Kent State alumnus Michael Matousek had a vision: to offer college students diligent in note taking the ability to profit from their time spent taking notes in class.

Kent State alumnus Michael Matousek had a vision: to offer college students diligent in note taking the ability to profit from their time spent taking notes in class.

Matousek graduated from Kent State in 2010 with a finance degree. He is the founder of Flash Notes, an online database where students can upload their class lecture notes, set a price for them and reap monetary reward every time someone downloads the notes. He started the business venture one year ago and said, “it’s been an amazing opportunity to do something cool.”

To date, Flash Notes has experienced more than 3,000 downloads and currently caters to 12 universities in Ohio, including Ohio State University and The University of Akron.

The Flash Notes concept may sound like a student’s dream come true, but some people are skeptical about it. Alison Shields, a second year Ph.D. student who is teaching a section of consumer behavior this semester, is one of those skeptics.

“I think it’s very risky to just assume that notes you get off the Internet are going to be complete and they are going to be accurate for what the professor is teaching,” Shields said.

Professors are always adapting the way they teach to better coincide with the way students learn in the classroom, she said.

University of Akron graduate Carly Fidel was frustrated with the concept.

“You’re already paying a shit ton of money to be in college,” she said. “Suck it up, go to class and take the notes for yourself. There’s no guarantee the person you’re getting the notes from even interprets the information the correct way.”

That doesn’t mean the site will not come in handy for those students caught in an unfortunate situation, like business management major Mike Stein.

Stein’s computer crashed one night while studying for a legal environment of business exam, but he was able to utilize a friend’s computer to purchase the study guide from flashnotes.com.

“I had seriously been working on the study guide all day when my computer bit the dust,” Stein said. “I started freaking out and then I remembered someone telling me about Flash Notes. I was so lucky the study guide was on there. It saved me from having to re-do like seven hours of work.”

Matousek and the Flash Notes crew do not condone students posting tests, test answers or any copyrighted material on the site. He said students that violate the terms of use do not receive compensation for the downloaded notes.

“As a learning tool I think it’s fine, just as long as it’s used as a supplement and not a crutch,” Shields said.

She suggests that students who struggle with a concept in a class contact their instructors during office hours or by e-mail before resorting to Flash Notes.

Flash Notes has teamed up with the Youngstown Business Incubator, a nonprofit corporation that offers resources for people with business ideas with great potential.

“They fund everything for us. They give us office space, furniture, printing, people, marketing money, you name it. They just take companies they think are good ideas and try to blow them up,” Matousek said.

Contact Morgan Galloway at [email protected].