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Amanda Stephenson
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“The dog ate my homework” just
doesn’t cut it anymore.
With more and more schools taking
advantage of technology and posting homework on the web, it’s
not easy for students to say they didn’t get the
assignment.
“From the parent feedback we get,
they say it holds students accountable,” says Brad Leitch,
creative director for Dreamstalk Studios. The company supplies
website technology to all schools in Medicine Hat School District
76 as well as the Prairie Rose School Division. With this
technology, students are able to go to their school’s
website, click on their class, and view all the homework that has
been assigned.
Eagle Butte High School principal Brad
Volkman says the homework feature has been a great addition to the
website. “If we have a student who’s home sick three
days, now they can download and print the worksheet and catch up on
the work they’re missing,” he explains.
Leitch (an Eagle Butte High alumni) adds
it won’t be long before students will be able to submit their
completed homework back to the teacher via the website, instead of
having to print the assignment out.
But there are other ways website
technology is making a difference to the way schools operate. Most
schools now keep an updated calendar of events on their website, so
parents can keep informed about what is going on at the school.
“Traditionally, schools were only
able to consult with home on a monthly basis (through a school
newsletter), unless they made a phone call home,” Leitch
says.
“In this day and age when people
read the newspaper online, it’s good that we can post our
news on the website too,” Volkman says. This includes photos
— schools can now post photos of sports events, drama
productions, and pep rallies on what amounts to an online
‘yearbook’.
As Veitch points out, a school website can
only be successful if as many staff members as possible
participate. That means the technology needs to be simple and quick
to use.
“Because our software is designed
specifically for teacher use, it’s designed around their
business day,” Veitch says, adding homework assignments can
be posted in less than a minute, even by teachers who have no
website experience.
Volkman says not all teachers are as
technologically inclined as some of their students, so it may still
take some time before posting homework on the web becomes second
nature. “I think it will become even more common —
it’s just about making it part of the routine,” he
says. |
