How much homework do your dcs do on the computer?

[breadandbutterfly]

Just wondering, as my dd claims a lot of her homework is on the PC - which i suspect is not true (or unimaginative on her part). For example, French - she does revision online, uses google translate (to my horror and her detriment) and would not dream of using a real dictionary when an online one is there at the click of a mouse...

Do others find this a problem, too? Or is it actually a problem - am i just being old-fashioned here and should I just assume this is the new normal?

[creamteas]

All of it . I can't remember the last time homework wasn't linked to the computer one way or another.

I really feel sorry for the kids who don't have internet access at home, I know there is homework club after school and (some) public libraries, but not sure this really adequate given the amount of work they have to do online

[breadandbutterfly]

How do ypou police it and ensure they are not on facebook/game etc while claiming to be doing homework?

[BooksandaCuppa]

I almost guarantee you she will not be allowed to use google translate for languages. I would certainly challenge her on that one!

[BooksandaCuppa]

Oh and ds does very little on the pc. Only one PowerPoint for science so far (again, how do children without manage that?) and some maths on manga high. Otherwise, homework consists of written tasks, exercises, planning, map work, revision, etc etc depending on the subject. And he knows the house rule of not going to the internet til you've checked the bookshelves and your textbooks! (however he's not had many research homeworks yet).

[notnagging]

All of it. They don't even have a hwk diary which I think is ridiculous. They have to get it all from the fronter website.

[3b1g]

DS1 is in Y8, it feels as though most of his homework needs to be done on the computer, but I know he sometimes gets some of the written work finished off at school. I would say that he has computer based homework three or four times a week.

Yes, he uses online dictionaries rather than paper ones, but then so do I.

We have two computers for the family to share (2 adults and four children) and both are downstairs in communal areas, so if he is on Minecraft rather than MyMaths, it's pretty obvious!

[3b1g]

If I see him playing games when he still has homework to finish, I would mention it, but leave him to manage his own time and reap the consequences. He only has a certain number of hours a week when it's his turn to use the computer, but these are more than enough to complete the homework if he uses the time wisely.

[breadandbutterfly]

BooksandaCuppa - like your house rule!

I was shocked by the google translate but mentioned this on facebook and it seemed quite standard! Much to my horror...

[hoodoo12345]

My DD does all of her maths homework on the computer, she also does a lot of research for other subjects on there.They seem to do endless powerpoint presentations also.

[Raynarayan]

Getting your homework through online tutors wouldn't help you all in increasing your knowledge base or in enhancing your concepts. The more you spend timing on reading and getting in depth of the core concepts through internet, the greater interest you will generate in your studies. So use internet and PC as a tool to do better job.

[TantrumsAndBalloons]

They do the majority of homework on the computer, however google translate is a big no as it is pointless if you use it for everything. And it is very obvious if you are using it for every word as it doesn't read coherently, translating each word individually.

If they are on FB, twitter, games when they are supposed to be doing homework, they will fall behind/hand it in late/get a poor grade.

Dd learnt that at the beginning on year 7. DS finally got it in year 8.
They now understand that it's their responsibility to manage their time wisely.

[Startail]

My maths mainly, which they both hate because you can't do workings in screen or go back and redo one question.

Lots of research for history and history projects are typed.

Some science

I think some geography.

Dyslexic DD1 will type or use voice recognition for long essays sometimes.

Random bits of Romeo and Juliet appear on my printer, like wise RE and PHSE
She has done a power point for something.

No idea how anyone does art without a computer, DD1 (and me) have learn loads looking up artists and googling similar paintings .

DD2 certainly uses google translate for languages, I don't care, anything that keeps her motivated enough to survive German is OK by me.
She hates it. I don't want her hating it so much she also gives up French.

You can no more ban DD2 from a computer than you can ban her breathing.

She could navigate the Cbebbies web site long before she went to school. She's had a lap top since she was 6-7 (thank you DH).

They had a computer at nursery and usable machines at school.
I can't even count the number of computes and Web enabled gadgets in this house. We have them controlling things and backing up discs and I think even DH loses count. (At least 16 without counting the raspberry Pi which isn't doing anything at present).

Her year, now Y7, far more than any that came before grew up with computers as normal.

At primary 14y DD1's teachers might not have assumed a computer at home DD2's 3 years later did.

[Startail]

I should add DD2 absorbs spellings out of the ether, I'm DD1 is

I suspect even if she looks up odd words or phrases on google, she'll still learn them.

Also is pronouncing German that really throws her and the computer will read stuff.

I'm sure it's wrong sometimes, but Neither me or DH did German at school. DH has spent a few weeks working there and can survive trains, roads signs and restaurants.

[creamteas]

I don't police time on the computer, at secondary they are responsible for homework and will have to take the consequences for poor/late/no work.

Everything is set on the VLE and all homework has to be complete online or uploaded rather than handed in.

When the 3rd DC went to secondary, plus work needs, the fighting over computer access got out of control and we ended up with a laptop each!

[treas]

So far for Yr8 ds:
Weekly Maths homework on MyMaths
1 Geography project (6 weeks worth of work) - produced a pamphlet / poster or powerpoint presentation
1 Science project (3 weeks worth of work) - produced a pamphlet / poster or powerpoint presentation
1 French project (3 weeks worth of work) - produced a powerpoint presentation
1 History project (6 weeks worth of work) - produced a booklet
1 FT project (6 weeks worth of work) - produced a pamphlet
1 English magazine article

All projects requested that IT skills were used.

Ironically, ds has been requested to fill in a cursive handwriting booklet - duly done - in order to improve his handwriting. Wonder why he needed that then!

[cricketballs]

thats the way of the world in this century!

op - if you are not happy that your DD may not be managing her time well, then have a rule that all homework is done on a computer in a communal area. I did this with DS (even though I had a key logger on his laptop ) so that he was aware that homework whether on paper or computer was still treated the same - done downstairs so it could be monitored

[breadandbutterfly]

So it seems to be universal...

Any ideas if there is a way to stop dcs deleting items from history - as i have checked it in the past but suspect she has now cottoned onto this and is def 1 step ahead of me technically so fear she may stat editing her history to prevent me spotting sites she has visited?

[3b1g]

Each of our DCs has their own account on the computer. DH and I have an administrator account. We get a weekly report emailed to us for each child with a list of sites they've visited and a list of internet searches they've done (usually sweet and hilarious rather than worrying). It's all in the open that their internet use is monitored, so they all know that they will be held accountable for what they do online.

[3b1g]

This is the system we use:
windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows-vista/Protecting-your-kids-with-Family-Safety

[lljkk]

y8 DS: About 10 minutes per week on the computer, at very very most. May be more like 10 minutes/fortnight.

DS was using Google translate the other day. .
I was presuming his teacher would spot that it was machine-manufactured or simply too high a standard to possibly be his own.

[Sparrows12]

My big irritation with the school is less the demand that so much work be done on the pc and more the new policy not to give the children any printed revision sheets, letters, or indeed anything on paper at all. This new policy is supposedly environmentally friendly, but of course its real aim is to transfer the cost from the school balance sheet to that of individual parents, and the admin effort from teachers to pupils. My poor daughter has put "my own printer please" at the top of her Christmas list. Small individual printers are of course far less environmentally friendly (and much more expensive to run) than larger ones. This is an independent school.

Re google translate, my one argument with it is its quite low success rate for anything vaguely sophisticated. My daughter uses a combination of me (luckily!), a large dictionary, and google translate. It used to be her first port of call until she discovered how unreliable many of the results are.

[Sparrows12]

My Y8 daughter would produce far higher quality written work if she perfected it by hand first rather than typing straight onto a pc. I hate the way she goes straight to a computer. I've tried to explain this to her but I am a Luddite apparently.

[creamteas]

Sparrows is there a particular reason you think she would have better quality work if hand written?

I write research papers for publication, and the quality of my work is definitely enhanced by using a computer. If writing by hand, it is so much harder to edit, revise and redraft, and in my experience it is these stages that make writing better.

[Sparrows12]

Cream teas I would agree with you if she were a bit older and more mature, but when she works with a pc, her work tends to take on a rather random, hurried quality - paragraphs don't link together, ideas are not properly organised, work is either superficial, or else suddenly contains some bizarrely detailed fact - she isn't cutting and pasting, but she is sourcing direct from the Internet into her work. In other words, instead of taking notes from a variety of sources and then drawing them together, she is sourcing from them as she goes along, to produce a very disjointed whole. As I type this, I realise that the problem is probably more that she hasn't been taught properly how to use online sources and to plan - I still think that at least this planning and notetaking part needs to be done carefully by hand, at least until she is a good bit older.