# What is a 'channel' on Kolibri?

**URL:** <https://community.learningequality.org/t/what-is-a-channel-on-kolibri/167>\
**Category:** FAQ\
**Tags:** channels\
**Created:** [December 1, 2016, 11:17pm UTC](https://community.learningequality.org/t/what-is-a-channel-on-kolibri/167 "2016-12-01T23:17:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![laura](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/community.learningequality.org/laura/32/69_2.png) [@laura](https://community.learningequality.org/u/laura)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 11:17pm UTC](https://community.learningequality.org/t/what-is-a-channel-on-kolibri/167/1 "2016-12-01T23:17:23Z")

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Answer: A “ **channel** ” is a collection of content and metadata, organized into a “ **topic tree** ”. For example, the Khan Academy channel has 4 levels of nested topics:  
**Domain \> Subject \> Topic \> Tutorial**  
(e.g. “_Math” \> “Arithmetic” \> “Fractions_” \> “Comparing fractions”). A channel aligned to a specific state curriculum might instead be structured as:  
**Grade \> Subject \> Unit** (e.g. “_Fifth Standard” \> “Math_” \> “Unit 5”)

- A channel can consist of content from the many sources we make available (such as Khan Academy, CK-12 or TESSA, among others) and/or from your own materials (as long as they are in one of the following formats that we support thus far: MP4, MP3, EPUB, PDF, and ZIP (packaged HTML5)).

- You may also choose to pull select content from the existing content channels and create a new personalized channel for your learners. Kolibri Studio allows you to pick and choose specific content pieces and arrange them however you would like.

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**Author:** ![GLeinweber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f0a364/32.png) [@GLeinweber](https://community.learningequality.org/u/GLeinweber)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 11:07am UTC](https://community.learningequality.org/t/what-is-a-channel-on-kolibri/167/2 "2017-10-09T11:07:49Z")

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OK, I can see that structure and how it would work for my situation, for example I am doing a course for an “optometriic technician” so the 4 levels would be:  
iTech Crash Course \> Pretest \> Visual Acuity \> Snellan

I have both written material in PDF and in video in MP4 for this course. I have exam questions to ask to certify the learner has absorbed the material.

Where do I load this material, on what server and where?  
For the questions, what are markdown documents and / or exercise formats?

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**Author:** ![laura](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/community.learningequality.org/laura/32/69_2.png) [@laura](https://community.learningequality.org/u/laura)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://community.learningequality.org/t/what-is-a-channel-on-kolibri/167/3 "2017-10-09T18:34:03Z")

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Hi Gerry,

Thanks for your question! I’ll follow up with you individually on more information on this process.

Best,  
Laura

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**Author:** ![avidrucker](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/community.learningequality.org/avidrucker/32/911_2.png) [@avidrucker](https://community.learningequality.org/u/avidrucker)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 5:13pm UTC](https://community.learningequality.org/t/what-is-a-channel-on-kolibri/167/4 "2021-06-08T17:13:37Z")

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Are there any good links @laura that you may share with the broader community? I’m curious to follow in Gerry’s footsteps and create a course curriculum to deliver via Kolibri.