{"id":51444,"date":"2020-03-17T14:32:23","date_gmt":"2020-03-17T21:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=51444"},"modified":"2020-03-17T14:32:23","modified_gmt":"2020-03-17T21:32:23","slug":"homework-in-times-of-confinement-are-they-effective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/homework-in-times-of-confinement-are-they-effective\/","title":{"rendered":"Homework in times of confinement: are they effective?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Due to the coronavirus, we are experiencing the most radical situation of educational exceptionality that the world has experienced since the great wars of the 20th century: closed educational centers, students and teachers confined to their homes, doubts and uncertainty about the usual processes in the educational system (evaluation of the second trimester, next year’s schooling, university entrance exam, etc.). Without a doubt, we can affirm that everything that was solid in education vanishes in the air – hopefully for a short and limited time.<\/p>\n

From classroom teaching to online<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

In this situation, regulations and common sense oblige us to carry out an unprecedented experiment: the hasty and unforeseen transition from face-to-face teaching to online<\/em> teaching for all students, from Early Childhood Education to Higher Education, and in many countries worldwide simultaneously.<\/p>\n

How can we do it? What kind of activities can we do? How will we relate to our students and their families? What resources will we use? These are today some of the many questions that schools and teachers are urgently trying to solve so that as soon as possible students can take advantage of their time at home for study and learning.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, teachers are organizing this transition without valid references because never, not in the worst of our nightmares, would we have imagined such a situation – and at the same time questioning the fragility of the school’s digitalization, timid and limited in resources and depth.<\/p>\n

A barrage of initiatives<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In a few hours, private, community, institutional and business initiatives have emerged that offer resources and ideas, but the truth is that the panorama that we observe is dominated by the ambiguity of the administration (protected by the mantra of “autonomy of the centers”) , the doubts of the centers and many teachers and the passage to the front of many educators who have believed for years that in digital there was an opportunity to explore to offer quality teaching.<\/p>\n

However, in the educational system we have valuable experience that can help us in this situation to illuminate, even partially, the way. It is a daily and discreet experience but also a central experience in our educational system, known to families, students and, of course, teachers: homework.<\/p>\n

The black box of the educational system<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Homework is the black box of the educational system. If we want to know what relationship teachers have with their students and families, we must look at homework; If we want to know how learning is defined in the educational project or the saturation level of the school ratio, we do well to analyze the duties and review them; If we need to know what the knowledge and competences of a specific student are, we can see how they solve their homework; If we want to know the level and type of family involvement, let’s look at the duties.<\/p>\n

Homework is, therefore, one of the clearest indicators about the state of education, the operation of a center, the way of teaching of a teacher, the way of learning of a student and the way of exercising the parental work by families.<\/p>\n

Thus, the fundamental reference for these days of \u201chome schooling\u201d will, most likely, be homework, and this requires us to review what we know about them from the perspective of educational research.<\/p>\n

Duties-results relationship<\/strong><\/h4>\n

For starters, research has clearly shown that there is a positive correlation between homework and learning outcomes ( Evidence 1<\/a> ; Evidence 2<\/a> ). However, now come the nuances.<\/p>\n

Let’s see:<\/p>\n