arts) - I found the unit plan really helpful and a time saver. The background information gave a great range of information all in the one place.
Every time I have used a LEARNZ field trip with my class, the students have absolutely relished the chance to explore something outside of their realm of experience. We are focussing on the performing arts (Music, Dance, Drama) in class/school - this field trip helped to expose them to the combination of these arts areas, and all the efforts that go into putting on a show of this type and size.
Our KC for Term 3 was Using Language, Symbols and Texts. This trip offered the opportunity to see a completely different view of the ways people communicate though opera. We were also able to integrate the trip with our Arts programme. One of the best virtual field trips we have been involved with.
As we have our school production this term, it was really valuable for the children to see it done on a larger scale. I love these trips - the children really get to learn things in a lot more depth than they would normally. The use of technology is a great way of hooking them in too!