The idea of Notehall India came about in a somewhat unconventional way, yet the concept was something that most of us can easily relate to. The epiphany struck while watching a TV programme with family over dinner. Notehall was presenting its concept to a group of investors and the idea that students could get rewarded for sharing notes sounded more than interesting.
Sundeep Mahajan, the CEO of Notehall India thought about it some more and it made perfect sense. Good students already make notes, which the other students get photocopies of. Moreover with the kind of university structure in India, Notehall’s concept could provide the perfect platform for students to share notes. For example a student in Sri Aurobindo College (Delhi University) studying B.Com [Hons.] can now have access to notes from a student studying B.Com [Hons.] in SRCC! There is no way students from either of these colleges could share notes before Notehall India. The after seeing Notehall on TV the deal for brining the concept to India had begun and by mid 2010 the deal was done.
By February, 2011 www.notehallindia.com went live with a team of 3 in Delhi. In June, the Notehall India think tank came out with the DU Scholarships campaign. On the 21st of August we gave out 52 scholarships to students from colleges like St. Stephen’s, SRCC, LSR, Hindu, Hansraj, JMC, Miranda house etc in an event for Scholarship winners at the American Center, Connaught Place. For most this was the first pay cheque they ever got and it was aptly summed up by one happy winner when he said “The food joints don’t pay us for eating, the telecom companies don’t pay us for calling or messaging, but Notehall India pays us to STUDY!!” As part of the scholarship, winners had to upload notes on a weekly basis on Notehall India to share it with everyone else in the university.
The real fruit of all our efforts came in when the first batch of notes were uploaded. For the first time students made notes keeping in mind that they have to be shared with everyone in the university, notes that you will not find at any photocopy shop. Here are some of the documents that were uploaded, during the first week after the scholarships were issued.
Eco [Hons.] 1st year, Micro Economics – http://notehallindia.com/document/profile/id/579
B.Com [Hons.], BOM – http://notehallindia.com/document/profile/id/583
B.Com [Hons.] Macro Economics – http://notehallindia.com/document/profile/id/465
Eco [Hons.] Statistics in Economics – http://notehallindia.com/document/profile/id/581
Maths [Hons.] Differential Equations – http://notehallindia.com/document/profile/id/589
Journalism [Hons.] Korean Situation – http://notehallindia.com/document/profile/id/642
History [Hons.] History of India – http://notehallindia.com/document/profile/id/541
B.Tech CSE Chemistry, 1st year – http://notehallindia.com/document/profile/id/700
BBA (LLB) 1st year — Economics – http://notehallindia.com/document/profile/id/666
Similar notes for other subjects are also available on Notehall India.
We believe that by creating notes like the ones shown above, there is a twofold benefit for students. One, students learning and retention is enhanced while typing out their notes which manifest further benefits. Students know that their notes have value and the better their notes are the more they can earn through commission so they will include in their notes information from other books and sources as recommended by the professor and add that to their document to make it more beneficial to others students in turn increasing their own grasp of the subject. Second, by typing notes they are able to go over their notes which will be a regular revision of their course material. Second benefit is that they get a chance to earn money each time their document gets viewed. And the best part about this whole concept is that, students already make and share notes, so they’re not doing anything outside of what they’re already doing and are getting paid for it not to mention helping out other students in the university! When was the last time that happened? This will allow students to get financially independent from a younger age, instead of asking their parents for money all the time, they have a platform where they can earn without compromising their studies.
For students who are looking for notes, Notehall India will be the one stop shop where they can get the best notes from not just their class but their entire university, at the click of a button. Whether you are in a university like DU which has 83 colleges or Manipal University, you might not be able to get the best notes at all times. Ever been stuck at 1 am a night before the exam without notes of that one important chapter? Notehall India is the solution, where you can get those exact notes. We also noticed that students face some problems when they get their classmates notes —illegible handwriting, cluttered content, cuttings and abbreviations that only the maker of the notes knows the meaning to. With Notehall India, since students are typing the notes they will be clean, clear, and easy to understand without any acronyms that you don’t know. These notes are made specifically to share with the other students in the university and as compared to any other material found in photocopy shops. Unlike any notes found online, these notes are specific to your course, subjects and your next exam.
A frequently asked question is “how do I buy notes on Notehall India?” When the site was being designed, our team understood that students don’t need just one document at a point of time and that they don’t want to pull out their debit/credit card to purchase each document. So we came up with a credit system, whereby a student can use her/his debit or credit card to purchase a credit package, much like in a food court when you put in money into the card at the cash counter which can then be used repeatedly till the balance in the card finishes. There are 4 credit packages of Rs. 150 for 100 credits, Rs. 300 for 300 credits, Rs. 500 for 600 credits and Rs. 1100 for 1300 credits.
Notes can be found in a variety of formats like PDF, Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Wordpad and Notepad along with corresponding Apple applications and uploading a document is as easy as uploading a photo on your facebook profile.
Apart from providing students notes, Notehall India has partnered with Youth Ki Awaaz for DU Blog (www.dublog.in) which is an online magazine cum blog. It covers topics ranging from food and movie reviews to lifestyle and people. It also has a photography section which allows DU students to post pictures they clicked. A nice site for DU students where they can share their thoughts on living and letting live in Delhi.
Currently we are operating in Amity University, Delhi University, IP University and Manipal University and will be expanding to Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, and Pune amongst other cities soon. Notehall India — Earn together, Learn together!
DISCLOSURE:Â Notehall India is a partner organization of Youth Ki Awaaz.