Kids can play a themed game to practice the skills they've learned.
Roblox, the free social gaming platform that allows users to create and share their own games and experiences, launched a new curriculum focused on the topic of digital civility.
The “Digital Civility with Roblox” curriculum consists of six sessions, which are each designed for 45-60 minute classes. Overall, the curriculum provides up to 20 hours of content. Educators can use the curriculum with their students, but since it’s free, parents can also use the curriculum with their kids at home.
Each lesson focuses on internet safety and civility, and at the same time, they’ll allow kids to build their STEM skills as they create their own games on the Roblox platform.
According to a Roblox press release, the lessons will focus on a variety of topics, including:
- “What’s good digital civility and behavior, and how to report bad behavior across all digital platforms;
- Strategies for keeping personal information private, recognizing potential scams and safety vulnerabilities, and understanding when to report suspicious activity;
- Understanding the impact of online behavior on themselves and others, and how they can contribute to fostering positive in-game communities;
- How to recognize online bullying or negative behavior and take action to address it.”
To go along with this curriculum, Roblox has also created a free game called Digital Safety Scavenger Hunt, which allows kids to practice what they’ve learned about digital civility and online safety.
The press release offered the following examples of activities found in the game:
- “Interacting with in-game characters where users must use clues to determine if chatting with those characters is safe or not. These characters will do things like try to bait users with the promise of free in-game money (Robux), or trick them into getting account information;
- Learning clues to spot what information is reliable or not in a realistic way. Students can share tips via in-game chat and discuss how to spot unreliable information.”
While the Digital Safety Scavenger Hunt game can be played by anyone, teachers can create free private servers for the game, which will allow them to invite their students to a private session that no one else can join.
To learn more about this new curriculum and game, head over to Roblox’s website.
Brandy Berthelson has been writing about video games and technology since 2006, with her work appearing on sites including AOL Games, Digital Spy, and Adweek. When she’s not gaming, Brandy enjoys crafting, baking, and traveling with her husband.
