Roblox has launched a new Learning Hub, enabling students to access dozens of interactive educational experiences on the platform in one place.
Timed for when many students in the Northern Hemisphere are out for the summer break, Roblox Corporation said the hub allows students to “learn while playing” during these months out of school.
The hub covers a wide range of subjects targeting different age groups, including core educational subjects like maths, English language, and computer science. Others are positioned more around general life skills and knowledge of the modern world.
One highlight experience coming soon from the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Bitesize educational outfit is called Planet Planners. Targeted at users aged 11-14, it educates players on “pressing challenges” in the world today, like natural disaster preparation and managing large cities. Roblox says the experience will be mapped to national curricula in the UK, as well as the Unites States’ K-12 standards.
“BBC Bitesize is committed to offering world-class educational experiences to all learners, and game-based learning is a great way for students to engage with complex subject content while developing skills like critical thinking and problem-solving,” said Oonagh Jaquest, executive producer of BBC Bitesize at BBC Education.
“The Roblox team has worked collaboratively with us to develop a really rich experience, which lets young people explore diverse locations around the world, see their decisions play out tangibly in the environment, and even play as class groups.”
The popular STEM-focused game Sesame Street Mecha Builders, which has reached 70 million visits to date, is also available under the Learning Hub.
Other experiences in the hub include Domain Rangers, a marine biology adventure, Lua Learning, which educates users on the basics of the titular programming language, and Words of Power, an action role-playing game designed to improve communication and vocabulary skills. Google’s existing Be Internet Awesome World experience offers online safety lessons.
The Learning Hub can be accessed via the More tab by clicking the Learn icon on Roblox’s desktop and mobile apps.