Let's take a moment to give thanks to that friend whose notes invariably led to a bump in your marks or whose quick explainer just ten minutes before the exam instilled you with new confidence. Notefynd is an app that makes the ordeal of exchanging notes a much easier affair. "The problem is that, sometimes, students don't understand what is taught in class and turn to private tuitions or EdTech platforms," explains Adit Sreenivasan, Co-founder of the app. What else could come to the rescue is peer notes on Notefynd — currently available on the Google Play Store alone — that allows people to upload their notes and others to read them.
The seven-member team behind this platform grew more confident about their idea when they won the 2020 TiE Young Entrepreneurs (TYE) Virtual Competition and now, they are stepping into the big leagues. These students will be competing at the global TiE Young Entrepreneurs competition, slatted for next month, and they are supercharged for it. "Note-taking is the most human thing to do, as old as time itself. It could do better with technology's help," says Adit.
The idea took birth over several brainstorming sessions in April 2020 and since then, it has evolved into its present form. "Creators are encouraged to upload their notes for which they will earn basic points. At the same time, students who use these notes can like and comment on them. There is the 'Follow Creator' option too," says the 16-year-old. PDFs are their preferred and required format because of uniformity and clarity and the more these PDFs are spiced up with pictures, graphics and anything else that will grab and keep the attention of students, the better.
Currently, apart from the team members, there are three other note-creators and a total of 150 notes on this platform that has already crossed the 100 downloads mark. They are working out a procedure where the merit feature of the app can actually be used while applying for college applications. "It might not be possible with regards to government institutions, but it might work for engineering, management or private institutions. We are already in talks with a few management institutions to see how it might work out," says the class XII student of The Future Kids School in Hyderabad. Since this is in line with the new National Education Policy too, they are now hard at work for this feature.
.jpg?w=640&auto=format%2Ccompress)
What else can we expect from Notefynd in the future? They want to create a leaderboard that will display top note-creators and give them their due. Soon, creators will be able to put up short explainer videos as well which will help their cause and that of students. As far as the upcoming competition goes, the team will have to send a ten-minute video covering everything about the app and there will be a one-minute live elevator pitch contest too. All in all, exciting times ahead for this young start-up.
Different types of note-making:
- The Cornell method: Divide the page into three sections, namely notes, cue and summary
- Flow notes: This is similar to flow charts, full of doodles, arrows, bubbles, graphics and more
- Bullet journaling: Go crazy with points and sub-points. Use different colour pens too
- Free verse: Just keep writing. Underline and circle phrases or words for emphasis
For more on them reach out at adit.sreenivasan@gmail.com
