Great Teaching Tool

[Maoman1]

Even though I am a junior in high school, I know of a great teaching tool. It can be used to create 3D models of pretty much anything. Please be aware that the site is a game site but it is recommended for school use. I myself am using it to build a model of a WWI battle map for American History. The site is called Roblox. It is basicly legos. It is easy to learn to use. It uses physics and lua scripting. it does need to download to computers but it is an awesome site. It is free and it is great for history, art, science, and even somewhat math. If you don't know how to use lua like me, you can get it from other people. My teacher is going to use it next year for his lessons.

[Maoman1]

Is this against the rules? If so I'll delete it. I don't want to lose my privileges.

[AtoZ]

I think that you have to have 10 posts (and the title "junior member" with that) to be able to post links....

As you can see, I'm a pretty new member here as well, but yesterday I was able to post a link.

Here's an idea for a post to get you to that golden number: how about describing that website a bit more? :))) It sounds interesting.

I really wish there were more students on this forum..it'd be great to get ideas like this from the young people we teach (sometimes, it's tough to get that in the classroom).

[Boxcar]

This is really cool. It does look like an awesome tool to use in the classroom.

[SS Rocks!]

http://www.roblox.com/

There goes my summer (I know, it's only January)...thanks a lot Maoman1... :D

It seems like it could be a lot of fun to mess with, regardless of its educational value. Thanks for the info!

[Maoman1]

Ok I'll try to describe it more. Roblox is a site that people use for a lot of stuff. Some people build a quiz where you have to answer a question to get past a wall. Others have tycoons. There are war games, driving games, swimming games, and someone was smart enough to use lua to make a tetris game outta legos. Also on the site, you get tix. These can be used to buy stuff for your avatar from the catalog. Some things you can't buy because it has already been taken off. To sell stuff, you do have to pay to be in builders club (bc). I myself am not in bc yet. There are contests on the site for a lot of the holidays. The prizes are mostly hats. With your avatar, you can change the color of your limbs, buy shirts, pants, t-shirts,(which go ontop of your shirt), and hats. If you want to build, you can go to models under the catalog and under that click best selling. Then you can pick out what you would like. If you want to build your own things, you can go to roblox studio under your start menu and go to your roblox page. Tbhen you can click edit to go to the editor. This is kind of hard to get used to but once you know how to use it, it makes life a lot easier.b If your good at lua scripting, it also gets rid of most of the hassles. If your not, then you can go to the models and look up what you want. If you can't find it then, go to the forums and see if anyone can help. I have a few accounts on the site. One happens to be the same name as me on this. Its my main one. My secondary one is Biosphere3. That is my project/building account. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. It takes a little bit to get used to.

[Maoman1]

I'm glad that there are very few students here. Otherwise, it wouldn't be the best idea because a lot of teens are disrespectful. Not all are, like Claire and I, but I know too many that are. Thats one of the reasons I like it here. Its almost all adults. This has so much more maturity than my classes. Some of my classmates would do nothing but complain about teachers on this.

Also, I only have access to a computer in the morning. Otherwise I'd be on more.

[Boxcar]

I adore Legos, so I joined. I do a lot of learning by just clicking on stuff and seeing what happens. It may take awhile to "get" the site... I did mess around with the MyPlace bit where you can move the Legos around, but I didn't save my changes.

[Maoman1]

If you want to learn about some tools, click on the build button on your profile and click the insert tab. Once you do that, you can look up and add in pretty much anything. Try looking up Teleport and Superjump. You have to click to use them. Also try mguns and hat givers. mguns are dual gatling guns and hat givers let you try on all the different hats. I don't remember if I already said this, but my account on there is maoman1. I use that name for almost everything. I haven't tried to look this up, but try youtube and look up roblox studio tutorials. If you go to my profile, you can add me as a friend. Just send me a message that says that you came from here. Just realize that since it is a game, There is a lot of kids. Some of them are very rude and annoying. If you notice, Your first friend is Builderman. If you go to his page, you can look at his favorite games and find all kinds of tutorials. If I can help anymore, let me know. I got lucky today and have been able to access a computer in all but one class. I probably wont be able to get on after 12:36. Right now its about 12:20. I will be on again tomorrow in the morning. Sorry, I'm babbling. I have A.D.D. and my meds (vyvanse) make me really get into something once I start. Let me know if you need help.

[Boxcar]

Okay, this is going to sound really sad... I can't figure out how to get my little Lego dude to start walking over to the Free Blocks bit where I was yesterday. I've got the green dot things, but he won't move. What are the green dots for? I can turn around with them I guess, but I'm not sure that is really the point of them...

Sorry. I'm usually not this dim. Perhaps I should look for a FAQ section... I did Video Google for tutorials, but there weren't a lot of hits. There was just stuff about building a plane upside-down. I don't even know why I'd want a plane! lol.

I don't mind if people are mean. That is kind of par for the course on the Internet. Besides, I sometimes think teenagers are a lot like toddlers... I mean that in the nicest way possible. It has only been a few years since I was one - a teenage not a toddler. Its just that like with twos you have to pick your battles just like with adolecents in addition to all the autonomy stuff.

[Maoman1]

The green dot can be used to walk, but I recomend another way. One thing about moving, hold the righ clicker and move your mouse to turn the camera and your character. The easiest way to move would be to either use the arrow keys, or the wsad keys. Spacebar makes you jump. the numbers 1-9 can be used to select tools that you have, or just click on them. Don't worry, I was just as oblivious when I started playing. This kid next to me had to teach me what to do and how to do it. Also, a few useful things I forgot. To drive a car, click on the right tool and press y to start. X stops the car, and to steer, hold down the left and right clickers, then turn your camera in the way you want it to go. The same goes with planes. The site has a wiki if you click on the help tab on the main site.