Why Classroom Token Hub was built
Classroom Token Hub was originally developed in 2024 as a personal project to manage our classroom economy. While there are a few others existing platforms, we couldn't find one that has all the features we need along with the transparency we want our student to see. We also find most platforms design their user interface to be either too childish or too sterile.
We started with a simple question: How can we design a classroom economy system that respects teacher agency, follows clear and explicit rules, provides meaningful guidance, and protects user privacy?
That question turns out to be more challenging to solve than we have anticipated. That question is also what guides the development of Classroom Token Hub. Building on the same features as our first version, we have focused our attention on making the platform more stable, more reliable, more trustworthy, and more easy to use.
This is Version 2.0 of Classroom Token Hub.
Design Principles
Our design is guided by three core principles that ensure a balance between educational value and operational reliability.
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Privacy First
If we don't need it, we don't ask for it. If we don't use it, we remove it. Classroom Token Hub is designed to operate with the least amount of personal data as possible while maintaining its usability.
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Teacher Agency
Teachers are the sole authority within a classroom. Classroom Token Hub is designed to support teachers' decision-making by providing recommended values and suggestions. However, it does not apply those decision for the teachers nor does it override their decisions.
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Deterministic Architecture
We don't believe in mutations without trace or reason. When something changes, it is always logged, tagged, and explained in Classroom Token Hub. This means you will be able to explain to your students why their account balance has changed.
Core Features
Just because a feature can exist doesn't mean it should exist. Classroom Token Hub designed the system to be deterministic and transparent. This means teachers can spend more time teaching and less time figuring out what went wrong.
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Attendance-Based Payroll System
Configure pay rate, frequency, and limits. Run payroll automatically or manually based on recorded active time.
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Economic Balance and Insight
Helpful metrics to understand the health of your classroom economy. Adjust economic pressure and rebalance pricing with one-click
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Obligations Management
Set up recurring rent and optional insurance products to bundle class perks, manage risks, and encourage prioritization
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Classroom Stores
Create and manage different types of store items. Set expirations for limited-time offers and track all redemptions.
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Hall Pass Management
Assign starting hall pass, set limits on queue and simultaneous passes, monitor student status and movements, provide external verification.
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Banking and Transactions
Manage savings interest rates, set rules on fees and penalty, examine and manage all transactions.
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Individual Bank Accounts
Receive payroll, transfer between accounts, earn interests, and examine transaction history. Saving account also acts as overdraft protection (if enabled).
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Work and Productivity
Clock in daily to receive your classroom currency at a set interval set by your teacher. You can also manage your hall pass usage and request to use a hall pass.
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Classroom Store
Use your earned classroom currency to purchase items, pay for obligations, or even pitch in to unlock a collective goal item.
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Insurance & Claims
Learn real-world risk management by purchasing optional insurance policies to cover unexpected classroom fines.
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Mobile Friendly App
Installable directly on iOS and Android devices. Keep track of your finances on the go with a seamless mobile experience.
Under the Surface
Surprises are great for parties, but not for software that classrooms depend on. Born out of real-world classroom settings with hundreds of curious minds, we have designed our system to expect chaos while staying calm. We accomplish this by enforcing the the mantra "One domain, one authority" so every action has an actor.
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Ledger-Based Records
Every transaction is recorded permanently and can be traced back to its source. Records are protected against accidental modification and unauthorized tampering.
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Strict Classroom Boundaries
When a teacher creates a class, a unique Class ID is generated as the canonical reference for the class. This Class ID acts as a world barrier that defines the scope of the class. In effect, each class acts as an independent economic universe that has no outside awareness.
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Capabilities-Based Access Control
In Classroom Token Hub, all actions require explicit context to be present before proceeding. If the context look up fails, the actions is rejected. We do not infer user identity from other data sources.
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Single-Session Enforcement
Classroom Token Hub is designed to only allow one active session at a time by assigning each new session a nonce. When a student attempts to open a session on another device or window, the previous session nonce is automatically invalidated.
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No Archival Records
When a teacher deletes their class, all data associated with that class is permanently deleted. We do not keep any records of past classes or transactions. Student will continue to have access in app through other classes. If the student loses their last associated class, their account will be automatically deleted.
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One Account, Multiple Classes
Students only need a single login account to join multiple classes with different teachers. Each class economy runs independently, but logging in is simple.
Yes, you too can troubleshoot
Classroom Token Hub operates closer to a self-serve system than a typical educational technology. While we do not have a dedicated customer support team like other platforms, we have built the tools you need to troubleshoot efficiently and effectively.
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Feature-Specific Help Drawer
All major feature pages have a Need Help button that opens a right drawer with context-specific help. This drawer is designed for quick reference and troubleshooting. A full guide for each feature is available and reachable via the link attached to the page.
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Complete User Documentation Site
In addition to help drawers, we maintain a comprehensive documentation site that covers every feature in detail. This site is regularly updated to reflect new features and improvements. The documentation site is also routinely tested for broken links and outdated information.
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Teacher-Mediated Ticket Escalation
When students encounter issues, they will first file a support ticket. The support ticket is routed to the teacher for triage first. If the teacher cannot resolve the issue, they can then escalate the ticket to our support team. This ensures that the teacher is always in the loop and protects student privacy.
Centralized Economic Engine
Classroom economies naturally drift as attendance patterns, spending habits, pricing, and participation change. The Centralized Economic Engine helps teachers monitor economic health, identify imbalances, and maintain a fair and sustainable classroom economy.
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Classroom Wage Index (CWI)TM
What is the maximum earning potential per week?
CWI is the economic reference point for your classroom economy. It measures the weekly earning potential of a student with perfect attendance and provides a consistent benchmark for pricing, rent, rewards, and financial planning.
This concept was developed to address one of the most challenging aspects of managing a dynamic classroom economy: How much do I charge for certain things? What does a dollar actually represent in my classroom economy?
Because worrying about pricing is the last thing a teacher wants to do.
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Economic Policy and Balancer Tool
How much economic pressure should students feel?
Riding on the foundation of CWI, the Economic Policy tool allows teachers to set the macroeconomic pressure of the economy by adjusting the ratio of spending to CWI to create a comfortable, default, and tight economy.
In addition, the Balance Tool helps teacher fix any pricing that were out of alignment with the current economic pressure to ensure the functioning of the economy.
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Classroom Economics Indicators
Is my economy thriving, struggling, or stalling?
If CWI and Economic Policy represents the monetary dimension of the economy, the Economic Indicators surface student behaviors as a result of those policies.
Teacher can view indicators such as participation rate, money velocity, earning potential, and budget survival rates with clear explanations on why they matter, and suggested actions.
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Economic Invariant Checker
Can we trace all the money in the economy?
Some might call this an overkill, but Classroom Token Hub treats transaction record and transactional lineage very seriously We have developed a tool that runs an automated suite of deterministic checks to guarantee the mathematical and logical integrity of your classroom economy.
When inconsistencies are detected, the system will automatically report them visibly and publicly on our status page.
We are not an edtech company
"We" is just a single full-time classroom teacher who believes in making something better for other teachers.
The royal "We" is just convention.
Classroom Token Hub came into existence because a full-time high school teacher got annoyed with the existing classroom economy ecosystem and thought, "fine, I will build one myself."
During the first year of development, this platform was tested in a real classrooms with real students. We encountered countless edge cases, failed assumptions, migration challenges, and more than a few bugs. Each one helped shape the system into what it is today. At the same time, our architectural sense got stronger, cleaner, and more refined. All the features you see today is the product of real-world student adversarial testing in a high school setting.
We hope you find this tool useful for your own classroom use. We built Classroom Token Hub to be your classroom economy system, reimagined.