Bored of Studies
Encyclopedia
Bored of Studies is an Australian website
targeted at students in New South Wales
and Victoria
. It is prominent among students for its Student Assessment Modeller that calculates approximate Universities Admission Index
or Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank
results, and for hosting study notes for the New South Wales
Higher School Certificate courses. An extensive student community has evolved around its forum
, which is frequented by school students, teachers and a growing number of university
students. The site's name is a parody of the NSW Board of Studies, the governing organisation for the HSC.
, they were able to clearly see the lack of information that future HSC students would face. A desire to help address this lack of information was a prime reason behind the founding of Bored of Studies.. The site is owned and operated by iStudy Australia Pty Ltd, based in the Sydney CBD.
among students.
In 2005, a student's attempt to gain access to his raw HSC examination under freedom of information
laws drew controversy when the request was refused by the government. This followed the previous successful attempt by James King, one of the administrators on the Bored of Studies website, to obtain his raw marks. The information sparked debate about the standard of student responses that were given pass marks, with the then Federal Education minister Brendan Nelson
defending the students' right to know their marks.
collection of HSC notes, information and resources using the MediaWiki
software to allow contributions. Also in 2006, 'Premium membership' was introduced giving paid members access to additional content and features. The site was hacked in June 2010 and recovered in August of the same year, resulting in it being reinterfaced for better security and member navigation.
As of 2011 the site is mostly functioning, although many features have not been updated recently such as the Student Assessment Modeller. Many of the navigational features of the site are broken, such as the search function, and links to pre-2010 forum posts.
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
targeted at students in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
. It is prominent among students for its Student Assessment Modeller that calculates approximate Universities Admission Index
Universities Admission Index
The Universities Admission Index was used in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia, as the primary criterion for entry into most undergraduate-entry university programs...
or Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank
Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank
The Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank was the national Australian tertiary entrance rank, administered by Universities Australia...
results, and for hosting study notes for the New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
Higher School Certificate courses. An extensive student community has evolved around its forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
, which is frequented by school students, teachers and a growing number of university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
students. The site's name is a parody of the NSW Board of Studies, the governing organisation for the HSC.
History
The website was created on 5 March 2002 by four former HSC students who had completed their HSC in the previous year: Mark Czajkowski, James King, Tim Cheng and Ian Keong. Regarded as the successor to the popular "hscboardz" and "uniboardz" forums and the "hscstuff.cjb.net" resource library, the site's founders claim that because they were the first to sit a newly revised HSC syllabusSyllabus
A syllabus , is an outline and summary of topics to be covered in an education or training course. It is descriptive...
, they were able to clearly see the lack of information that future HSC students would face. A desire to help address this lack of information was a prime reason behind the founding of Bored of Studies.. The site is owned and operated by iStudy Australia Pty Ltd, based in the Sydney CBD.
Influence and criticism
Bored of Studies has become an increasingly popular site for HSC students, with a membership of over 240 000 and more than 7 million monthly hits. It is often recommended by teachers as a valuable resource containing past papers and practice essays. It has been suggested that an official bulletin from the NSW Universities Admissions Centre did much to popularise the site around the state.. There has been concern that the extensive subject notes available on the site could lead to cheatingCheating
Cheating refers to the breaking of rules to gain advantage in a competitive situation. The rules infringed may be explicit, or they may be from an unwritten code of conduct based on morality, ethics or custom, making the identification of cheating a subjective process. Cheating can refer...
among students.
In 2005, a student's attempt to gain access to his raw HSC examination under freedom of information
Freedom of information
Freedom of information refers to the protection of the right to freedom of expression with regards to the Internet and information technology . Freedom of information may also concern censorship in an information technology context, i.e...
laws drew controversy when the request was refused by the government. This followed the previous successful attempt by James King, one of the administrators on the Bored of Studies website, to obtain his raw marks. The information sparked debate about the standard of student responses that were given pass marks, with the then Federal Education minister Brendan Nelson
Brendan Nelson
Dr Brendan John Nelson is a former Australian politician and former federal Opposition leader. He served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives from the 1996 federal election until 19 October 2009 as the Liberal member for Bradfield, a northern Sydney seat...
defending the students' right to know their marks.
Recent developments
In 2006 Bored of Studies launched Biki (Bored of Studies Wiki), a wikiWiki
A wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
collection of HSC notes, information and resources using the MediaWiki
MediaWiki
MediaWiki is a popular free web-based wiki software application. Developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, it is used to run all of its projects, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Wikinews. Numerous other wikis around the world also use it to power their websites...
software to allow contributions. Also in 2006, 'Premium membership' was introduced giving paid members access to additional content and features. The site was hacked in June 2010 and recovered in August of the same year, resulting in it being reinterfaced for better security and member navigation.
As of 2011 the site is mostly functioning, although many features have not been updated recently such as the Student Assessment Modeller. Many of the navigational features of the site are broken, such as the search function, and links to pre-2010 forum posts.