Parents what do you think to online homework

[Ladybug85789]

We received a letter from school advising of the dangers of too much screen time, and to not watch screens before bed as can affect sleep. Do any parents feel as torn as I do, my children watch tv, iPads etc but then when I turn it off and say time for homework it’s all online. This makes me feel like we can’t get a break from the screen I know it is new technology and everything is online. Thoughts

The homework being online isn’t a problem (it’s far better as many subjects provide instant marking, so the child knows to try again. Much better than handing in a paper full of wrong answers)

So it’s the watching videos/playing games that needs to be minimised, replaced with physical activity and books as much as possible.

I bought my DD12 an Apple Watch instead of a phone, because it gives all the useful stuff (eg tracking, phone calls, maps, unlimited texts) without a camera or any social media apps or games. Thankfully she goes to a high school where the majority of parents are resisting giving their kids smartphones (it’s a girls comp) due to all the studies re: girls and mental health decline due to social media.

Limit the social use if screen time if you feel it is too much. Schoolwork is mirroring what the workplace is like and indeed even some gsces are going online or can be word processed so it is best they get used to this style of working.

I guess the ages of the DC will change people's answers, but I have a 5yo and hate online homework. She can do a worksheet pretty independently, and it can also be done at her after school club if she fancies it. The online stuff is a bit of a pain.

I hate it all being on a phone.

I feel out of touch with the homework as a parent and it undermines our efforts to limit screen time. My child is reading novels on a tiny phone screen. It seems bonkers to me for a child who used to love reading and now hates it. (Thanks Sparx Reader...)

I don't have kids but I think homework online is really unsure given the current COL situation.

It's all well & good if parents are financially comfortable and have technology buy in a household with multiple kids sharing the one computer or tablet, it can be a real challenge.

I know it's quicker correct if online but I'm sure he had to be a disadvantage yo many students.

I think online working is a massive, unevaluated experiment on our kids’ health and well-being. I bloody hate it.

I quite like it, especially for my younger one where a lot of the homework is doing an activity, and uploading a photo of their teddies in size order is much easier then printing the photo and sticking it in the book. My eldest gets maths work online, but I tend to print it out, then upload a photo of the page when it's done. (I know this isn't an option for everyone)

Could you implement more screen free down time? I've set DS's tablet to power down during the day on weekends and school holidays. After school we have activities a couple of days, that gets them off the devices, and on the other days we have set time for 'craft night' and 'lego night', which we do together for about an hour. The last night is movie night, which is still screen based, but feels more social then everyone on their own tablet.

Well structured web based learning including homework could be an absolute boon. It has lots of potential.

Instant feedback is really beneficial to the learner. Also for the teacher.

• Did a topic 'land' or is everyone tripping over the same brick?
• Immediate record of homework being completed
• With a sophisticated system it is possible to differentiate so that more able students are tested on the more challenging parts of a topic once they have demonstrated the basics. The students struggling with the basics can be given exercises to improve their grasp of the basics.

Some while ago now but I used to work in web based learning development for adults and also did some post graduate study in this field.

My eldest DC starts primary school this year. I'm in half a mind to print out every piece of homework and have her write the answers and hand it in, or do as @Sprogonthetyne does and upload a photo of the work when it's all done.

I absolutely hate the idea of computers and bloody phones(!!!) being used for homework. I work on a computer all day and my writing skill has really suffered as a result. We're not giving kids a bloody chance.

I like it for something's, but not for others. I find it makes my DC reluctant to write at all, which means that eg in maths they don't write their workings out properly on a bit of paper so quite often end up guessing and submitting and then going round this loop several times, getting frustrated and I wonder if they have actually learnt it or the process is so painful that they won't be able to remember what they need to do.
Foreign language learning I think has been amazing online and not something I could help with for the language they are learning.

I have sen kids,my mainstream daughter really struggles with online homework finds it very difficult to focus so struggles with completion, from another point of view I don't like it because of the automatic marking there's no Intraction between the teacher and student (at least at her school) just marks are taken so it's hard to address where she's struggling to provide better support.

It's very annoying for younger children, I totally agree

My 7 year old asks Siri to write it in for him and he does lol. Thankfully we still have reading books and don’t have to have the children read online. I usually have tv iPads off by 7pm so that they can get ready for winding down for bed time at 8.30 but then sometimes find it difficult to get everything in especially as they do after school clubs etc. yes the printing and uploading is a excellent idea I do have a printer at home.

Ours is mostly homework in his homework book (as there is a huge focus on handwriting etc) and we have online homework around once a month or so. Online homework can be done at school though during free-draw time on a Friday so if any kids don't have access to a computer/tablet/phone at home or just want to get it done, can do it on the Friday.

I don't mind the online homework, it's much easier and DS will do it was more willingly but I do like paper-based homework too. I like seeing his writing improving.

I HATE online homework with a passion and truly think it's bullshit.

Paper and pens is where its at in my world and it annoys me so many schools have gone online with it. Just means that I have to sit with my son til it's all done because otherwise he's trying to get on youtube or whatever.

I also think it doesn't help their handwriting or their literacy/spelling.

It depends what job they go into. I work in tech and we use computers for everything. We could easily never have to physically write anything.

We had a message from school about the kids all being really tired and asking parents to make sure they get a proper bed time etc. A link to the sleep trust website.

To be honest, it made me fume.

We're now in the fifth year of an airborne pandemic, long covid is a significant concern in children, post viral fatigue is a real thing and fatigue is actually a covid symptom also. Meanwhile the Department for Education are pressuring parents to send sick children into school (making others sick in the process). And there's loads of other potentially serious bugs doing the rounds too. And as covid can damage immune systems kids may not be fighting off other bugs as well as they could pre-pandemic.

To add to that, we're also in a cost of living crisis and many parents can't afford to keep taking time off work to look after sick kids or because they're sick (again) themselves with something the kids brought home from school.

Meanwhile, keeping Co2 levels low in classrooms has been proven to help with academic performance and concentration as well as reducing spread of airborne infections but is anyone monitoring this? Apparently not (schools have been provided with Co2 monitors but no one seems to be actually reporting readings or taking action if levels are too high).

Anyone in charge appears not to be able to see the covid sized elephant in the room. I include government and school leadership in this.

And they're busy blaming parents for the problem rather than taking a good hard look about what they can do about it.

Maybe after the election we will start to see some progress.

Tell your prospective parliamentary candidates you're concerned about it!

If you were in govt what suggestions do you have to fix this?

I agree, OP. We do keep our screen time to a minimum. We don’t allow our DC to play video games at primary school age and minimise television watching etc. We allow occasional educational apps, but as part of the overall screen time. However, so much that is school related seems to be on screens, it’s really frustrating. They don’t need this huge amount to be tech savvy. I really dislike it.

My sister was telling me about her son & a similar photo of toys in size order. He had a rather skinny, but tall, giraffe & a very round elephant (& assorted other shorter things). Started off with the giraffe first, thought, swapped them & said "he's more bigger mummy. More to cuddle"
My sister added that explanation to the photo.
I never heard the teacher didn't like that, so guess it was fine.

This probably depends on the age of the children. My DD is 5, she's in Y1. I'm "that mum" who asks for the physical worksheet to be sent home rather than doing things online. She really struggles with fine motor skills and I'm not keen on her learning how to poke a screen over using a pencil and paper. She doesn't have an iPad or use our phones either. She watches some TV and plays a bit of playstation, so I'm not anti screen completely, but very low screen.

When she's older I might feel differently about it being online, but for now I'm not supportive of it.

online homework was in its infancy when I was at the tail end of my secondary education. I wasn’t a fan. I think it was only Maths that was online homework. I asked my maths teacher if I could write out the questions in my exercise book and complete it manually and hand it in. I can’t learn things as well from a screen as well as hard copy. No idea why, but I just can’t. I guess I’m still old fashioned at heart as I’d rather pen and paper to online for homework for my child any day

Utter waste of time

I do activity books with them instead, grade suitable

The positive and negative impacts of screen time really depend on what you are using the screens for.

As far as I’m aware (and I haven’t checked in a while) research on school age kids generally seems to show that educational screen time is correlated with better educational outcomes and does not have negative associations with mental or physical health. Interactive screen time, which would include social media and video games, is correlated with better educational outcomes but also lower physical and mental health. Passive screen time (e.g. watching TV) is correlated with poorer educational outcomes and poorer health.

There is still the issue of screen use affecting sleep if you use screens just before bedtime, which is true whatever you’re using the screens for.

Yes my daughter says she no longer likes reading because of reading plus and hasn’t picked up a physical book in a month because of it.

I think it’s the University of Munich which showed that the academic improvement from using the apps was only short term and has no long term benefit. My daughter is heading towards two hours of homework a night online and I’m sick of it. I’ve approached her school as I’ve noticed she is angrier and sad since starting all these apps but they imply I’m a shit parent and we’re back to square one.