As many of us are now switching to an at-home learning environment, we know that things have been tough. Parents are stepping in to fill the roles of educators, and students are suddenly stuck at home away from their friends. Roblox has always believed in the power of creativity and collaboration, and we’re doing what we can to contribute during this time of crisis to support our community. To that end, we’ve announced a set of free remote learning initiatives to support the continued learning and collaboration of kids and teens during this transition. These initiatives include instructional content for learning game design and coding, as well as a series of webinars to help teach game development on Roblox.
Game Design & Coding Resources for Educators
To help teach game design and coding fundamentals, we’ve created this new Teaching Remotely resource, featuring over 100 hours of free, ISTE-certified content. The resource also includes tips for teachers and parents on how to approach the virtual classroom setup, with lesson plans for both kids 10 and older and teens 13 and older. There are lessons on how to build story games, how to create a spaceship, and how to build an obstacle course (or an “obby,” as they’re more commonly referred to on Roblox). These lessons can be taught over a single course, or they can be broken up over a longer period of time.
Roblox Studio Webinars
We’ll also be starting free webinars with lesson plans for educators interested in teaching game development to students. These interactive, one-hour sessions will be offered twice monthly through May and open to up to a thousand educators each. Full archives of each webinar will be available on demand following the live webcast. To learn how to register for all four sessions, or to watch archived sessions, visit the Webinar Series page within the Teaching Remotely website.
New Learn & Explore Game Collection and Game Creation Resources for Students
Our new Learn & Explore section of the Developer Hub offers students with no previous coding experience the chance to learn how to create their first Roblox games through a series of self-paced programs. More experienced game developers can learn the fundamentals of game design and coding with easy-to-follow instructions. More in-depth tutorials on coding and game development are also available for those looking to create more immersive environments from scratch.
Roblox also released a new sort to make it easier to find educational experiences for kids and teens called Learn & Explore. Enjoy games like Word Bomb, which teaches spelling and typing skills in a quick-thinking competition against others.
We are dedicated to continuing to look for new ways to provide support for parents, educators, and students as we all adapt to the new challenges that we face together with remote learning.