There is now another option for students unable to make it to class. Note Solution is a website that allows students to share notes and study guides online using a credit based system.
“When they first sign up [students] get 200 credits and these credits are when you download notes from the site,” said Kevin Wu, U of T 2010 alumnus and co-founder of Note Solution. “When you run out of credits you can upload your own notes and you can gain credits.”
Wu co-founded the company with Jack Tai — a former U of T classmate — after seeing a way to improve the undergraduate experience. “We were just thinking back to our first year at university and thinking if only we had some source for our class notes it would have really helped us with our first-year grades.”
Wu adds that the program is designed for first- and second-year students who may not be as familiar with the university. “They might not know a lot of people in their class.”
Gavin Nowlan, President of the Arts and Science Student Union, is skeptical as to whether students will use the site. “I know a lot of students are just very weary of sharing notes with people in their own classes let alone people around the university,” said Nowlan.
Wu shares Nowlan’s concern that U of T may not be the right environment to support Note Solution.
“I’ve heard from a number of students that U of T […] keep to themselves and people don’t really want to share information with other people because having that information gives them the leg up,” said Wu.
Professor of Sociology Robert Brym cautions that if students choose to use the site, it will not necessarily improve their classroom performance.
“Note-takers have to figure out which ideas are significant, translate important ideas into their own words, and record them. These activities embed ideas in memory,” said Brym in an email to The Varsity. “The more you rely on someone else’s notes, the less thoroughly you will learn the material.”
“My guess is that 10–20 per cent of students in more introductory courses don’t care. […] They just want to pass and they will like Note Solution,” added Brym. “Most students are too smart and too highly motivated to rely on such an easy fix.”
“If you can’t pay attention and take notes in a lecture you should be thinking about why you’re in that class in the first place,” says Nowlan, who added that through Accessibility Services there are already services in place for students legitimately unable to take notes.
“If you have a reason for not being able to take notes […] the university already has free systems that provides you with detailed notes from another member of class at no cost to you, and also at no risk of losing the intellectual property rights [of your notes],” said Nowlan. “It takes that one step of walking over to Accessibility Services or to the professor in the class.”
The terms and conditions on the company’s website state that when a student uploads content they transfer ownership of the content to Note Solution with an irrevocable, royalty-free right and licence to commercially profit from the content.
Nowlan predicts that Note Solution might come under fire if users begin to upload lecture slides or other materials produced by instructors. While the website asks users to refrain from uploading assignments, past exams, and lecture slides, the terms and conditions state that Note Solution “does not review or evaluate the accuracy of Content provided by the Notetakers.”
“Looking back at the early 2000s when ASSU was thinking of digitizing its past test library we were shut down immediately,” said Nowlan. “They were completely against us posting their tests online.”
Wu acknowledges that there is a risk of users uploading copyrighted material and is working with several volunteers to monitor content. “We try our best to keep all professors work and certain past tests off the site as we aren’t really sure how they might react to that.”
Wu predicts that the Note Solution has so far spent between $15,000 and $20,000 in production costs with most of the cost arising from web design and development. The site is also planning to offer $20 gift cards and Ipod Shuffles as prizes to students who upload enough of their notes. Wu says that the entire project is currently self-funded.
“Right now the biggest source of our funds is from our savings and friends and family.” Wu added that they are developing ways to save money in purchasing student prizes. “We’re trying to save on taxes and things so we might purchase them from other sources like Craigslist.”
The site is hoping to solicit advertising revenue once there are more users. “We’re aiming to get around 1000 students by the end of this month and I guess by the end of the year we’re hoping to get at least 2000 members,” said Wu.
Second-year student Anna Cunningham likes the idea of Note Solution. “In case I miss any classes for any reason, it’s nice to not have to wander around and offer to buy them off of people,” said Cunningham, who added that she would also consider uploading her notes to the website.
“I know a lot of the time I have my own thoughts and ideas for essays so I would definitely go through my notes and make sure they were just from the class but I wouldn’t mind otherwise because essentially it’s just public knowledge anyways.”
