Homework teaches students a range of skills. From learning about the chosen topic, to conducting independent research and how to manage their time. While the amount of homework that should be assigned to a student is a topic that continues to be discussed in schools worldwide, the vast majority of schools still recognise the benefits of homework and teaching students to manage their study time.
However, it can be difficult to keep on top of homework tasks for multiple subjects. Students need a clear overview of the work on their to-do list, teachers need to understand the existing workload of their classes, and parents can benefit from understanding and supporting their child’s current school responsibilities.
While some software may offer homework functionality, typically these systems can be disparate or lack the features needed for a smooth homework management experience. A tailored software solution can help those in a school to assign, manage, and track homework assignments to offer the best opportunity for learning to each student.
When looking to implement a homework tool, what key features should you be looking out for?
How you store homework tasks can greatly impact a student’s ability to complete them and a teacher’s ability to provide adequate and timely feedback.
For example, one teacher will likely be teaching multiple classes of students, perhaps across a variety of subjects or a variety of competency levels. Each class may have a homework task assigned each week. With an increase in teacher workload, your staff need software that can better help them to keep track of their classes.
A dedicated homework software can also help to engage parents in their student’s learning by opening up another line of communication. In providing parents with the ability to keep track of homework tasks, you can help them to encourage their child to complete these tasks more efficiently and promote learning in the home environment.
Particularly prior to exam or assessment seasons, students may have a range of homework tasks with varying due dates. Helping them to keep track of their assignments and their feedback also provides a more positive learning experience for them.
The most efficient solutions are those that are able to communicate with each other. Smooth data synchronisation and communication can be achieved by working with systems that offer an all-in-one approach and are naturally built to integrate.
For teachers, parents, and students to benefit from homework software, they all need to be able to access that data in a way that is valuable to them. The best homework software for schools should integrate with the systems that these groups use most regularly.
Consider working with a provider that offers portals or apps, as well as teacher and school facing software. The right homework tool should integrate with a student and parent portal to enable access to homework tasks, and provide all parties with the ability to track progress and feedback, for improved academic performance.
All school software should have an interface that is usable and easily understood by all school staff and teachers. It’s important to maximise efficiency wherever possible and provide a smooth experience for those interacting with software.
However, this is even more important when creating solutions that are designed for those outside of the body of school staff. Parents aren’t typically interacting with school software on a daily basis and shouldn’t need to find the time to familiarise themselves with complex features. Today’s students might be more software literate than ever before, but it’s still important to provide them with a system that makes tracking and managing their homework tasks as quick and easy as possible for all students.
Your homework software should offer an intuitive interface and access to all the features that they need, and avoid superfluous extras. Students and parents need to see homework tasks, track their progress, and understand their performance for each task. The right homework system should make this as simple as possible.
Ultimately, functionality is the most important part of any software. The decision-making process effectively comes down to; what features does the school really need to achieve the specific goal, and which software offers those features?
In the case of a homework software, there are key features that should be included in your choice that enable complete control offer homework assignments and flexibility in managing them. Important functionality includes support for:
Make sure that your teachers can assign homework tasks with ease and manage them with flexibility, and that students can track their progress and access their feedback to focus their efforts.
As touched on above, managing homework isn’t just about assigning and tracking tasks effectively, the priority is always student learning. Facilitating feedback is key to encouraging academic progression and development. The right homework software for schools should offer functionality that keeps this in mind.
Easing communication around homework and performance means ensuring that all parties can easily access feedback where they interact with the software. In the case of students, it’s important for homework management systems to integrate with student portals or apps.
A flexible comment section is also an important feature, as it gives teachers the freedom to provide detailed, tailored feedback that benefits each individual student and their ability to progress within a subject. Integration with a wider management system will also enable teachers to evaluate using custom grade sets that are specific to individual classes, year groups or subjects. This ensures consistency across school and academic reporting.
The iSAMS Homework Manager seamlessly integrates with the wider iSAMS MIS, including our portals, to provide a user-friendly and effortless tool for homework assignment management.
Including functionality for tracking progress, providing detailed feedback, and setting due dates and overdue periods, Homework Manager was built with school and student performance in mind. Just as you’d expect from iSAMS, it works in tandem with our other solutions, portals, and external resources to maximise the potential of your data and keep your students on track.
If you’d like to learn more about Homework Manager or the Student and Parent Portals, you can schedule a demo with the iSAMS team here: