Common Sense Media Review
By Erin Brereton
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Kids get a broader view of the world and their place in it.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Videos and Photos
Out of Eden Learn
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's It About?
OUT OF EDEN LEARN, an initiative from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, provides a free online program for students age 3-19 that builds on experiences from a journalist’s 21,000-mile walk following the ancient pathways of human migration. Similarly aged students from diverse geographical and socioeconomic settings partake in 8- to 12-week collective learning experiences designed to encourage them to observe the world, where they exchange stories and make connections between their lives and other perspectives.
Is It Any Good?
This learning platform combines offline activities -- which it calls footsteps -- and online interaction with other members of your walking party, or learning community. Kids using Out of Eden Learn discover aspects of journalist Paul Salopek's Out of Eden Walk, which was designed to trace the pathways of the first humans who migrated out of Africa in the Stone Age. Here, kids will perform themed activities and interact with each other. The courses challenge participants to examine and describe their surroundings, explore how their lives connect to the past and the rest of the world, and learn about human migration and planetary health. The overall experience is designed to help young people become more informed, thoughtful, and engaged global citizens.
Although the site says it welcomes individual students as well as school classes and clubs, the login prompt requires a school code that educators receive after their class has been registered and assigned to a walking party -- which kids trying to access the site as a solo user will probably find frustrating. In addition, because the course materials were designed for middle- and high school-aged students, parents might need to revise some of the lessons and/or plan to work closely with younger kids to ensure they’re getting the most out of the experience. But if kids can arrange to get access and are able to navigate the content, Out of Eden Learn can provide a unique, engaging experience that can make them appreciate other cultures -- and their immediate environment.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about making a commitment to see the entire Out of Eden Learn course through. Can your child agree to complete all weeks of the program?
What similarities in day-to-day life has your child noticed some other participants experience between your life and those of kids in other countries?
Website Details
- Subjects : Language & Reading : discussion , presenting to others , reading , storytelling , writing , Social Studies : cultural understanding , exploration , geography , global awareness , history
- Skills : Thinking & Reasoning : applying information , asking questions , investigation , part-whole relationships , Self-Direction : personal growth , Emotional Development : empathy , self-awareness , Communication : conveying messages effectively , listening , presenting
- Genre : Educational
- Pricing structure : Free
- Last updated : November 1, 2019
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