Homework- yes or no?

Surprised no one has posted :)

I agree it's an added stress in terms of time and completion. If they have other activities after school, then they still have to try to squeeze in time to complete assignments. However, the upside is that I see how my child is doing in school based on the work they're doing at home.

Yes. Homework is useful. It's the only chance for the parent to see how the kid is doing in school. That said, we're lucky, as the amount of homework our kids get is really very small (10 - 15 mins). My eldest will usually do the written stuff in 10 mins, and if we're feeling especially dedicated, we might do the Irish or tables with him. I've heard horror stories from other parents of lines and lines of colouring for j infants and such nonsense.

ChatGPT will erradicate any value in homework very soon.

Kids will need to demo their learning in person, at school.

It is outdated now, due to ChatGPT.

There is little point in it anymore.

Homework has become redundant because the computer can do it all for you via Chat bots etc.

first you had Google and Wiki etc, but at least kids had to do some form of research to complete homework. which is still a valuable and contemporary skill to learn.

But ChatGPT and their new versions just write the essay/do the math for you. Instantly.

There will need to be a revolution in the way kids are tested and homework wont be part of the answer.

Kids can just copy the text on to paper. They dont need to understand it to copy it.

ChatGPT writes it and they copy it.

ChatGPT can dictate the work in Irish. Again, kids dont need to understand it to copy it.

The answer probably lies in more in class presentations, taking questions from other students/teachers etc, as the kids cant "cheat" then.

So your homework could be preparing your presentation.

The irony is, the content of your presentation will be entirely written by a computer and the kid delivering it may not understand a word of what they are saying.

Other tools will work out how to get around the plagiarism detectors.

We are at the start of it all now with ChatGPT entering mainstream. In 5 to 10 years academia will be totally different - for the better maybe.

Although what will happen to the internet, when ChatGPT is referencing other AI generated pages, instead of original content?

In my experience schools are disconnecting from parents. Feedback and communication gets worse every year.

Often a child has no context of the bigger picture, they also often give inaccurate feedback to their parents.

Many teachers do not know their students well either.

You've solved your own problem. In third level it's becoming increasingly common to have an in depth Q&A session for your work. Otherwise, ChatGPT is still a bit cack at anything remotely complex, it's certainly not quite at the scaremongering replacing everything stage yet.

Yes and all past primary & secondary school age now. The most useful 'homework' that parents can do is to engage in discussion about what has been covered in class, take an interest in what was conveyed and give their own perspective on it. That's where additional learning takes place and ideas are formulated. Maybe that requires a little effort and thought but far better than using homework & text books as some sort of crutch to cover up lack of competence. And dare I suggest that if a parent knows feck all about say algebra, then they should not try and spoof their way. We all have to admit that sooner or later in many ways, our children and other people generally know more about a subject that we do. In that case, maybe try and engage a conversation where your child explains to you.

As for the commentary on a widening gap between schools/ teachers, their student and their parents - that is sad observation on the current education system.

Not unlike asking people about their CV. You know the spoofers easily enough.

That's not entirely accurate however.

I see nowadays in secondary schools I am familiar with, there are a hell of a lot of "free" classes or free periods. There's a whole additional year added in some schools (for the past couple of decades) and from my experience a lot of this age group aren't necessarily working a part time job any more to help with income ( as would have been far more prevalent years ago).

As such they don't necessarily need or have to spend 4 hours per day outside of their 9-4 school day studying or doing homework and indeed the resources they have available to them for study and homework far outweight was was there in the past. One could also argue that the exams they are studying for have gotten relatively easier than they have been before.

Again, as with my earlier post, its not the same for everyone and thats where the challanges arise but lets not think they are getting a really raw deal.