HSC becomes a reality (2 Viewers)

[Lazarus]

HSC becomes a reality

STUDENTS throughout NSW will be vying for fame and fortune in a new online competition launched by iStudy Australia.

The competition, dubbed "BigBlogger" after the reality TV show which inspired its creation, will see nine HSC students maintaining personal online journals or 'blogs' through the student website boredofstudies.org.

The blogs will chronicle the students' journeys as they progress through the HSC and will include intimate details of their thoughts and life events.

Members of the boredofstudies.org website will have the ability to cast votes for the blog of their choice, with the author of the most popular blog receiving a fully-paid "Schoolies" Gold Coast holiday for themselves and five of their friends. Monthly prizes are expected to feature Apple iPods, PlayStation Portables, and the soon to be released Sony Reader.

Website administrator James King said that expectations were high and that the initial response had been very positive. "Students are always trying to tell their own story," he said. "We've just made it easier for them to do so. And we've made it a bit more exciting for everyone else in the process."

The next step will be to select the nine participants from amongst hundreds of eager applicants. Applications are open exclusively to 2006 HSC students and will continue to be accepted until 6.00pm on Friday, 24 February.

The competition will run from March until the end of the examination period in November, and will be sponsored by organisations with an interest in targeting the high school demographic.

Details can be found at www.boredofstudies.org.

 

[AsyLum]

http://www.boredofstudies.org/bigblogger.php

 

[bubz :D]

yes, it's up!

kudos to the admins for all their hard work <3 we stayed up last night working on the FAQ (yes, it is quite hard to think up questions for something you know so much about), as well as other things. you're welcome to post any questions here!

 

[Captain pi]

FAQ - personal information

Q: To what extent will my personal details be published?

Your first name, school and HSC courses are the only pieces of information that we will require you to make public. Everything else will be up to you.

I don't think the blogger's school should be made public. Given that, in a single school, most students' patterns of study are unique, it will be easy to identify the blogger. Such a veil of anonymity would disinhibit the bloggers to be more open and honest about their teachers and relationships—of whom they would be less likely to criticial. After all, the whole point of the exercise is to provide other students with an insight into details of students' lives so intimate they would not normally wish to disclose them to their friends etc.

I appreciate that it will be important to ensure the bloggers are actually HSC students, but information sufficient to ascertain this can be kept confidential by the administrators.

 

[AsyLum]

Re: FAQ - personal information

I don't think the blogger's school should be made public. Given that, in a single school, most students' patterns of study are unique, it will be easy to identify the blogger. Such a veil of anonymity would disinhibit the bloggers to be more open and honest about their teachers and relationships—of whom they would be less likely to criticial. After all, the whole point of the exercise is to provide other students with an insight into details of students' lives so intimate they would not normally wish to disclose them to their friends etc.

I appreciate that it will be important to ensure the bloggers are actually HSC students, but information sufficient to ascertain this can be kept confidential by the administrators.

I think that fails on two counts,

a) you still have their names
b) they're going to want people to vote for them, thereby revealing themselves anyway

 

[stazi]

Re: FAQ - personal information

Actually, perhaps we can discuss this later.
Lots of people share the same first name. However, in a school there may only be one or two people with the same name.
I think we can get much juicier blogs if we don't publicate the school.
Then again, I don't think many people will mind.

 

[AsyLum]

Re: FAQ - personal information

I guess we could supplant it to general terms, such as "rural student of the something area" and keep the information private for verification reasons/personal?

 

[stazi]

Re: FAQ - personal information

Ohh actually area isn't a bad idea. John from Penrith (Penrith being the outer West).

Oh and everyone, spread the word around: lots of prizes to win, lots of fun to be had. This is going to be big

 

[transcendent]

Re: FAQ - personal information

What about us tertiary students? Do you not care about the transition from secondary school to tertiary education? What about secondary to the workforce or tertiary to the workforce? I'm extremely cut. Oh and Babu, nice avatar

PS: What if they are BOS famous and get votes based on how popular they are on BOS?

 

[Wolfowitz]

Re: FAQ - personal information

What about us tertiary students? Do you not care about the transition from secondary school to tertiary education? What about secondary to the workforce or tertiary to the workforce? I'm extremely cut. Oh and Babu, nice avatar

PS: What if they are BOS famous and get votes based on how popular they are on BOS?

I agree. Who has time to write a blog in Year 12? Especially a kick-ass, iPod-worthy one?

Quick, someone give me $500 an I'll start one for my first year of Uni.

 

[beckywecky]

Whoa, what a great idea. I do agree, however, that a lot of year 12 students don't really have the time to write blogs... But alas, those like me, who are focused on their HSC but love writing online journals and procrastinating, will definitely find the time.

Sounds good!

 

[¬_¬]

I hope there's a good mix of students from various backgrounds like... private, public, selective, etc... it'l be interesting to read. I'd join but I'm too old =(

 

[stella8h8chang]

OMG...I WANT TO DO THIS!

But what really sucks is the "written parental consent" thing. No way will my parents allow me to publish a public blog (my LJ is friends-only, and they don't know about it - I shouldn't be doing it, but I do...).

**tear**...I'm guessing it's because of the release of details, isn't it? **cries**

Anyhow, it looks v.v. cool...better than Big Brother anyhow. I just hope you choose people who write in good English so that it may improve our reading skills during the HSC.

 

[stazi]

Re: FAQ - personal information

I agree. Who has time to write a blog in Year 12? Especially a kick-ass, iPod-worthy one?

Quick, someone give me $500 an I'll start one for my first year of Uni.

They have lots of time to post on these forums in Year 12. There is lots of spare time available - no one studies 24/7, even those who attain 100UAI scores.

The prizes will also provide incentives to write (I mean, who wouldn't want a schoolies trip of this magnitude!)

 

[Trina*17*1988]

This looks very cool. I think my parents will let me, as long as I don't write about them! Don't have a scanner though, gosh, might have to use...real mail.

 

[pLuvia]

Sound's like a good idea, but I'm not the kind of person who writes these kinds of things

 

[Antler]

Can we vote to kick people if they don't write enough?

 

[iambored]

Re: FAQ - personal information

Actually, perhaps we can discuss this later.
Lots of people share the same first name. However, in a school there may only be one or two people with the same name.
I think we can get much juicier blogs if we don't publicate the school.
Then again, I don't think many people will mind.

There can also be complications with the school itself if the school's name is mentioned and any information is made public that they don't consider appropriate or that will tarnish the school's image. I like the idea of just mentioning the area of the state that the student is from.

I think it's a good idea and if the right students are chosen the blogs will be very entertaining. Most people love reading other people's blogs.

 

[stazi]

This looks very cool. I think my parents will let me, as long as I don't write about them! Don't have a scanner though, gosh, might have to use...real mail.

Why would you need a scanner? This is an online blog, thus we would like to see what kind of entry you can write using the internet (although, I suppose it could be creative if you have a hand-written online blog)

 

[hipsta_jess]

I don't think school should be published...remember the chaos when that chick from Barker posed in her school uniform, thereby bringing the school into disrepute...we don't want the kiddies getting in trouble from their schools for spilling any goss.