Classnika is free for students. Teachers can use Classnika free of charge for a period of three months and then need to choose one of the paid plans.

 Classnika is not a general purpose video conferencing tool. It is an end-to-end e-Learning tool that includes management of classes, students, scheduling of classes, sharing class material, and it also includes a purpose-built video conferencing capability that allows teachers to run and manage their class efficiently.

Yes. With its multi-view technology, Classnika is designed to make it possible for the teacher and students to maintain facial contact while they can also see the other person’s environment, workbench, and hand and body movements. For example, in a private painting class, the tutor and students can join, each with two video channels. Each person will join with a front-facing channel that displays their face and also a channel that shows their canvas and their hand. In this manner, the student can follow the tutor’s hand movements and the tutor can correct the student as required.

Yes. Classnika is designed to prioritise sound quality for music classes. Combined with its multi-view technology, Classnika offers an immersive and high quality experience. For example, people use Classnika for piano lessons where the tutor and students maintain facial contact and at the same time view each other’s piano keyboard. This allows the teacher to help the students with their finger positioning, movement, and allows the teacher to demonstrate the correct techniques on their piano.

Our research has shown that students’ attention and participation improves when they can see the teacher in the virtual classroom and know that the teacher can see them. Classnika’s multi-view approach allows the facial contact between the teacher and the students to be maintained for the duration of the class. However, using additional cameras from everyday devices, a more immersive environment is created where the student can see the classroom, the teacher’s hands (for example for art and music) or body (for example for ballet) as the teacher demonstrates the skills.

You can certainly change the position of the camera, say as a piano teacher to display your piano when needed. This comes at the expense of losing facial contact. Maintaining facial contact throughout the session has been shown to improve focus and participation of students. Besides, changing views ‘mid-flight’ interrupts the flow of the class and is inconvenient for you, particularly if you need the student to do the same.

You can use most Android phones, tablets, iPhones and iPads with Classnika. Install Classnika on as many devices as you want. One device will be the master device which you should use as your main screen. If you have a tablet with a bigger screen, use that as your main device. Install Classnika on other tablets or phones and use them as additional cameras.

No. You can use Classnika with only one device (one camera). However, if you have an older phone or tablet or can borrow a household member’s device for the period of the class, then you should try Classnika’s multi-view feature for best results.

There are a range of very affordable stands and arms that can help with positioning your tablets and phones for a class. Search for ‘flexible mobile arm’ on eBay or Amazon or visit your local mobile shop. Using these inexpensive devices allows you to set up the class environment properly and predictably every single time.

Yes, you can add many students to your class. In fact, Classnika is designed to help you manage a classroom in a manner which is similar to a face-to-face class. Familiarise yourself with Classnika’s group management features. You can silence the class (preventing student cross-talk), put a student on the podium in front of the class, determine the main view displayed to your class (e.g. yourself, any one of your cameras or any one of the students’ cameras), you get notified when students have questions and virtually raise their hands, and many more features to run your class effectively.

Technically, it is unlimited. Your chosen plan may restrict the number of channels that can be in your class but assuming you are on the unlimited plan, you can have as many students connected with video channels, at the same time. In practice, your internet connection may impact the quality of the session if you have too many student video channels. You can turn off the video feed from students if you experience a lag. The students continue to see your channels and any other students whose video feeds are enabled. If you have a large class, start with no more than 8 active channels. This should be sufficient for most scenarios but feel free to experiment with more channels, if your internet connection allows that.

Classnika is designed with safety of users and in particular children in mind. Unlike most video conferencing applications, Classnika empowers the teacher to be in charge of the safety of their virtual class. There are no links or email invitations to be forwarded to anyone to prank a class. Classnika classes appear in the students’ schedule automatically when scheduled and authorised by the teacher. All users that participate in Classnika are registered and will have to authenticate themselves before they are allowed to join a class.

Yes. The teacher has the option of recording the classroom. The recording becomes available to all class participants. This is a great way to allow your students to review their lesson as needed.