Access to Roblox

[Vern Dempster- Mahu]

Hi

I have had a request to look at opening Roblox for use for programming in Yr10, Yr 11 and Yr 12 digitech classes. I notice there doesn't appear to be any techie conversation on it but would be interested to know if it has been looked at or is being used in any of your schools

Below is the answer  to my query to chatGPT and as I have no experience with the program I am looking for some assistance in processing this request. I am not even sure if it is allowed via N4L

Many thanks

vern Dempster

from chatGPT

Opening up student access to Roblox in a school environment—especially in a secondary school like Mahurangi College—raises several technical, pedagogical, and pastoral issues. Here is a breakdown of the key concerns, risks, and possible mitigations:

---

🔐 1. Security and Network Management

Issues:

• Bypasses to Unrestricted Content: Roblox games can link to or simulate websites, chats, and media that may bypass filtering tools (e.g. N4L).

• Data Privacy: Student-created accounts may leak personal information or be targeted by phishing through game messages or fake login pages.

• Bandwidth Consumption: Games are graphic- and data-heavy, risking network slowdown during school hours.

Mitigations:

• Limit access to specific subdomains or use Roblox Education accounts.

• Use deep packet inspection and DNS-layer security via N4L or Palo Alto to enforce safer access.

• Restrict access to certain hours or network VLANs.

---

🧠 2. Educational Value and Curriculum Fit

Issues:

• Perceived Distraction: Roblox is often seen as purely recreational unless clearly integrated into learning outcomes.

• Inconsistent Quality: Educational value varies wildly between experiences; many are low-quality or inappropriate.

Mitigations:

• Use Roblox Education materials: https://education.roblox.com — includes coding, game design, and digital citizenship resources.

• Curate a whitelist of approved experiences (e.g., physics simulations, programming challenges).

---

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 3. Student Safety and Wellbeing

Issues:

• Online Chat Risks: Live chat and messaging can expose students to inappropriate content or grooming risks.

• Peer Conflicts: In-game bullying or exclusion can mirror real-world issues and be harder to monitor.

Mitigations:

• Require under-13 accounts with parental restrictions or use a school-managed login system (if available).

• Disable in-game chat via account settings or the school’s firewall (where possible).

• Incorporate digital safety education alongside any Roblox usage.

---

🎮 4. Content Moderation and Control

Issues:

• User-Generated Content (UGC): Students can access or create violent, sexualised, or otherwise inappropriate content, often before moderators catch it.

• No School-Wide Admin Panel: Roblox doesn’t offer school-level control like Minecraft: Education Edition or Google Workspace.

Mitigations:

• Only allow Roblox Studio (coding/game development tool) for student projects—not the game client.

• Consider using sandboxed environments for class projects (e.g., allow access only on certain Macs, under teacher supervision).

---

🏫 5. School Policy and Governance

Issues:

• Policy Misalignment: Most Acceptable Use Agreements (AUA) do not explicitly allow games like Roblox.

• Parental Concerns: Some parents may object to game-based learning or view Roblox negatively due to media reports.

Mitigations:

• Update your Digital Use Policy with clear parameters for educational use of platforms like Roblox.

• Gain Board and leadership buy-in for any pilot programs.

• Communicate transparently with whānau about the purpose, supervision, and expected learning outcomes.

---

⚙️ Recommendations for Mahurangi College

• Block Roblox by default via N4L, and only allow it on isolated test devices for staff evaluation or tech-integrated lessons.

• Pilot in a Digital Tech class: Use Roblox Studio for game development aligned with the NZ Curriculum (e.g. AS91906 – develop a computer program).

• Supervised access only: Ensure a teacher is present and Roblox is used with clear learning objectives.

• Do not allow personal accounts on school devices—use managed accounts or discourage login altogether.

---

[d.keen...@gc.ac.nz]

Roblox became a bit of a problem on this end, so we had to block access.

Having said that, we do use MineTest (now Luanti), which allows modding and programming in Lua; it's a decent language.

It runs on basically anything, and you can make self-hosted servers, which can be restricted as necessary; setup pre-done worlds for a class, tear them down and revert to the templates afterwards.

I run our one atop a free Oracle server, which more than does the job for the excessive map size we are using.

Regards,

David Keenleyside, BSc CS & IS, CTech

ITP Associate

EFF Member

ICT Technician

Glenfield College

PO Box 40176 (Kaipatiki Rd)

Glenfield, Auckland City 0629

Ph:       +64 9 444 9066 ext 677

DDI: +64 9 441 9779

Email:    d.keen...@gc.ac.nz

https://itp.nz/CTech/NZ160799

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-keenleyside-626871/

The Three O’s of Backup: Online, Offline, Off-site.

The Three RA’s of Cloud: Run Anywhere, Run Anytime, Run Agnostic.

“When you're working as part of a team, one of the things to expect is that you should share information freely with your colleagues and that they'll share information freely with you.” - Google

[Vern Dempster- Mahu]

Thanks David

I hope others will tell me whether they have open, controlled or no access to roblox at their school

I think what we have a few Yr 9 students showing us what they have created in roblox and questioning the worth of doing yr10 Digitech

Many thanks

Vern

[d.keen...@gc.ac.nz]

It's Interesting your students are questioning yr 10 DigiTech... we're looking at compressing the later year levels down by one, so Year 13 is freed up for more interesting things.

However, the Year 9s and 10s really do need a proper foundation :)  [Knowing how to check disk space, use folders, and organise files comes to mind.]

Regards,

David Keenleyside, BSc CS & IS, CTech

ITP Associate

EFF Member

ICT Technician

Glenfield College

PO Box 40176 (Kaipatiki Rd)

Glenfield, Auckland City 0629

Ph:       +64 9 444 9066 ext 677

DDI: +64 9 441 9779

Email:    d.keen...@gc.ac.nz

https://itp.nz/CTech/NZ160799

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-keenleyside-626871/

The Three O’s of Backup: Online, Offline, Off-site.

The Three RA’s of Cloud: Run Anywhere, Run Anytime, Run Agnostic.

“When you're working as part of a team, one of the things to expect is that you should share information freely with your colleagues and that they'll share information freely with you.” - Google

[Jonathan Churton]

Blocked here at WHS. Students just end up playing games in it... Hasn't been any request by our Digital Tech teachers to allow it.

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Jonathan Churton

Senior ICT Systems Engineer

Lighting and Sound Engineer

Wellington High School

Work: 02825508921 or Ext 887

[Vern Dempster]

Thanks Jonathan

Appreciate the feedback

Ngā mihi nui

Vern

Vern Dempster | Te Kura Tuarua o Mahurangi - Manager Information Services and L3Web Teacher | Ph. +64 9 425 8039 ext 721 | 021 769 314

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