Online help SuperProf

✨ What is Pencil Spaces?

Pencil Spaces is designed to provide a smooth and engaging experience for your online lessons. As a student, you'll have full access to the virtual whiteboard, video chat, and collaboration tools during your lesson. However, some features, like recording the session, downloading the whiteboards, or changing the default view (camera or board), are only available to your tutor. Your tutor is there to guide the session and can manage the setup to best suit the lesson's needs.

For a full breakdown of every feature, check out the Pencil Spaces help centre.

🧠 How to Join a Pencil Space

Schedule your lesson through Superprof.

Go to the Superprof messages tab when it's time.

Click the “Join Lesson” button - it opens Pencil Spaces in a new tab.

Allow your browser to use your camera and microphone when prompted.
Allow Camera and Mic Access

⏱️ If you have entered the room before your tutor, you will need to wait for them to start the session before you can join.

In this case, you will see the following screen:
Call Not Yet Started

As soon as your tutor starts the call from their side, a new pop-up will appear and you’ll be able to begin your class 🙂

📌 Tip: You can run a quick test before class to check your mic and camera.

🖥 Default View

When you first launch a lesson in Pencil Spaces, the interface is designed to be intuitive and focused on collaboration. Here's what you’ll see by default:
Default View of Pencil Spaces

🧱 Main View: The Whiteboard – The workspace where you draw, write, and upload resources.

🎥 Camera View: Your video (and your tutor's) appears in a movable thumbnail.

🛠 Toolbar Overview

The central toolbar contains tools for:

Drawing

Adding text

Shapes

Uploading files

Selecting and moving objects

🧰 Key Features at a Glance

🔗 Browser-Based Access: No downloads required.

🖊️ Whiteboard: Real-time collaboration, exportable as PDFs.

📄 Document Sharing: Upload, annotate, and work with files live.

🖥️ Screen Sharing: Present visuals clearly.

💬 Chat: Use the text chat to drop messages or links.

📼 How to Record Lessons

Currently, this feature is only available for tutors. If you would like to have a recording of any of your lessons, you can ask your tutor to record them and share the downloaded file with you afterwards 😊

Tutors simply need to click on the three dots where the camera thumbnail is displayed in the top right-hand corner of the screen and select “Record”. The video files can be saved directly to their device!

⬇️ How to Download/Export Whiteboard

As a student, you are not able to download the whiteboards directly. However, your tutor is able to export your whiteboards before the end of your session in case you would like to reuse them in future. They can download them as PDF files and email them to you following the session.

🎥 How to Make Your Camera Full Screen

Click the maximise icon on your video thumbnail.
Maximise Camera View

Click “Go to Boards” in the lower left to return to whiteboard view.

📌 Please note: If your tutor is in Lead Mode, they will dictate what you see on screen. Lead Mode is a setting tutors can use to guide the flow of the lesson. When it's activated, everyone in the Space will follow the tutor's view. This means you'll see exactly what your tutor sees, whether it's the whiteboard, a document, or a shared screen.

While Lead Mode is on:

You won’t be able to change views independently (for example, switching between camera view and whiteboard view).

This helps keep everyone focused on the same material at the same time.

If you need to look at something else during the lesson, you can ask your tutor to briefly turn off Lead Mode to give you more flexibility.

📄 How to Share Documents

From the toolbar in the Boards view, you can upload PDFs, images, or other resources to your board to share with your students. You can view and annotate them live during your lesson!

💬 How to text chat with my tutor

You can find the chat button in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen.

🛠 Troubleshooting Tips

🔇 No sound? Check your mic settings, permissions, or refresh the page.

📷 Camera issue? Close other video apps and re-allow browser permissions.

🌐 Space not loading? Use a strong connection, refresh, and clear cache if needed.

❌ Disconnected? Just click “Join Lesson” again from the My messages section on your dashboard.

💡 Pro Tips

✅ Join a few minutes early to test your setup.

✅ Use a headset for clearer sound.

✅ Upload materials before class to save time.

✅ Use the whiteboard and screen sharing for a more dynamic experience.

🧾 Need More Help?

Still stuck? Contact us at hey@superprof.com with a brief description (screenshots help too!).

Start a video class