The Case For Homework in ICT

Should homework be set for ICT lessons? A common argument against the idea is that it’s unfair on those students who don’t have access to computers outside school. My answer to that is: set homework which doesn’t need access to a computer.

Homework can be fun too! © cienpies.net http://fotos.cienpies.net/I suspect that much of the antipathy I’ve encountered towards setting homework is that it smacks of traditionalism. The very idea of homework is, in this sense, the antithesis of all we ed tech people like to believe we stand for: cutting edge, innovative – if not digital natives, then at least digital explorers.

I don’t see that at all. Homework can be used to ensure that the work in the classroom proceeds as quickly and as smoothly as possible. If much of your teaching style involves project work, then why not set a generic homework like: Do whatever you need to do in order to work effectively on your project next lesson? To make that work, it’s a good idea to ensure that the last five or ten minutes of the lesson is given over to identifying what has been achieved and what are the next steps. That way, students can see for themselves that they will need to, say, find out local supermarket prices in order to create an advertisement for a new product.

There is another reason for setting homework. If you work in a school in which homework is expected to be set, then by not setting it for ICT you’re declaring, in effect, ICT to be a non-subject. Non-subjects don’t get timetable time. Non-subjects don’t get first refusal when unexpected funds become available. Non-subjects don’t get much more than subsistence capitation (budget).

So for both political (with a small ‘p’) reasons and educational ones, homework in ICT is absolutely necessary. As The Commodores said in “Slippery When Wet”:

Having fun ain’t no good, leaving homework undone!

Comments

[Tracey Gentle]

My daughters have always had ICT homework at secondary school. It might have been designing the leaflet they are going to use the computer to create or homework using a free website. Other subjects also asked for the homework to be done on the computer as well. Libraries have free computer access and school always offered students the option to use the ICT suite during breaks or after school. GO FOR IT!

[Terry Freedman, Educational ICT Consultant]

Thanks, Tracey, I agree. The only reasons I didn't mention computer access in libraries or in lunchtimes etc were, respectively, schools in rural areas may not be near a library, and that I couldn't think of a way of suggesting the ICT suite be kept open without necessarily involving teachers. Of course, teaching assistants could be used, and some teachers don't mind doing it anyway. Indeed, some would prefer that to playground duty if you can negotiate such an arrangement!

I like the leaflet idea, and furthermore it lends itself to discussing it with friends, and looking for nice examples -- all good preparation for the ICT lesson itself.

[David]

"generic homework like: Do whatever you need to do in order to work effectively on your project next lesson? To make that work, it’s a good idea to ensure that the last five or ten minutes of the lesson is given over to identifying what has been achieved and what are the next steps. "
Terry, how could you make that work in primary? By the time the kids have got home they have forgotten exactly what they did in class and where they got to, and would have trouble explaining it to a helpful parent. Maybe by the VLE for instance? But then many kids will be at different levels. How do you set differentiated homework so everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing (including parents)?

[Doug Woods]

Hmm, this is a tricky one, Terry. If you set homework that doesn't need a computer then you could be discriminating against those who do have a computer at home and who want to use it to aid their learning.
I firmly believe that having a computer at home is a great benefit for learning. I worked with Becta on the Home Access project and on the previous Computers for Pupils project, both of which were intended to provide the benefits of a computer in support of learning from home to the most disadvantaged learners. By suggesting that teachers avoid setting homework that needs a computer at home, you seem to be undoing all the good work that was done by those projects.
For a teacher not to set homework that needs a computer because a few of her class do not have a computer at home, would be VERY VERY wrong.

I think you're misunderstanding the argument against Homework, it's not that it smacks of 'traditionalism'. The argument is that we should no longer draw a distinction between 'school' work and 'home' work but just 'work' or, better still, 'learning' that carries on from school and home then back to school and home again etc... There is no longer a distinction between school work and homework, it is all part of your learning. Some work you may do in the school or classroom, with the support guidance and direction of both staff and resources there. The same work continues at home (or more correctly outside school hours) taking advantage of your resources at home, your friends and real life situations.

[Terry Freedman, Educational ICT Consultant]

@David You are right to pull me up over what was, in fact, a very secondary-oriented post. I think the issue of giving differentiated homework is a quite separate one, which perhaps I should address in a separate article. Returning to the main theme, I agree that the sort of generic homework example I gave would not work in primary schools, but there are other generic homeworks you could set, such as (depending on the topic in question) "How many types of insect can you spot outside your house when you go hometoday?", or a an "I spy" type of sheet to take home or, as you say, something via the VLE.
I don't think homework has to be complicated or arduous, just something that will help the children consolidate what they learnt in school and/or what they will be coming onto next.

[Terry Freedman, Educational ICT Consultant]

@Doug Well I can see where you're coming from, Doug, but I disagree with you on almost everything you've said. Firstly, I think we have to recognise that I don't write for a solely UK audience, so quite a few of the people who read my posts are from countries where they don't have a Home Access scheme. Surely the same is true of your own blog?

Secondly, I can't remember the exact figures off the top of my head, but the Home Access scheme, worthy as it is, was (note the past tense) just a drop in the ocean. I don't think we're anywhere near a utopian situation in which virtually all kids have access to a computer outside school.

Thirdly, there is nothing to prevent a teacher giving out homework that can be done on a computer, or extended on a computer. All I am saying is that they shouldn't use lack of computer access outside school as an excuse to not set ANY homework. But it's an interesting thing you accuse me of, of discrimination against the haves rather than the have-nots!

Fourthly, you may well be right about "homework" being a term that no longer holds meaning (although see my forst point: not every school in every country has a VLE), but there are three good reasons for using it:

* it's a convenient term to use; I use it to refer to work not done in a lesson, rather than literally at home.
* I actually don't agree with abandoning terms which draw a clear distinction between school work and homework. Perhaps the term "homework" needs to be replaced, I don't know; what I DO know is that I think it's unhealthy to encourage people to not make that distinction I referred to. Everyone needs to shut off from their work at some point every day, and that includes youngsters.
* I try to deal with life as it is, not as it "should" be. A lot of colleagues and parents will equate not setting homework with low expectations, especially in more traditional school settings. Perhaps we need to convince them otherwise, but in the meantime I stick to my guns on this one!