The purpose of homework:
Homework can have many effective purposes; it can be to practice, to review, to apply, to prepare or to extend (Hill & Flynn, 2006). In order for homework to be useful, teachers must have one of the above said purposes in mind. Although these are the best reasons to assign homework, another practical and perhaps widely used purpose of homework is for students to finish work. If books are available to students at home, many times, high school teachers will assign reading in order to get through the entire curriculum for the year. Though this is a practical use of homework it does not help ELLs with the necessary scaffolding as they may have to use skills in the reading that they do not yet have (Hill & Flynn, 2006).
How long should it take?
I have heard it said of elementary school teachers that homework should take no longer than 10min. per grade level. For example, a third-grader would have no more than 30 min. of homework per night. I know some kindergarteners who are assigned homework each week and it is up to the parents to decide how/when to plan out the work for the week. A problem arises for ELLs and other studnets when parents are not available help students with their homework. In my experience in high school, often one hour of homework is assigned per core class. This homework is not always assigned every night and many schools have block schedules where students will meet with each class every other day.
What makes homework meaningful?
Meaningful homework is purposeful and useful as well as that in which the skills used are for practice and elaboration (Hill & Flynn, 2006).Homework should also be integrated into the next-day's lesson as well as given appropriate and timely feedback (Hill & Flynn, 2006). This insures that students, parents and teacher know how the student is doing. At times it is appropriate for students to interact with their parents/guardians in order to complete their homework but, for the most part, homework should be a task that students can accomplish on their own (Hill & Flynn, 2006).
Role of Technology in homework:
Using technology can ease the paper load of the teacher, give students an opportunity for authentic learning and help with student motivation (Hill & Flynn, 2006). Computer-based programs work if all students have access to a computer, blogs work great for secondary students. Whether it is at home, the library or at school, the use of technology is important for students to know and be able to do as they progress in 21st century skills and standards.
References
Hill, J., & Flynn, K.M. (2006). Classroom instruction that works with English language learners. Alexandria, VI: ASCD.
