The platform on the Internet to exchange notes
Studying is not as straightforward as it seems. The different nuances and specificities of different subjects or courses always involve several dimensions and questions relating to topics and methods. And sometimes it is difficult to solve these issues individually. This was the perfect context for the Grabmark.
Operation since October last year, the Grabmark is a project created in order to facilitate access to knowledge that can be shared by students across the country. In an interview with Quero Estudar Melhor, Alexandre Sousa, one of the people in charge of the project, explains that this is a "collaborative study platform that aims to connect all students working on the same subjects or disciplines."
He reveals that the platform is free and will be extended to all students "who are part of the Portuguese curriculum, from 5th graders to higher education students." After the students register, they will have access to the plans of their subject and can choose the notes or exercise they prefer. The tool works through an evaluation model that categorises the content provided by users, in order to highlight the best study material classified.
There is also a strong Facebook component to allow students to "work together" and clarify doubts that sometimes "are common to all of them." Alexandre Sousa also believes that the initiative is timeless since the questions of students today may be similar to the users of the future.
Heading to Brazil
Grabmark was created by a group of former students of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, who had the idea back in 2003, when faced with the the lack of mechanisms for online collaboration. However, at the time they did not move forward due to the "lack of resources". When in 2010 they realised that the problem persisted they decided to implement the idea.
Currently available for the Faculties of Engineering, Science and Economics of the University of Porto, the startup has about 1000 users and received a proof of confidence for the future at a corporate level, with the support of INESC TEC and after winning a place in the IdeaMove, a competition of business ideas promoted by the TEC-EMPREENDE project. Alexandre Sousa admits that these relations were important to overcome gaps that the group had in terms of the "financial and business plan."
Plans for the future include increasing the number of national users and extend the platform "very soon" to elementary and high school. Another goal is trying to enter the Brazilian market, which, according to the manager of Grabmark, is "very challenging".
Over the next month Grabmark will launch a mobile app for iOS and Android.
Expresso, 4 April 2013
