Roblox uses popular game platform to back new kids' projects

With its Lego-like avatars and easy-to-learn coding for budding programmers, the online gaming app has become a thriving clubhouse for young gamers, most of them no older than 16.

Roblox is already a venue where students learn computer coding skills while designing games to share with friends at the online venue.

Projects receiving the initial set of grants from a $10 million pool from Roblox included a "Destination Mars" journey being created by the Museum of Science in Boston.

The vision is to let students virtually explore the International Space Station and work together to develop systems for supporting human life on that planet, a description of the project indicated.

"Instead of reading about ancient Rome, for example, students will be able to go there and explore the Colosseum together," founder and chief executive David Baszucki said in a blog post.

The goal is to have 100 million students learning on the Roblox platform by the end of this decade, with an eye toward a future of learning happening in the immersive online worlds, said Roblox's Rebecca Kantar.