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Name: NoteWagon
Quick Pitch: NoteWagon is a peer-to-peer network that turns student notes taken into cash.
Genius Idea: The company encourages student collaboration in academics by rewarding them with money.
As universities become more competitive amid a tough-hiring environment, students are faced now more than ever with the pressure to succeed in the classroom. To alleviate some of those pressures, a service called NoteWagon encourages — with cash — students to work together and exchange notes on various subjects.
The social platform is trying to redefine college education by offering students the ability to swap course content in a social manner. Students who take excellent notes in class and are willing to help their peers can upload notes and study guides from their university classes and share them with others. NoteWagon pays these students for their contributions and also extracts a small fee from the ones that access the notes.
Launched in Canada earlier this year, NoteWagon currently has approximately 30,000 users throughout nearly 30 colleges and universities in North America. A few of the most highly active Canadian schools are McMaster University, University of Waterloo, Ryerson University and University of Guelph.
"Students have to deal with a lot of pressure to perform well in academics and the decrease in professor-to-student ratios has added more stress for students," says Jamie Wang, founder of NoteWagon. "NoteWagon is a place that gives students an incentive to help each other by exchanging notes while also earning money."
Wang told Mashable they decided to reward contributors with money after realizing students are more likely to oblige if there is a financial incentive.
To use NoteWagon, students in North America create a profile that includes their school name, major and classes. They can then upload handwritten or typed notes to their designated courses and also participated in Q&A sessions and discussion boards. Students looking to access notes and study guides can preview them on the site before purchasing them.
If they decide they want an entire document, they have to use NoteWagon tokens to purchase and download them. Students can earn tokens by referring friends to the site or they can purchase tokens in packages. Based on the size of the package, NoteWagon takes a 30 – 50% cut of the price.
Choose from a range of notes and study guides.
Although students can sell their notes for whatever price they would like, NoteWagon provides price suggestions based on the types of notes uploaded. For example, $2 is recommended for a lecture summary, while $3 is standard for reading notes on each chapter. Meanwhile, $5 – $10 is expected for an exam study guide and $20 is typically charged for comprehensive course study guides. Note takers can choose to either receive a check in the mail or cash their earnings through PayPal.
Although course notes and study guides could potentially influence students to not go to class, Wang says he isn't worried about that happening.
"Shared notes are only based off of a student's interpretation of a lecture," says Wang. "Students have always used tutors and exam preps to help study for courses. NoteWagon is just another option that is more affordable for them."
Image courtesy of NoteWagon, NoteWagon
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The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
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