Posts tagged with homework.

Should we ban our kids from Facebook?

Kathy Dobson, January 25, 2010 at 3:15 PM

Kathy Dobson

 

 

I'm always amazed by how much my 13-year-old son can multitask. Like every other middle- or high-school student, it seems, David never just does his homework. While he types his English assignment in Microsoft Word, he has Facebook up along with a small window for MSN messenger. There's also usually a YouTube video loading in the background.

 

One time I saw David wearing earphones while typing on his laptop. The screen was divided into four windows: one for Word, one for MSN messenger, and two different YouTube videos (one was a song that he had playing through the headphones, and the other was "How to build a paper hang glider.")

 

And the dog was sleeping on his lap.

 

According to an article from University World News, one British parent worried that this sort of multitasking was compromising his daughter's studies, as she gave too much of her time to Facebook and not enough to studying.

 

The solution for Billy Fitzgerald? Creating a website that has social network tools along with research tools, allowing students to interact with their friends while finishing homework or studying.

 

The website, www.studentsandacademics.com, is described by Fitzgerald as a, "one stop site for all students and academics."

 

To be honest, I feel like I'm missing something. Either your child has two web pages open at once - one for research and one for a chat room - or, using this new website, they only have one web page open, which combines the research and the chat room. What's the difference?

 

That's not to say I don't think Facebook or MSN are distracting some of our kids from studying, and that we need some sort of solution. But I wonder if this new website isn't the same sort of distraction, just under the guise of being "for school." I suppose it saves them the 0.7 seconds it takes to switch from one window to the next.

 

Of course, there's always the old-fashioned parental approach. The one I usually use.

 

"David, get off Facebook. NOW."

Tagged with homework, multitasking, studentsandacademics.com, facebook | Comments (10) |

University means no mindless homework

Jenny Mitchell, December 14, 2009 at 2:04 PM

Jenny Mitchell

University means no homework. Kind of.

 

When I started my first year last September, I knew there were going to be some serious differences from high school. But one of the best surprises about university: after Grade 12, homework effectively ceases to exist.

 

Sure, some classes have analysis essays or research papers due at the end of the term. But, unlike high school, there are never any mindless worksheets or drills. In university, homework is a self-regulating system.

 

Sometimes a university class has the appearance of giving out homework.

 

But it's not true homework, because there are several important differences between so-called university "homework" and the traditional public-school homework. For one thing, university homework is never mindless.

 

You won't have to colour in a map of Canada in your geography class. Instead, you'll have a list of readings, and it's up to you to finish them before the exam.

 

And then there are lab reports. At first glance, they seem like traditional homework. But all of my labs operate on the "here's your work for the entire semester, get it done on time" principle. The lab manual describes the expectations of each lab report and lists all the due dates. There's also a section about laboratory techniques, which explains any new equipment that will be used in the lab. But the TA's don't care if you're properly prepared. There isn't any 'homework check.' You just have to familiarize yourself with the experiment, or you won't finish within the three-hour lab period.

 

There are exceptions, of course. Some professors kind of cheat, and revert back to the high-school system; as in, they have clicker quizzes to make sure students are doing the readings and showing up for class. But even then, it still respects the "never mindless" rule. It helps you prepare for the final.

 

But even with those exceptions in mind, there is a common thread in university: you give yourself homework. You have to ration out your time between September and December. Or between January and April.

 

Because if you don't, you'll suffer the consequences.

Tagged with university, homework | Comments (4) |

Are kids really better off without homework?

Kathy Dobson, December 7, 2009 at 4:10 PM

Kathy Dobson

 

It’s every parent’s dream.

Okay, maybe it’s just mine. But when my 11-year-old son Michael came home with a note from his grade six teacher informing parents that she “doesn’t believe in homework,” I think I was even happier than my son.

A teacher who doesn’t believe in homework?

Instead, as she explained in the letter, she believes children need time after school to spend with their families and for extracurricular activities.

No more sudden announcements on a Sunday night from my son that he needs to make a population density map of Canada. Or draw a six-sided brochure about Mars for science class. And it’s, uh, due tomorrow.

I admit, until that letter came home, I had never even seriously entertained the idea that having no homework could be in my child’s best interest. Great for me and their father, of course. But our kid?

Our son in grade eight brings home tons of homework almost every night. I find it interesting how one teacher can say that she “doesn’t believe in homework,” while the teacher in the very next classroom insists that homework is a crucial part of school, helping kids to develop a strong work ethic and self-discipline.

Who’s right? Who’s wrong?

Until recently, I assumed that homework wasn’t debatable. It was just a part of school. At worst, a necessary evil to help prepare kids for high school and university.

But according to a study by two education experts from the University of Toronto, homework doesn’t necessarily help our kids at all. Instead, it can create stress and even lead to “marital problems.”

Prince of Wales public school in Barrie, Ont., has actually banned homework and according to the school’s principal, the students’ marks have been steadily improving ever since. In an interview with CTV’s Canada AM, school principal, Jan Olson, said the ban came after the school did research into the relationship between homework and student achievement.

"We didn't find a whole lot of achievement correlation between those so we decided, 'why do we need to do it then?'" Olson said, adding that the ban has also lead to an improvement in the students' behaviour. However, the students at Prince of Wales Public School still study for tests.

Come to think of it, despite my son’s grade six teacher claiming to not believe in homework, she still reminds the class the night before a test that they might want to review their notes. She also encourages nightly reading and offers a selection of books in her classroom which students can borrow from.

Homework is such a long-standing school tradition, I never really questioned its effectiveness or its impact on our kids. Of course, the fact alone that a school in Barrie banned homework doesn’t absolutely mean that it’s out-dated, ineffective, and possibly harmful to our kids.

But it makes me wonder what else I might be taking for granted about my children’s public school education, and be absolutely wrong about.


Tagged with educational, school, teaching, homework | Comments (27) |