Net Worth: Homework Helpers
As long as there are students riding in bright yellow buses along the highways and byways of America you can rest assured that most of these students will have homework. Classes have ended for the day and the school is closed. So the student is stuck with homework with the school library media center closed.
Where can students and parents get homework help after school hours? Where's the best place to get a homework question answered? Wouldn't it be great if most people answered this question, "At The Library!"?
In the years BI (Before Internet), homework help meant grabbing a copy of the aged family encyclopedia or racing to the local public library to shuffle the catalog cards and then attack the stacks with a mission of locating the correct book. The Internet has changed all that. Now, students can have their own personal e-homework helper. It's just a matter of knowing where to look.
While many students try to avoid it, homework does have its benefits. Research indicates that children who spend more time on regularly assigned and meaningful homework do better in school. Research also shows that the academic benefits of homework increase as children move into the upper grades. Homework is also a good way to practice basic skills and learn time management.
Most schools have automation systems that offer a Web-based version of their Online Public Access Catalog [OPAC]. Students and parents can search for library materials from any computer with an Internet connection. Additional features of Web-based OPACs include checking your own circulation record, renewing materials, making a hold request and more. Remote access to subscription databases both in the school library and public library offer authoritative information.
Don't forget your local public library. Many public libraries have developed innovative programs to help students in grades 3 through 12 do their homework and learn to study better.
Check if your teacher, school, or school system has a website with sources for homework assistance.
Ask-an-Expert (AskA) services are Internet-based question-and-answer services that connect users with experts in a variety of subject areas. In addition to answering questions, experts may also provide users with referrals to other online and print sources of information. All AskA sites require an e-mail address and attempt to provide service within 24 to 48 hours. If you need an answer "right now", AskA sites are not the place for you. AskA services do their best to provide resources that will help students complete homework assignments. They do not provide editing services for research papers and reports. Most have quality experts available to assist students, but they cannot guarantee 100% accuracy.
There are two categories of AskA services: The first category consists of those services that are provided by altruistic organizations or individuals who are interested in digital reference. These "experts" are volunteers with experience in a wide range of disciplines and professions, and some are librarians. The other category contains commercial sites run by for-profit organizations and frequently contains advertising. AskA services maintain archives of frequently asked questions in order to maintain continuity in their responses.
The World Wide Web includes helpful sites and portals for both students and parents who may need some assistance with homework.
Ask an Expert Sites - http://www.k12science.org/askanexpert.html
Suitable for all grades, this Ask an Expert Page provides links to experts in a number of different categories. This site offers a quick one-step process for finding experts in any field. The Science and Math links breaks down into major subjects with the number of sites listed for each subject: General Science, Astronomy & Space, Biology & Life Sciences, Physics, Oceanography, Geology, Weather, and Mathematics. All major subject areas as listed as well as other "Ask-an -Expert" Web Sites.
Big Chalk - http://www.bigchalk.com/
Big Chalk's HomeworkCentral is a free directory of educational websites created especially for students and teachers. The academic subject collections are organized for three grade levels: elementary school (K-5), middle school (6-8), and high school (9-12). Everybody should check out this site and add it to their homepage.
Ask Dr. Math - http://www.mathforum.org/dr.math/
Good site for advanced math questions, not as strong for tutoring or basic math concepts.
BJ Pinchbeck's Homework Helper - http://school.discovery.com/homeworkhelp/bjpinchbeck/index.html
BJ was 11 years old when he created this site. Today the Discovery Channel hosts this 700+ site of helpful homework links organized into 12 major subject areas. Once you click on a subject area you are brought to a page organized by disciplines of the subject. This site is chock-full of resources for all students.
High School Hub - http://www.highschoolhub.org/hub/hub.cfm
This site is a noncommercial learning portal to excellent free educational resources for high school students. It features online learning activities, an ongoing teen poetry contest, a reference collection, college information, and subject guides for English, mathematics, science, social studies, and world languages.
Homework Center - http://www.infoplease.com/homework/
Infoplease's Homework Center provides information and links to common questions in the major subject areas. In addition, users can use the search box to find answers to their homework questions using the almanac, dictionary, encyclopedia and biography database. For assistance with maps, go to the atlas or map library.
Homework Spot - http://www.homeworkspot.com/
The major divisions: Elementary, Middle, High School, Reference, and Parent/Teacher are subdivided into the appropriate curricular areas for those grade levels. Homework Spot simplifies the search for the best study tools and resources for a wide variety of subjects, including math, science, social studies and language arts. Also includes foreign language, arts and crafts, technology and more. There are suggestions of things to do, questions and answers, online field trips and academic contests. This site has something for every age group and subject.
KidInfo - http://www.kidinfo.com/
This site is simple enough for elementary students to use, and it has a categorized list of links to some of the best Web sources on every subject from Art History to World History. The four sections: Student Index, Young Children, Teacher Index and Parent Index provide structured guidance to locating the information you need.
KidsClick: Web Search for Kids by Librarians - http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick!/
KidsClick! was created by a group of librarians at the Ramapo Catskill Library System (New York) , as a logical step in addressing concerns about the role of public libraries in guiding young users to valuable and age appropriate web sites.
Pitsco's Ask an Expert? - http://askanexpert.com/
Fourteen broad categories (Science/Technology, Animals, Money/Business, Career/Industry, Law, Arts/Humanities, Internet/Computer, International/Cultural, Health, Resources [library], Recreation/Entertainment, Education, and Repair/Trade) offer a plethora of ask-an-expert sites, most are annotated. A searchable collection of over 300 links organized into categories where you can send your questions. "Askanexpert.com connects you with hundreds of real world experts, ranging from astronauts to zookeepers. These experts have volunteered to answer your questions for free!"
RefDesk: Best Source of Facts on the Net - http://refdesk.com/
The plethora of information on this site is staggering. There are over 100 links to home pages, accompanied by a conglomerate of reference materials from newspapers, periodicals, encyclopedia to over 200+ search engines. Clicking on "Homework Helper" brings you to links that are organized first by grade levels and then my subject.
Virtual Reference Desk (VRD) - http://www.vrd.org/
The VRD's AskA+ Locator http://vrd.org/locator/subject.shtmlcontains a collection of over 80 AskA services that focus on the information needs of the K-12 community.
The Learning Center (http://vrd.askvrd.org) is part of a larger site from the Virtual Reference DeskSM (http://vrd.org) and is funded by the US Department of Education. The Learning Center is a question and answer service for the K-12 community, supplemented with links to curriculum related Web sites, frequently asked questions, and an archive of previously asked questions. School, public, academic, and special librarians and library science students offer their time and expertise to help K-12 students, parents, and educators find resources for curriculum related questions. The site is free and open to the public.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: The book Homework Help on the Internet by Marianne J. Dyson (0-439-20892-0, Scholastic, 2002, 3.95 paperback) is a "must purchase" for elementary and middle school libraries and also for parents and students. This 64-page book presents web sites that provide information for common homework assignments in six different areas: science, English, math, American history, world history, and geography. Reviews and updates to the book are available from the author's website: http://www.mariannedyson.com/homeworkhelpinfo.html
Remember - as long as a student has a computer and access to the Web, a world of information is within their reach.
© 2003 Terrence E. Young, Jr.
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