
When Goodnotes, the developer behind a popular handwritten note-taking app, discovered that millions of teachers were utilizing their product in educational settings, the company identified a promising opportunity.
Minh Tran, Chief Operating Officer at Goodnotes, noted that educators were creatively adapting the app’s “presenter mode” to function as a digital whiteboard for teaching purposes. Teachers constitute a significant portion of Goodnotes’ user base, which comprises 24 million monthly users globally.
In response, Goodnotes launched Goodnotes Classroom in August on a trial basis. This platform supports teachers throughout the various phases of a lesson, including preparation, delivery, and assessment. Educators can craft lesson plans, distribute assignments to students, and rapidly grade works using a newly integrated AI tool. Moreover, teachers have the ability to share a student’s work with the entire class via the Goodnotes platform to enhance the learning experience.
Tran emphasized the company’s goal to make the product user-friendly for teachers to ensure a swift and seamless onboarding process. However, there was a challenge since early adopters, who had been creatively modifying the app, were already technologically adept. Tran highlighted the effort to engage less tech-savvy teachers to gather their feedback.
To better understand the practical use of the app in educational settings, Goodnotes transformed one of their meeting spaces into a simulated classroom where developers could observe teachers in action. Rowena Chung, the team leader for Classroom, mentioned that this approach provided valuable insights for improving the app.
Goodnotes trialed Classroom in 16 schools in Hong Kong, all of which adopted the software upon its official release. The product is now being utilized in schools across regions such as Singapore, Taiwan, Germany, and the U.K.
Goodnotes was founded by Steven Chan in 2011, a year after Apple introduced the iPad. Chan, a mathematics student in Australia at the time, sought a better handwriting app for the device. In 2020, the startup secured $6 million in seed funding from Race Capital, and two years later, its app was awarded Apple’s “iPad App of the Year.”
The company is now channeling investments into AI technology, including the acquisition of dropthebit, a South Korean startup specializing in AI to summarize meeting and video content into notes.
Recently, Goodnotes launched several AI-powered services, such as an AI assistant capable of responding to prompts using handwritten notes as a data source. The app allows users to effortlessly modify, align, and adjust the flow of their handwritten text, similar to resizing a digital text box.
Tran clarified that the AI features in Goodnotes Classroom are intended to serve as a supportive tool for teachers, rather than a substitute. He advised designers to prioritize user empowerment over technology for its own sake. Ultimately, he stated, AI should enable and support users in achieving their objectives within the app.