193 replies to this topic

[Paul]

Hey to every1 involved in running HSN...just out of curiosity, is the website goin to have any additional features included in it...eg more subjects, at more levels.... shop selling materials.....introduce university courses/general uni stuff eg unions, clubbing....... competitions....quizzes and so on .....etc????

What about advertising the site, it would make a lot more ppl visit if more knew skool notes were available....

I would appreciate, as I am sure we all would, if som1 could let us members know! thanx!

I can definitely see this website developing into summin big....even being famous!!

Any1 else got any other good ideas for the future of the site.

Thanks

Shandogg

[Shaun]

Any1 else got any other good ideas for the future of the site.

I have an idea, however I haven't fully thought about it.

Basically, it's an 'online' supported study.

The online supported studies could be arranged at specific times for each subject, i.e. Maths (Higher) at 6pm, Monday. The good thing about this is that it should hopefully make people visit the website on a regular basis, rather than just when the exams arrive. The supported studies could be ran by the moderators of the specific subject and/or anyone else willing to participate.

It could either be done via a chat room, or through the forums, however I think chat room sounds more appropriate.

During each session, people will state their problems, or anything that they want to revise and they will be assigned a person to help via private instant message/chatroom. It could even be done via MSN, where people can be 'invited' to the lesson.

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Another idea I have that is present on other forums that I visit:

Instead of having Supreme Member, Advanced Member etc, wouldn't it be better to have 'levels'?

ie. Level 1 - someone who has posted very little etc...etc...etc...

Levels can be incremented by posting. Also, on this forum you can vote if you found a post helpful. If someone finds you topic helpful, it helps to increment you level.

[Paul]

Good ideas, I like the supported study idea....I would be willing to visit them and helpout - even tho I will be goin to uni, I would still like to contribute summin back to this site!

Shandogg

[Ally]

A lot of study sites have links to this web-site from what I've seen - so that's good advertisement on the net.

But a good idea would be telling all schools about this site - don't know how you could get through to them all though.

fearfactor I was also thinking about the member ranks... Maybe upgrade it or something as it may give members an incentive to post more?

[Acaila]

I just happened to get lucky in finding this place when somebody asked for Scottish revision sites on another student forum I visit.
Told my teacher you could get AH Comp notes on here and he was astounded he hadn't heard of it.
Might be a good idea to spread the word a bit more.

[George]

eg more subjects, at more levels.... shop selling materials.....introduce university courses/general uni stuff eg unions, clubbing....... competitions....quizzes and so on .....etc????

We definitely want to expand the range of courses and levels, but up until now it's basically just been notes written by Steve and I. We've already received numerous contributions (eg Higher Business Management notes) but I don't know how much we can rely on that.

At the moment, we need to put everything into our templates and it's time consuming for us. Also, it's a big commitment to contribute notes for a whole course. Ideally we'd like to pay teachers (maybe even students) to write notes, but we've not got money for that

A shop would be... interesting. We've set up an affiliate account with Amazon, but it's not gone further than that. Beyond past papers though, I don't see what people would buy!

The idea of introducing uni stuff is good. It might not really fit with "Higher Still Notes", but I'm sure Steve and I will turn our minds to that once we start uni ourselves. At the moment, the Chat forums should cover that; particularly people wondering about UCAS and which courses to go for, etc.

Lastly, competitions and quizzes sound fun Maybe you could expand on that idea, or someone else might have some suggestions?

I have an idea, however I haven't fully thought about it.

Basically, it's an 'online' supported study.

That sounds like a good idea, and it's something we'd hoped would evolve naturally. In the run up to the exams, the forum for Higher Maths was quite active with people asking and answering questions. Obviously if anyone needs help, they can just post and hope someone can help.

It might be a good idea to make it more structured, as you suggest. I've not put much thought into it though, so everyone's input is welcome

fearfactor I was also thinking about the member ranks...  Maybe upgrade it or something as it may give members an incentive to post more?

Yes, the original member ranks are pretty lame I basically came up with them off the top of my head when I set the forum up. They actually do reflect your post count, and I've recently adjusted it to make the levels a bit more ambitious. I have seen more humorous titles on other forums, but I wasn't sure that was appropriate. Again, your ideas would be very welcome.

I just happened to get lucky in finding this place when somebody asked for Scottish revision sites on another student forum I visit. 
Told my teacher you could get AH Comp notes on here and he was astounded he hadn't heard of it.
Might be a good idea to spread the word a bit more.

Yep, you've hit the nail on the head there. This whole thing started a little over a year ago, and until very recently even our school didn't know about it! We're really relying on word of mouth at this stage, and it's great that people are recommending us. The only thing I can say at this stage is: please let everyone in your school know about HSN! Telling teachers would also be great, especially if they'd like to share notes.

We have looked into promoting HSN across Scotland, but it's such a big task with over 400 secondary schools. It's something we're still working on, but suggestions are welcome.

Well, that's a very big post Keep the ideas coming, just as long as you're OK with us pinching them!

[Paul]

Em...ideas for quizzes could be quizzes for specific subjects which could also act as revision....they could either be done as a quiz on a chatroom or a forum or as an email quiz, with the quiz being on a thread and answers emailed to whoever feels confident enough to mark them

They also dont have to be on a particular subject...it could be a range of subjects eg social sciences, science, arts, business....or even about news / music/ sport etc - to take our minds away from skool work!

To make it competitive, have a page dedicated to a table with highest scorers/brainiest peeps at number 1 position

Cant think of anything which could be given as a prize.....maybe have quizzes running for 3 months at a time.....and the person at the top of the table at the end gets a prize....say £20 book/cd voucher - doesnt have to be a big prize....

Any1 else able to contribute to these ideas on quizzes??? wot u think for prizes??

[bred]

I think the quizzing is a good idea. It would be a very difficult task but a quiz room with a bot - even one for each subject - with hundreds of questions would surely be great for revision, if you don't know what I mean see quizbox.org for an example. A less stressful way of revising but probably quite effective. I don't think we'd find funding for prizes though!

[Paul]

Yeh, funding for prizes would be the difficult part!

Last year, I was Vice Captain at skool....I had to arrange a raffle

For the Prizes, I wrote to over 100 companies...and they gave me a lotta good prizes......includin

£1000 from a private hospital
£300 from arnold clark
DVDs from HMV
A parcel from Gadget Shop containing over £100 of goods
The Sun gave us DVDs
Rangers gave me signed football and top.......


My point is....if we wrote to companies like this then maybe it would be possible for prizes....

but prizes are a long shot, i think.

The score board would make the quizzes competitive.....prizes arent essential anywayz

Shandogg

[Paul]

What about introducing galleries for members to post pictures? this would allow members to interact more and also have summin different.....

Another idea....have a booklist available for subjects....with admin members starting off the list and then leavin the list open for members to include books which they recommend for that subject....also websites.......this could result in a very valuable database of skool materials for Scottish students, of which there are very little of....and it would be created by skool or uni students themselves... guaranteeing that they are useful to other skool or uni students#

wot u think?

Shandogg...


PS....no1 else got any ideas!!!

[Discogirl17]

Shandogg. I have plenty of ideas, too many to fit in one post! Now I think the booklist thing is a good idea.
However picture galleries are risky think of it ,this is the internet, the risks are too high people prey on this type of webpage.

[linds]

What about introducing galleries for members to post pictures? this would allow members to interact more and also have summin different.....

That's the best idea I've heard in ages!!!

I am a camwhore. It's true. At the other boards I visit, I am notorious for posting random photos of myself and over the past two years I've managed to get about 500 photos of myself on here.

Including - "Lindsay's hair - through the ages", "I'm PREGNANT!" and "How cool am I with my Mini Heroes Box on my Head? RaWr!"

I'm a genius with a webcam.

[linds]

However picture galleries are risky think of it ,this is the internet, the risks are too high people prey on this type of webpage.

Ohhhh... I never thought of that.

Ew, I'm all freaked out now.

[Discogirl17]

Yeh well I work on an online teenage councilling website, well I volunteer on it ,and basically thats why the dont show pictures. It doesnt matter if they are just normal innocent pictures they are still risky its basically one of the rules of the interent if a site is well publicised such as this one appears to be.

[Paul]

oohhhhh! I getcha...maybe not such a good idea then.....!


Louise...u say u have plenty of ideas, if not them all, tell us about some of them....they may be very good for the site!

Shandogg

[Ally]

Another idea....have a booklist available for subjects....with admin members starting off the list and then leavin the list open for members to include books which they recommend for that subject....also websites.......this could result in a very valuable database of skool materials for Scottish students, of which there are very little of.

That would be a great idea!

Also, what about having a web-page listing all forthcoming materials under production... like one similiar to this... http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq/forthcomingtitles.asp

[George]

I like the booklist/weblinks idea, and I think it's something we could work on.

what about having a web-page listing all forthcoming materials under production

Hmmm, I'm not sure we're quite organised enough for that And, apart from Higher Economics, I don't think we have anything being developed

[Discogirl17]

Thats true, there usually isnt much in development but if I got some time at the end of S6 then I gonna write some Spanish and some Accountancy and finance notes for you.

[Paul]

Thats true, there usually isnt much in development but if I got some time at the end of S6 then I gonna write some Spanish and some Accountancy and finance notes for you.

Hey Louise, I have already sent sum Accounting and Finance Notes in, but dont know wots happenin with them

Shandogg

[Discogirl17]

Ok Shandogg but I have a lot more and the exam has changed between last year and this so my input (as I'm taking it this year) , along with some of yours, will be valuable.