How to Avoid Digital Homework Assignments

Wellbeing Children & teens
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I know there are many parents concerned with the digital school assignments their kids get, and how it keeps their kids staring at screens. This is a method to avoid much of that screen time.

I hate doing my assignments on the computer, but for my Psychology class it is mandatory that I turn in all my homework digitally. So I decided to do all my work by hand, but submit pictures of my written work. This is an option that teachers usually accept because the assignment is still submitter digitally, it is simply not completed digitally.

I do not do this for long essays, but for notes and vocabulary so far I have not been asked to switch my methods. Hopefully this is of some help to you guys! If you have any other ideas please share them! I am always looking for ways to avoid doing homework through my computer.

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Yes, you told us you have to use a Chromebook too… for your psychology class!! … Damn.

Very smart to do it with pictures. This way the information will less likely be analyzed. Besides pictures, what anyone can do, is prepare texts in a separate editor and - when all ready - copy/paste them all at once and then submitting.

I don’t know exactly what personal information is sent to the server this may vary depending on software/website used. But if there is a keylogger at work, the way you type when e.g. describing a moral dilemma (hesitating, correcting, or typing the answer with conviction), this may say a lot about your psyche.

There is a tool, but it is for mobile android phones, that captures your text typing in any app, and then before it will be sent, it encrypts the data. This way no legible information is sent over the wire. But it requires someone on the other side to decrypt the data again, so you’ll need acceptance of that method. This tool is on our awesome-humane-tech list, and called Oversec

For longer essays, if the software allows hyperlinks, you could create a PDF document with a password, and link to that, or attach it as a file. Then send the password separately to your teacher.

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@sidnya. I’m so glad you posted this idea. In addition to the issues with privacy with digital homework- the physical
harms are an issue- many kids don’t sleep well at night due to screen use after a certain hour. Our natural circadian rhythms are disrupted with screentime once the sun goes down. In addition ergonomics on the laptop the schools haven’t addressed.

Attending school today is a risk to health in general and kids are minors- schools should not be imposing health risks to anyone period.

@patm perhaps this should be included in the education harms prevention kit… students having the right to do homework handwritten if they choose.

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Doing homework by hand for me is just…better. I retain information better and can literally grasp concepts. One of the reasons that I have to do all my assignments through the internet is because my school does not want to supply teachers with printer paper and ink to provide paper assignments. They do not have a choice. At one point they even removed the printer from the library so we would have to use online assignments. After several complaints they brought it back, but removed the color printing capabilities. This was slightly aggressive, but revealed the schools motives behind pushing technology very clearly.

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@sidnya and @healthyswimmer, thanks for your comments. I am a strong supporter of using manual skills in working, creating, writing, and so forth. I too find that the hand-eye-brain connection is essential.

Your ideas and comments are swirling around in my head, and I am thinking of a couple ways to campaign for greater freedom and healthier practices for young people.

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My daughter experiences this as well- learning is more meaningful when she can create the words with her own hands- it’s a kinesthetic experience.

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@sidnya I’m so happy to read your posts. I agree whole-heartedly about hand-written assignments and the power of kinesthetic learning. I would love to chat with you about Mindhood.com and the work you are doing with The Saraswati Project. Where are you located in the Bay Area? Which high school? I also want to put you in touch with SecondMuse who is doing research on the impact of technology on youth mental well-being!

I’m posting this here for any other high school/college students or parents of these students. I’d love to chat about the vision for Mindhood.com. We are also supporting National Day of Unplugging. Best,
Susan

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Hi @ssreynolds, Mindhood seems very interesting. You may consider presenting it in more detail in a separate topic in the Awareness > Children category. Then add more claritty too. e.g. what is unclear is whether you are a non-profit, community or commercial business.

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