pros and cons in assignments

Advantages and Disadvantages of Assignments For Students

Looking for advantages and disadvantages of Assignments For Students?

We have collected some solid points that will help you understand the pros and cons of Assignments For Students in detail.

But first, let’s understand the topic:

What is Assignments For Students?

Assignments for students are tasks or activities given by teachers to be completed outside of class time. These can include writing essays, solving math problems, or reading books. They help students practice what they’ve learned and prepare for future lessons.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Assignments For Students

The following are the advantages and disadvantages of Assignments For Students:

Advantages of Assignments For Students

Boosts understanding of topics – Assignments help students dive deeper into topics, providing a clear and thorough understanding that goes beyond surface-level knowledge.
Encourages independent learning – They promote self-learning, pushing students to study and solve problems on their own, fostering self-reliance.
Enhances time management skills – Time management skills are honed as students balance assignments with other responsibilities, teaching them to prioritize tasks.
Improves research and writing abilities – Assignments also refine research and writing skills, as students learn to gather information and articulate ideas effectively.
Reinforces classroom learning – They serve as a reinforcement tool, solidifying what is taught in the classroom and making learning more effective.

Disadvantages of Assignments For Students

Can increase stress levels – Assignments can often lead to elevated stress levels in students due to tight deadlines and high expectations.
Limits free time – When students are loaded with assignments, their leisure time gets compromised, affecting their work-life balance.
May discourage creativity – The rigid structure of assignments can sometimes curb the creative instincts of students, stifling their innovative ideas.
Risks of plagiarism – Assignments also pose the risk of plagiarism as students might copy answers from readily available sources, compromising their learning.
Difficulty understanding instructions – Sometimes, students face challenges in comprehending the instructions of assignments, leading to incorrect submissions.
Advantages and disadvantages of Assignment Method Of Teaching
Advantages and disadvantages of Assignment Method
Advantages and disadvantages of Assets

You can view other “advantages and disadvantages of…” posts by clicking here .

If you have a related query, feel free to let us know in the comments below.

Also, kindly share the information with your friends who you think might be interested in reading it.

20 Pros and Cons of Homework

Homework. It’s a word that sends a shudder down the spine of students and parents alike.

It is also a question that has become divisive. Some people feel that homework is an effective way to reinforce the concepts that were learned at school. Others feel like the time that homework demands would be better spent with a meaningful activity that brings the family together.

Is homework important? Is it necessary? Or is the added stress that homework places on students and parents doing more harm than good? Here are some of the key pros and cons to discuss.

List of the Pros of Homework

1. It encourages the discipline of practice. Repeating the same problems over and over can be boring and difficult, but it also reinforces the practice of discipline. To get better at a skill, repetition is often necessary. You get better with each repetition. By having homework completed every night, especially with a difficult subject, the concepts become easier to understand. That gives the student an advantage later on in life when seeking a vocational career.

2. It gets parents involved with a child’s life. Looking at Common Core math can be somewhat bewildering to parents. If you see the math problem 5×3 expressed as an addition problem, 5+5+5 seems like the right answer. The correct answer, however, would be 3+3+3+3+3. By bringing homework to do, students can engage their learning process with their parents so everyone can be involved. Many parents actually want homework sent so they can see what their children are being taught in the classroom.

3. It teaches time management skills. Homework goes beyond completing a task. It forces children (and parents, to some extent) to develop time management skills. Schedules must be organized to ensure that all tasks can be completed during the day. This creates independent thinking and develops problem-solving skills. It encourages research skills. It also puts parents and children into a position where positive decision-making skills must be developed.

4. Homework creates a communication network. Teachers rarely see into the family lives of their students. Parents rarely see the classroom lives of their children. Homework is a bridge that opens lines of communication between the school, the teacher, and the parent. This allows everyone to get to know one another better. It helps teachers understand the needs of their students better.

It allows parents to find out their child’s strengths and weaknesses. Together, an educational plan can be developed that encourages the best possible learning environment.

5. It allows for a comfortable place to study. Classrooms have evolved over the years to be a warmer and welcoming environment, but there is nothing like the comfort that is felt at home or in a safe space. By encouraging studies where a child feels the most comfortable, it is possible to retain additional information that may get lost within the standard classroom environment.

6. It provides more time to complete the learning process. The time allotted for each area of study in school, especially in K-12, is often limited to 1 hour or less per day. That is not always enough time for students to be able to grasp core concepts of that material. By creating specific homework assignments which address these deficiencies, it becomes possible to counter the effects of the time shortages. That can benefit students greatly over time.

7. It reduces screen time. On the average school night, a student in the US might get 3-4 hours of screen time in per day. When that student isn’t in school, that figure doubles to 7-8 hours of screen time. Homework might be unwanted and disliked, but it does encourage better study habits. It discourages time being spent in front of the television or playing games on a mobile device. That, in turn, may discourage distracting habits from forming that can take away from the learning process in the future.

8. It can be treated like any other extracurricular activity. Some families over-extend themselves on extracurricular activities. Students can easily have more than 40 hours per week, from clubs to sports, that fall outside of regular school hours. Homework can be treated as one of these activities, fitting into the schedule where there is extra time. As an added benefit, some homework can even be completed on the way to or from some activities.

List of the Cons of Homework

1. Children benefit from playing. Being in a classroom can be a good thing, but so can being on a playground. With too much homework, a child doesn’t have enough time to play and that can impact their learning and social development. Low levels of play are associated with lower academic achievement levels, lower safety awareness, less character development, and lower overall health.

2. It encourages a sedentary lifestyle. Long homework assignments require long periods of sitting. A sedentary lifestyle has numerous direct associations with premature death as children age into adults. Obesity levels are already at or near record highs in many communities. Homework may reinforce certain skills and encourage knowledge retention, but it may come at a high price.

3. Not every home is a beneficial environment. There are some homes that are highly invested into their children. Parents may be involved in every stage of homework or there may be access to tutors that can explain difficult concepts. In other homes, there may be little or no education investment into the child. Some parents push the responsibility of teaching off on the teacher and provide no homework support at all.

Sometimes parents may wish to be involved and support their child, but there are barriers in place that prevent this from happening. The bottom line is this: no every home life is equal.

4. School is already a full-time job for kids. An elementary school day might start at 9:00am and end at 3:20pm. That’s more than 6 hours of work that kids as young as 5 are putting into their education every day. Add in the extra-curricular activities that schools encourage, such as sports, musicals, and after-school programming and a student can easily reach 8 hours of education in the average day. Then add homework on top of that? It is asking a lot for any child, but especially young children, to complete extra homework.

5. There is no evidence that homework creates improvements. Survey after survey has found that the only thing that homework does is create a negative attitude toward schooling and education in general. Homework is not associated with a higher level of academic achievement on a national scale. It may help some students who struggle with certain subjects, if they have access to a knowledgeable tutor or parent, but on a community level, there is no evidence that shows improvements are gained.

6. It discourages creative endeavors. If a student is spending 1 hour each day on homework, that’s an hour they are not spending pursuing something that is important to them. Students might like to play video games or watch TV, but homework takes time away from learning an instrument, painting, or developing photography skills as well. Although some homework can involve creative skills, that usually isn’t the case.

7. Homework is difficult to enforce. Some students just don’t care about homework. They can achieve adequate grades without doing it, so they choose not to do it. There is no level of motivation that a parent or teacher can create that inspires some students to get involved with homework. There is no denying the fact that homework requires a certain amount of effort. Sometimes a child just doesn’t want to put in that effort.

8. Extra time in school does not equate to better grades. Students in the US spend more than 100 hours of extra time in school already compared to high-performing countries around the world, but that has not closed the educational gap between those countries and the United States. In some educational areas, the US is even falling in global rankings despite the extra time that students are spending in school. When it comes to homework or any other form of learning, quality is much more important than quantity.

9. Accurate practice may not be possible. If homework is assigned, there is a reliance on the student, their parents, or their guardians to locate resources that can help them understand the content. Homework is often about practice, but if the core concepts of that information are not understood or inaccurately understood, then the results are the opposite of what is intended. If inaccurate practice is performed, it becomes necessary for the teacher to first correct the issue and then reteach it, which prolongs the learning process.

10. It may encourage cheating on multiple levels. Some students may decide that cheating in the classroom to avoid taking homework home is a compromise they’re willing to make. With internet resources, finding the answers to homework instead of figuring out the answers on one’s own is a constant temptation as well. For families with multiple children, they may decide to copy off one another to minimize the time investment.

11. Too much homework is often assigned to students. There is a general agreement that students should be assigned no more than 10 minutes of homework per day, per grade level. That means a first grader should not be assigned more than 10 minutes of homework per night. Yet for the average first grader in US public schools, they come home with 20 minutes of homework and then are asked to complete 20 minutes of reading on top of that. That means some students are completing 4x more homework than recommended every night.

At the same time, the amount of time children spent playing outdoors has decreased by 40% over the past 30 years.

For high school students, it is even worse at high performing schools in the US where 90% of graduates go onto college, the average amount of homework assigned per night was 3 hours per student.

12. Homework is often geared toward benchmarks. Homework is often assigned to improve test scores. Although this can provide positive outcomes, including better study skills or habits, the fact is that when children are tired, they do not absorb much information. When children have more homework than recommended, test scores actually go down. Stress levels go up. Burnout on the curriculum occurs.

The results for many students, according to research from Ruben Fernandez-Alonso in the Journal of Educational Psychology, is a decrease in grades instead of an increase.

The pros and cons of homework are admittedly all over the map. Many parents and teachers follow their personal perspectives and create learning environments around them. When parents and teachers clash on homework, the student is often left in the middle of that tug of war. By discussing these key points, each side can work to find some common ground so our children can benefit for a clear, precise message.

Quantity may be important, but quality must be the priority for homework if a student is going to be successful.

About the Hub
Announcements
Faculty Experts Guide
Subscribe to the newsletter

Explore by Topic

Arts+Culture
Politics+Society
Science+Technology
Student Life
University News
Voices+Opinion
About Hub at Work
Gazette Archive
Benefits+Perks
Health+Well-Being
Current Issue
About the Magazine
Past Issues
Support Johns Hopkins Magazine
Subscribe to the Magazine

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

A daughter sits at a desk doing homework while her mom stands beside her helping

Credit: August de Richelieu

Does homework still have value? A Johns Hopkins education expert weighs in

Joyce epstein, co-director of the center on school, family, and community partnerships, discusses why homework is essential, how to maximize its benefit to learners, and what the 'no-homework' approach gets wrong.

By Vicky Hallett

The necessity of homework has been a subject of debate since at least as far back as the 1890s, according to Joyce L. Epstein , co-director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University. "It's always been the case that parents, kids—and sometimes teachers, too—wonder if this is just busy work," Epstein says.

But after decades of researching how to improve schools, the professor in the Johns Hopkins School of Education remains certain that homework is essential—as long as the teachers have done their homework, too. The National Network of Partnership Schools , which she founded in 1995 to advise schools and districts on ways to improve comprehensive programs of family engagement, has developed hundreds of improved homework ideas through its Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork program. For an English class, a student might interview a parent on popular hairstyles from their youth and write about the differences between then and now. Or for science class, a family could identify forms of matter over the dinner table, labeling foods as liquids or solids. These innovative and interactive assignments not only reinforce concepts from the classroom but also foster creativity, spark discussions, and boost student motivation.

"We're not trying to eliminate homework procedures, but expand and enrich them," says Epstein, who is packing this research into a forthcoming book on the purposes and designs of homework. In the meantime, the Hub couldn't wait to ask her some questions:

What kind of homework training do teachers typically get?

Future teachers and administrators really have little formal training on how to design homework before they assign it. This means that most just repeat what their teachers did, or they follow textbook suggestions at the end of units. For example, future teachers are well prepared to teach reading and literacy skills at each grade level, and they continue to learn to improve their teaching of reading in ongoing in-service education. By contrast, most receive little or no training on the purposes and designs of homework in reading or other subjects. It is really important for future teachers to receive systematic training to understand that they have the power, opportunity, and obligation to design homework with a purpose.

Why do students need more interactive homework?

If homework assignments are always the same—10 math problems, six sentences with spelling words—homework can get boring and some kids just stop doing their assignments, especially in the middle and high school years. When we've asked teachers what's the best homework you've ever had or designed, invariably we hear examples of talking with a parent or grandparent or peer to share ideas. To be clear, parents should never be asked to "teach" seventh grade science or any other subject. Rather, teachers set up the homework assignments so that the student is in charge. It's always the student's homework. But a good activity can engage parents in a fun, collaborative way. Our data show that with "good" assignments, more kids finish their work, more kids interact with a family partner, and more parents say, "I learned what's happening in the curriculum." It all works around what the youngsters are learning.

Is family engagement really that important?

At Hopkins, I am part of the Center for Social Organization of Schools , a research center that studies how to improve many aspects of education to help all students do their best in school. One thing my colleagues and I realized was that we needed to look deeply into family and community engagement. There were so few references to this topic when we started that we had to build the field of study. When children go to school, their families "attend" with them whether a teacher can "see" the parents or not. So, family engagement is ever-present in the life of a school.

My daughter's elementary school doesn't assign homework until third grade. What's your take on "no homework" policies?

There are some parents, writers, and commentators who have argued against homework, especially for very young children. They suggest that children should have time to play after school. This, of course is true, but many kindergarten kids are excited to have homework like their older siblings. If they give homework, most teachers of young children make assignments very short—often following an informal rule of 10 minutes per grade level. "No homework" does not guarantee that all students will spend their free time in productive and imaginative play.

Some researchers and critics have consistently misinterpreted research findings. They have argued that homework should be assigned only at the high school level where data point to a strong connection of doing assignments with higher student achievement . However, as we discussed, some students stop doing homework. This leads, statistically, to results showing that doing homework or spending more minutes on homework is linked to higher student achievement. If slow or struggling students are not doing their assignments, they contribute to—or cause—this "result."

Teachers need to design homework that even struggling students want to do because it is interesting. Just about all students at any age level react positively to good assignments and will tell you so.

Did COVID change how schools and parents view homework?

Within 24 hours of the day school doors closed in March 2020, just about every school and district in the country figured out that teachers had to talk to and work with students' parents. This was not the same as homeschooling—teachers were still working hard to provide daily lessons. But if a child was learning at home in the living room, parents were more aware of what they were doing in school. One of the silver linings of COVID was that teachers reported that they gained a better understanding of their students' families. We collected wonderfully creative examples of activities from members of the National Network of Partnership Schools. I'm thinking of one art activity where every child talked with a parent about something that made their family unique. Then they drew their finding on a snowflake and returned it to share in class. In math, students talked with a parent about something the family liked so much that they could represent it 100 times. Conversations about schoolwork at home was the point.

How did you create so many homework activities via the Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork program?

We had several projects with educators to help them design interactive assignments, not just "do the next three examples on page 38." Teachers worked in teams to create TIPS activities, and then we turned their work into a standard TIPS format in math, reading/language arts, and science for grades K-8. Any teacher can use or adapt our prototypes to match their curricula.

Overall, we know that if future teachers and practicing educators were prepared to design homework assignments to meet specific purposes—including but not limited to interactive activities—more students would benefit from the important experience of doing their homework. And more parents would, indeed, be partners in education.

Posted in Voices+Opinion

News network.

Johns Hopkins Magazine
Get Email Updates
Submit an Announcement
Submit an Event
Privacy Statement
Accessibility

Discover JHU

About the University
Schools & Divisions
Academic Programs
Plan a Visit
my.JohnsHopkins.edu
© 2024 Johns Hopkins University . All rights reserved.
University Communications
3910 Keswick Rd., Suite N2600, Baltimore, MD
X Facebook LinkedIn YouTube Instagram

You are using an outdated browser. Upgrade your browser today or install Google Chrome Frame to better experience this site.

Pros and cons of school assignments: Should kids have homework?

Do you think homework is good for kids? Should it be abolished? Find out the pros and cons of homework for students and join our education poll and debate.

Should kids have homework?

Pros and cons of homework.

Some researchers have identified a strong correlation between homework and academic success. Harris Cooper, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, led a meta-analysis in 2006, " Does homework improve academic achievement?, " which showed that homework can improve students' scores on class tests. The study demonstrated that accross different topics, including Math, English, American History, and Social studies, student who had done homework performed better than their classmates who had not.

In addition to improving grades and results in standardized tests, there are many other pros to homework such as:

Homework provides parents with the opportunity to participate in their children's education.
Possibility for kids to further explore a subject at their own pace. Not all children have the same capacity to assimilate all the information covered in class.
School assignments can help develop a sense of responsibility and time management.
It facilitates rote learning.
It reduces the time kids spend watching TV as well as playing video games and with their cell phones .
Homework is an opportunity to practice some research and study skills and deepen understanding of some concepts which cannot be fully developed in class.

However, some voices have started to point out some disadvantages of doing homework and questioned the traditional education model in place. Some of them claim that homework should be abolished. The publication “The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning” by Kralovec and Buell (2000) has brought into the discussion a very interesting new angle. Kralovec and Buell argue that homework contributes to a competitive culture that overvalues work to the detriment of personal and family well-being . Moreover, there are several other problems associated to homework, such as:

Homework is very unfair because economically disadvantaged students can’t study at home with the same conditions and support as the wealthier children.
Too many school assignments can excessively reduce the time for playing, doing sports or simply interacting socially with friends and family. Homework can also interfere with kids' household chores .
Cheating is easy. Often students simply plagiarize their assignments from others or from the Internet and therefore the learning objectives of homework are not fulfilled. In occasions parents or older relatives do children's coursework.
Sometimes homework is not well designed and do not really contribute to learning. In other cases homework is not marked shortly after being submitted and, therefore, feedback does not reach students as soon as it should. Students may get frustrated and lose interest.
It may keep students up late at night, reduce their sleeping time and therefore their performance in class the following day.
As Galloway et al (2013) show, homework can be a source of stress and physical health problems for children.

To summarize, there are several pros and cons to the use of homework as educational tool for children. What side of the debate are you on? Do you think homework is overall good or bad for the development and education of children? Vote and tell us why (see below).

Watch these videos on the homework debate:

Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. Your vote is anonymous. If you change your mind, you can change your vote simply by clicking on another option.

Voting results

New to netivist?

Join with confidence, netivist is completely advertisement free. You will not receive any promotional materials from third parties.

Or sign in with your favourite Social Network:

Join the debate

In order to join the debate you must be logged in.

Already have an account on netivist? Just login . New to netivist? Create your account for free .

Report Abuse and Offensive language

Was there any kind of offensive or inappropriate language used in this comment.

If you feel this user's conduct is unappropriate, please report this comment and our moderaters will review its content and deal with this matter as soon as possible.

NOTE: Your account might be penalized should we not find any wrongdoing by this user. Only use this feature if you are certain this user has infringed netivist's Terms of Service .

Our moderators will now review this comment and act accordingly. If it contains abusive or inappropriate language its author will be penalized.

Posting Comment

Your comment is being posted. This might take a few seconds, please wait.

Error Posting Comment

error.

We are having trouble saving your comment. Please try again .

Most Voted Debates

Start a Debate

Would you like to create a debate and share it with the netivist community? We will help you do it!

Found a technical issue?

Are you experiencing any technical problem with netivist? Please let us know!

Help netivist

Help netivist continue running free!

Please consider making a small donation today. This will allow us to keep netivist alive and available to a wide audience and to keep on introducing new debates and features to improve your experience.

What is netivist?
Entertainment
Top Debates
Top Campaigns
Provide Feedback

Share by Email

There was an error...

Email successfully sent to:

Join with confidence, netivist is completely advertisement free You will not recive any promotional materials from third parties

Join netivist

Already have a netivist account?

If you already created your netivist account, please log in using the button below.

If you are new to netivist, please create your account for free and start collecting your netivist points!

You just leveled up!

Congrats you just reached a new level on Netivist. Keep up the good work.

Together we can make a difference

Follow us and don't miss out on the latest debates!

Does offering students a choice in assignments lead to greater engagement?

Michael Nagler is the Superintendent of the Mineola School District , a suburb of NYC. Mike began his career as a social studies teacher in NYC. While teaching he earned his doctorate from Columbia University and accepted an administrative position with Mineola in 1999. He believes strongly in the district’s mission to inspire students to become lifelong learners that exhibit strength of character and contribute positively to a global society. During his eighteen years with the district, he has been a big proponent of using technology to engage students in rigorous content. Mike has also been instrumental in creating a platform to assess student learning using electronic portfolios and digital badges. He even coded his own digital portfolio . All five schools in Mineola have been recognized as Apple distinguished schools. Mineola is also a member of the League of Innovative Schools.

Choice can lead to greater engagement. To maximize the benefits, teachers should offer students a limited number of options.

By Carly Robinson

The short answer: Offering students choice is good. But you know what they say about too much of a good thing…

The not-too-much-longer answer: There’s a reason why the idea of offering students choices in their educational activities has become popular. Decades of psychological research concludes that providing students with choices leads to increases in autonomy and, in turn, motivation and learning. Students, like adults, tend to be more motivated to complete a task – and perform better on it – when they choose to engage in the task themselves, rather than having the task chosen for them. When students choose their topic or select how to present their work, they are more likely to take ownership over their work and/or feel confident demonstrating their knowledge. (Side perk: Giving students choice on assignments can also make grading more interesting for the teacher!)

So, yes, providing students with choice in assignments can lead to greater engagement. But when it comes to giving choices, like with ice cream and movie sequels, more is not always better. And, in fact, too much choice can actually lead to decreased motivation and satisfaction. While choice is a key feature of cultivating student autonomy, it also can lead to choice overload. Faced with too many choices, students can become overwhelmed, and they instead prioritize ending the choice-making process, rather than making the choice they think is best. This results in students selecting the first satisfactory option they find, rather than their optimal option, which can leave students feeling dissatisfied with their selection and less motivated to do well.

To maximize the benefits of providing students with a choice, teachers should offer students a limited number of choices. Research suggests three to five options may produce the most satisfaction and motivation. Teachers can also help structure the choice-making process to make it less overwhelming. For example, One World Education, a program where students choose to research and write about a social justice issue that is important to them, helps students navigate the choice-making process so their topic selection becomes deliberate and further enhances their engagement.

Here are a few other ideas for teachers who want to effectively offer students choice in assignments:

Assign students to complete five out of ten potential homework problems
Create a short list of project topics and let students select which one they want to pursue
Provide a handful of different options for students to present their work (e.g., essay, presentation, blog post, etc.)
Offer a few book options for students to select and create book groups
Provide some choice in the questions students answer on assessments (e.g., answer 15 out of 20 items, choose between different question types)
Present the choice-making process as part of the assignment — dedicate time for students to research potential topic options, and help students make connections between topics and their own values

References:

Student choice leads to more motivation and learning (Patall, E. A., Cooper, H., & Wynn, S. R. (2010). The effectiveness and relative importance of choice in the classroom . Journal of Educational Psychology , 102 (4), 896. )
Too much choice can lead to decreased motivation & satisfaction (Iyengar, S. S., & Lepper, M. R. (2000). When choice is demotivating: Can one desire too much of a good thing? . Journal of personality and social psychology , 79 (6), 995. )
3-5 options is the sweet spot (Patall, E. A., Cooper, H., & Robinson, J. C. (2008). The effects of choice on intrinsic motivation and related outcomes: a meta-analysis of research findings . Psychological bulletin , 134 (2), 270.)

Carly Robinson is a Ph.D. Candidate in Education at Harvard University in the Human Development, Learning, and Teaching concentration. Her interests lie at the intersection of social psychology, education, and youth development. Her current research focuses on developing and testing interventions that mobilize social support for students to improve student outcomes. See full bio .

Sign up for updates!

(615) 218-8660
[email protected]

The Pro’s and Con’s of Assigning Homework

July 25, 2022
No Comments
Teacher Tips

Homework is a word that students dread hearing, and it is only fair after hours of classroom work when a teacher assigns them with extra work it sends a shudder down the spine of students and perhaps their parents.

But let’s be fair for a moment and think about how many of us as teachers really didn’t enjoy homework when we were students.

If your answer is a big yes, it does not necessarily mean that one was a bad student or didn’t enjoy learning.

Our educational system revolves around the revision and extra learning process called homework, yet after all the prolonged discussion on whether children should be assigned extra tasks for home, the question remains, is there a benefit of homework? There’s different points of view on assigning homework.

More importantly, are there any pros or cons to assigning homework, or does it just burden growing young minds.

To answer this question, a single debate is not going to be enough; instead, I will list all the major pros and cons that have surfaced via different research and case studies that genuinely make a point.

Let’s start with the PROS of assigning homework.

Number 1: it encourages practice.

Repeating the same problems over and over can be boring and difficult, but it also reinforces the practice of discipline. To get better at a skill, repetition is often necessary. You get better with each repetition. By having homework completed every night, especially with a difficult subject, the concepts become easier to understand.

Repeating the same tasks on a daily basis is far from the definition of fun for the average person. Without repetition, however, it is difficult to improve personal skills or discover new talents.

Homework is an opportunity to lay the framework of discipline that can last for a lifetime. Sometimes, homework isn’t about the actual work that needs to be finished. It is about learning how to manage oneself so that personal goals can be consistently achieved.

That gives the student an advantage later on in life when seeking a vocational career.

Number 2: Homework encourages parents’ involvement

Homework can be something that gets parents involved in their children’s lives if the environment is a healthy one. A parent helping their child with homework makes them take part in their academic success and allows for the parent to keep up with what the child is doing in school. It can also be a chance to connect together.

Even parents who are classroom chaperones don’t get to see everything their child is learning each day. Homework is an opportunity to know what is being taught by their child’s teacher. Not only does this help to engage the learning process for everyone, but it also provides a chance for parents to ask questions about the curriculum or express concerns they may have.

Number 3: It extends the learning process throughout the day

Most school subjects are limited to 30-60 minutes of instruction per day. Specialty subjects, such as art and music, may be limited to 1-2 hours per week. Assigning homework allows students to have their learning process extended in these areas, allowing them to develop a piece of deeper knowledge, interest, or passion about certain matters. Time shortages can create knowledge gaps. Homework can help to lessen or eliminate those gaps.

Number 4: It requires students to learn time management

Homework can involve many different tasks. It becomes necessary for students to manage their time wisely to ensure they can get their work finished on time. It encourages students to set priorities for their time to accomplish their goals and not feel like they missed out on something. This process encourages problem-solving, creative thinking, and personal responsibility. These benefits don’t just stop with the student either. Families must learn time management to accommodate the homework needs as well.

Number 5: It creates communication networks

For homework to be effective, there must be two communication networks present. Parents and children must form a network. Parents and teachers must also form a network. By sending homework on a regular basis, these networks stay activated so that the student can receive an individualized learning opportunity. Parents understand the teachers better. Teachers understand the students better. Students, though they may hate the homework, can understand their lessons better. It becomes a winning situation for everyone involved.

Number 6: It can take kids away from computers, TVs, and mobile devices

Today’s students spend almost as much time at school as they do watching TV or using an electronic device. Students spend up to 4 hours per school night on electronic devices and up to 8 hours per weekend day. By encouraging homework, the amount of time being spend in front of screens can be reduced. In return, there is a lower risk of eye strain, myopia, headaches, and other issues that are associated with high levels of screen use.

Number 7: It can foster deeper parent/child relationships

Parents are very busy today. About 60% of all two-parent families have both parents employed. In single-parent families, the amount of contact time a parent might have with their child could be as little as 2-3 hours per day. Homework is an opportunity for parents to provide their wisdom and expertise to their children in a way that benefits everyone. Not only is the information passed along, but every homework opportunity is also a chance for parents and children to foster deeper relationships with one another.

Number 8: It encourages discipline

Homework is an opportunity to lay the framework of discipline that can last for a lifetime. Again, like I said earlier, homework isn’t about the actual work that needs to be finished. It is about learning how to manage oneself so that personal goals can be consistently achieved.

Number 9: It sets the stage for a vocational career

Many vocations require their workers to be available at different hours during the day. Some require employees to be ready, in an on-call status. An important work project might need to be completed at home. When teachers and schools assign homework to students, it is an opportunity to learn what the world is really like. There are some days when extended work is required. In return, once that work is completed, you get to do all the fun things you want to do.

Number 10: It is an opportunity to find pride in one’s work

Doing a good job on something feels good. It gives you confidence and boosts your self-esteem. Homework can provide these benefits, especially when the work meets or exceeds expectations. Finding pride in one’s work can help students determine who they want to be when they grow up.

Now all of this sounds extremely convincing, and if you leave with this information, you will consider homework the best therapy for improving your student’s command of their curriculum. But there is more to the story; while homework can be a life-improving activity, it has its own potential threats that are becoming common as the curriculum becomes tougher and tougher with respect to the grade in which the child is assigned.

Not all minds think alike; similarly, the perception and acceptance of homework vary among students by a broad spectrum.

Some are okay with it, and they will finish the task despite their interest; some will consider it a chore and will try to get through it as soon as possible, while some will enjoy the extra burden of homework and enjoy the extra learning.

They all perceive different benefits, advantages, and disadvantages of having homework. And being a teacher the hardest part is to explain to a student why the assigned homework will benefit them when it’s time for end of year assessments.

In light of this argument, I would like to share the CONS or disadvantages of assigning homework.

Again teachers might not approve of the facts, but the key to success is to find the equilibrium point the sweet spot to reap maximum benefits from assigning homework to students.

Number 1: It eliminates playtime from a child’s routine

Many children already put in the same number of hours for their schooling and activities as their parents do with their full-time jobs. Sports, clubs, Girl or Boy Scouts, church activities, and more are all part of the modern routine. There needs to be time for playing in there as well, and homework can take that time away. When children aren’t given time to play, they have lower levels of personal safety awareness, have lower average grades, and have a higher risk of health concerns.

Number 2: It is often graded on benchmarks instead of personal achievement

The goal of homework is to increase personal knowledge in a specific area. The reasons for this need are often mixed. It is often assigned to improve a specific test score instead of improving a specific personal skill or habit. Since homework is often completed at a time when children feel tired after school, the amount of information they retain is limited. If stress, anxiety, or even hunger are added into the mix, the results of homework can be negligible or even negative.

Number 3: It can be used to offset teaching shortfalls

The general rule of homework is that 10 minutes per day should be assigned at maximum, based on the student’s grade level.

A 1st grader should receive 10 minutes per day at maximum, a 2nd grader should receive 20 minutes, and so forth. Yet, in the U.S., the average 1st grader comes home with 20 minutes of homework – double the recommended amount. That means it is being used more for educational shortfalls than for student development in many cases.

Number 4: It reduces the amount of outdoor time

As homework responsibilities have risen, the amount of time children spent outside playing has decreased. In the past generation, the amount of outdoor playtime has been almost cut in half. At the same time, homework assignments have risen by an almost equal level. The average amount of homework assign to a high school senior in the U.S. is 3 hours per day at high-performing schools. That means some students work longer hours in their education than their parents do for their full-time job.

Number 5: It encourages shortcuts

Students assigned high levels of homework begin to look for ways to reduce their time commitments. That means trying to find shortcuts to the process. It could mean a student decides to put in a 50% effort to have more energy to do something else later in the day. Many families with multiple children do their homework together just to save time. That reduces the effectiveness of what the homework is supposed to accomplish.

Number 6: It may be beyond the parent’s scope of knowledge

Changing lesson plans mean homework assignments follow different rules than parents may know compared to their time in school. Common Core mathematics is one of the best examples of this. If parents cannot help with the core concepts of a homework assignment and do not have access to helpful information, then the purpose of the homework is lost. The results can be detrimental to the learning process. It can even rob students and parents of their confidence.

Number 7: It isn’t something that can be enforced

Refusing to do homework is not against the law. Some students may decide that the consequences they receive at school for not doing their homework are worth the time-savings they receive in not doing it. Motivation can be a tricky thing. Unless there is value in the homework being sent home on some level, there will always be a handful of students in every school who decide that the effort of doing the work isn’t valuable enough to them.

Number 8: It decreases the development of creative processes

Homework is usually structured around the completion of a specific assignment. Even in art, music, or writing, the homework must be completed in a specific way to receive a good grade. That means homework is teaching concepts of compliance more than it is teaching concepts of skill development.

Number 9: It reduces the amount of down time a student receives

It is true that the average student may spend up to 4 hours every school night in front of an electronic screen. That might mean a movie, a TV show, or video games. More homework is being administered through electronic devices as well. This leaves less time for students to pursue extra-curricular activities, develop a new hobby, or spend time with their families. Excessive homework can even lead to learning burnout when it occurs for long enough.

Number 10: It may not offer any skill improvement

Except for outlier surveys, homework does the best job of creating a negative attitude toward learning something new. Kids don’t want to go to school because they don’t want to receive tons of homework that need to be done. Parents are even required to initial or sign an acknowledgement that the homework has been completed. If that signature doesn’t happen, who receives a consequence at school? The student. Homework can help students fall behind their peers in specific areas, especially if private tutoring is involved, but the other benefits of homework may be overstated.

Number 11: It adds more time to a child’s daily responsibilities

The average school begins their day at 8am. The school day ends at 2:30 or 3:20pm. Many students can easily reach 8 hours of school responsibilities every day. Homework for the weekend may include up to another 6 hours of school responsibilities for a high-performing school. Children as young as 5 are going to formal school settings for 6-8 hours every day. Although this does accommodate the working hours of parents, it creates a huge strain on the kids. Some just feel like they don’t have time to be a kid any more.

Number 12: It could encourage a low-movement lifestyle

Children often sit for long periods of time when in the school environment. They often sit for long periods while completing their homework. Recent research suggests that prolonged sitting could be just as dangerous to a person’s health as smoking. With obesity levels at record highs around the world, but especially in the United States, the best homework to send home might just be to go outside to play for some time.

Number 13: It puts some children at a disadvantage

Not every parent is invested into their child’s education. Not every parent helps a child with the homework they have. Some parents may not even come home at night. Children that come from homes where their parents are not invested in them tend to be at a disadvantage when it comes to homework. Without any home support, a child can feel like their teacher and their parents are both “out to get them.” This feeling can inspire a number of negative choices, including criminal activity.

Teachers, I want to point this out…homework needs to be relevant

Homework should not be graded

Homework should not be given just to give it

Homework should not be new learning

Instead of a worksheet, let’s say you want to reinforce a geometry math lesson, have the student make a list of “geometric shapes” in their home; or if you’re studying rocks, have student collect rocks to bring to class – you get the point. I hope that this post has given you some valuable insights as to the pro’s and con’s of assigning homework.

Steve Hiles

Listen To My Podcast

This Month's Freebie

Latest Posts

What Do I Need for My First Year of Teaching?

The Most Common Concern for New Teachers

How New Teachers Can Deal with Angry Parents

The Biggest Challenges For New Teachers

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Get a FREE GIFT ($15 value)

Build connections with colleagues, equip your classroom, prioritize self-care, and embrace a growth mindset to thrive in your first year of teaching.

New teachers face challenges in classroom management but can find support through mentoring programs and workshops to create effective learning environments.

Nine strategies for new teachers handling angry parents effectively.

Steve Hiles I am a retired military and elementary school teacher living in Tennessee. I am an avid reader and love to write. I am

Get your Free Gift

We respect your email privacy

Copyright 2024 © Steve Hiles' Educational Resources. All rights Reserved.

The pros and cons of virtual assignments

Considering a virtual assignment you are not alone. since the pandemic began virtual assignments are on the rise.. companies are relying on virtual roles to manage different challenges in their business. many companies are also relying on new remote hires before employees move and relocate. , what is a virtual assignment, what to consider before you take a virtual assignment, missing out on company culture, tax complications, communication challenges, working across multiple time zones, limited access to it support, what are the pros of a virtual assignment, a virtual assignment saves you relocating, avoiding any immigration issues, additional compensations, access to global career opportunities.

Without the disruption of moving overseas, you can enjoy the positive benefits of global career opportunities. Gaining some valuable cross-culture training when working on your virtual role. This experience can help advance your career and work on your ability to adapt and grow in new working environments.

Moving abroad for a new job opportunity? Make sure you are covered with our international health insurance designed for professionals working abroad. Get a quote with us today .

While most people who get COVID-19 recover quickly, for some it can cause symptoms that last for weeks or even months.

The dangers of vaping

Health experts are warning about the serious health risks associated with vaping.

Discover the health risks of vaping, from heart and lung damage to addiction. Learn about global efforts to regulate e-cigarettes and protect your health.

Mental Health and Long COVID

Long COVID can result in a number of mental health issues for patients, and it’s important to know the signs, symptoms and how to manage them.

How to deal with gaslighting

Gaslighting is a form of manipulative behaviour that attempts to make you question your memories or perception of reality and can even make you think you’re going crazy.

How to Manage Long COVID as an Expat

Getting sick while living abroad as an expat can be challenging. Here is some crucial information to know if you’re an expat wondering how to manage long COVID.

Living with Rosacea: Tips and Tricks

While we all may experience a flushed complexion every now and then, living with rosacea can be much more difficult.

Managing Psoriasis Flare-Ups

If you or someone you love is managing psoriasis and struggling to find relief, you can find some effective strategies in our guide.

How to Soothe Eczema-Prone Skin

In this blog post, we'll delve into practical tips and skincare strategies designed to provide relief on how to soothe eczema-prone skin.

Exploring the Different Types of Acne

In this blog post, we'll explore the different types of acne and give some actionable tips to address each type.

The link between highly processed foods and brain health

Eating highly processed foods is linked to age-related cognitive decline and mental health issues, according to research.

6 Ways to Support your Gut Health When Travelling

Discover 6 essential tips to support your gut health while traveling. From fiber-rich meals to local yoghurt, make your journey comfortable and enjoyable.

What Is the Gut-Brain Axis and How Does it Work?

Let’s explore why the gut is our “second brain”, the link between the gut-brain axis and mental health, and what a “gut feeling” really is⁠.

Sweet Potato Hummus

Enjoy Sweet Potato Hummus—homemade, packed with plant-based goodness. Versatile and quick to make, it's a healthy snack with added fiber and prebiotics for gut health. Delightful, nutritious, and perfect for any occasion!

Peanut Tofu Stir-Fry with Shiitake & Snow Peas

Quick and flavorful Peanut Butter Tofu Stir-Fry—packed with plant-based protein, shiitake mushrooms, and crunchy cashews. Perfect over rice for a nutritious, easy dinner.

Why Should Students Have Homework? Pros and Cons of Academic Assignments

There have been dozens of debates over the pros and cons of homework. Homework is one of the things that students fear, mainly due to the pressures that come with it. One has to spend extra time working on assignments that are more of an extension of school work. While homework is a core aspect of the traditional instruction system, it has grown to be a very divisive topic in the education system. Why should elementary students have homework? How about the homework pros and cons? Most people would like to get an answer to this question, especially with the level of controversy that continues to flood academia. This article explores the issue to help you understand why homework should be part of the school system and the reasons to limit the size of the assignments.

What are the reasons why students should not have homework.

Should schools abolish homework? Many students, teachers, and parents are troubled by this question. While educators may see it as testing the student’s mastery of concepts in the classroom, students are likely to perceive it as a way of persecution. There have been some cases of teachers giving assignments more than students can handle, leading to the need to remove the idea from academia. Here are some reasons why homework ought to be banned.

Homework interrupts the normal sleep cycle of the students Teachers usually only care a little about the student’s needs outside of academic performance. Most give assignments that compel the students to stay up for long hours, with some sitting up as late as 2 am. Such burdens contribute to irregular sleep patterns, interfering with the biological clock.
There is no real benefit in the learning process Teachers assume that giving students a lot of homework tasks equates to better academic performance. However, this is not the case, as most students end up demoralized. That’s the other cons of homework. The assignments end up driving them into a corner, becoming a devil rather than a motivation for them to learn more.
Homework stresses students Speaking of the homework cons, it is important to mention that a ccording to a study by Stanford University, 56 percent of students believe that homework is an excellent source of stress. Indeed, failure to have assignments means no anxiety or other forms of pressure for the student. They don’t have to waste long hours at their desks or battle burnout just because they have to complete tasks.
Homework harms exam performance Teachers give assignments in the hope that the students get a chance to master their skills to pass the examinations. However, the opposite takes place. Students invest a lot of time doing assignments to the extent that they must allocate time for their studies. As a result, they end up failing tests.
Writing is a technique that is beyond the majority of students Academic assignments usually involve substantial inscription assignments. Writing requires an individual to hone several skills, sometimes above average for students. With the teachers providing little help to the learners, writing becomes a colossal nightmare, reinforcing the need to have homework banned from the education system.

Should students have homework? Pros and cons of school assignments

As you read why should students have homework articles, consider the pros and cons before making a final decision. This is because the issue has grown to be a household topic, with parents and students looking for ways to help distinguish the concept from the academic system.

The pros why students should have homework include the following:

When it comes to the pros of homework, let’s mention that a ssignment enables the students to practice and master the core skills of their majors. Even though it might be time-consuming, daily practice ensures the student can master the significant concepts of the topic under discussion.
It creates an environment for the parent and the child to develop a better relationship. As the parent helps the student complete school assignments, they form a close connection involving the guardian in the child’s academic journey.
The student gets to learn and practice the skills of task scheduling. Homework assignments are restricted to time. Hence, the student gets a chance to learn task management skills.
Homework enables the teachers to gauge whether the student has been able to master the concepts being taught in class. As a result, it helps educators tailor the teaching program to the learner’s needs.
It allows students to tap into their interests, hobbies, and talents. Homework assignments enable students to access and unlock their imaginativeness and build skills in other areas that might be useful for their development.

The cons of school homework include the following:

Homework promotes physical inactivity, leading to the occurrence of lifestyle diseases.
It deprives the students of the time to relax and re-energize for other activities. As a result, the learner ends up living a life of exhaustion and without the motivation to continue working hard.
There needs to be sufficient proof that homework boosts students’ performance. Despite taking a lot of personal time, no reliable study has linked homework to good performance.
Homework assignments can be overwhelming for students, denying them a chance to enjoy their free time to explore other areas of life.
Homework needs to be more balanced. Teachers provide extra assignments, forcing the students to spend more than three hours completing the work. Such a scenario is overdoing and prevents the students from focusing on other academic and personal growth areas.
It promotes a culture of poor work-life balance. This leads to the nurturing of student professionals who hold little importance for social life. Perhaps this is one of the primary reasons why students should not have homework.
Homework creates unfairness between children with parents who help with those who don’t.

Reasons why students should have less homework

Too much work is a perennial complaint from most students. Here are reasons why learners should get lesser homework:

#1 Less homework encourages students to learn

The school aims to teach students and make them love learning. Teachers should look for ways that make their audience appreciate being in school and always look forward to other lessons. Hence, the homework assignments should be less thought-provoking to ensure students are motivated to study.

#2 To support mindfulness

A balanced workload promotes mindfulness. Less work means a reduced amount of stress. As a result, the students get sufficient time to rest and build on other areas of personal growth.

#3 Students get time for adequate rest and sleep

Young students require time to rest and digest new skills and concepts. Teachers must understand that the children are in the stage of growth and discovery. Therefore, they should provide minimal assignments to stay focused on their academic journey.

#4 To allow the children time out of academia

Children need time to grow and connect with their friends and parents personally. As a result, there is a need to give them time to explore other areas of interest and ensure they are active and ready for the next school lesson. The teachers must consider this and provide minimal assignments.

#5 To protect student’s self-esteem

Teachers usually do my homework assignments and award grades. Some students score less and may feel unworthy, leading to low self-esteem. Based on this, teachers should reduce the number of assignments to ensure all children have the highest self-esteem and grow to be the people they dream of being.

Homework is tedious for students. Even though no student has the guts to stand up and refuse to take on the task, it is evident that they are suffering from the arrangement. This article has presented both perspectives in terms of the assignments. Therefore, it will be an eye-opener to the key stakeholders and fuel changes in the education sector.

Should homework be banned?

The debate on whether should homework be banned pros and cons, and other issues is complex and has reasonable arguments in both camps. All those people who advocate banning homework argue that it can lead to stress, anxiety, and even burnout. At the same time, proponents of home assignments argue that tasks reinforce the process of learning, help boost discipline, as well as prepare undergrads for the commitments of post-college life

Are there any alternatives to traditional homework assignments?

Those who wonder should student have homework or not should consider alternatives to conventional homework tasks, such as project-based learning (undergrads engage in hands-on projects that apply materials learned in class), flipped learning (undergrads watch instructional videos to discuss later in the class), and interactive online platforms that together make the process of learning more interesting and enjoyable.

Rely on our help anytime

Let us find a specialist for any of your assignments

Buy assignment
Assignment writing service
College assignments help
Assignments for money
Assignment editing
Case study assignment help
Cheap assignments
Pay for homework help
Homework for money
Do my math homework
Accounting homework help
Statistics homework help
Computer science homework help
History homework help
Physics homework help
Law assignment help
Finance homework help
Nursing assignment help
Psychology homework help
Philosophy homework help
Sociology assignment help
Economics homework help
Management assignment help
English homework help
Biology homework help
Chemistry homework help
Marketing assignment help
Business assignment help
MBA assignment help
Geography assignment help
C# assignment help
C++ programming assignment help
Calculus homework help
Database assignment help
Do my calculus homework
HTML assignment help
Javascript assignment help
Precalculus homework help
Ruby assignment help
SQL assignment help
PHP homework help
Do my coursework
Write my case study
Write my speech
Engineering assignment help

School Life Balance , Tips for Online Students

The Pros and Cons of Homework

Updated: December 7, 2023

Published: January 23, 2020

The-Pros-and-Cons-Should-Students-Have-Homework

Homework is a word that most students dread hearing. After hours upon hours of sitting in class , the last thing we want is more schoolwork over our precious weekends. While it’s known to be a staple of traditional schooling, homework has also become a rather divise topic. Some feel as though homework is a necessary part of school, while others believe that the time could be better invested. Should students have homework? Have a closer look into the arguments on both sides to decide for yourself.

A college student completely swamped with homework.

Photo by energepic.com from Pexels

Why should students have homework, 1. homework encourages practice.

Many people believe that one of the positive effects of homework is that it encourages the discipline of practice. While it may be time consuming and boring compared to other activities, repetition is needed to get better at skills. Homework helps make concepts more clear, and gives students more opportunities when starting their career .

2. Homework Gets Parents Involved

Homework can be something that gets parents involved in their children’s lives if the environment is a healthy one. A parent helping their child with homework makes them take part in their academic success, and allows for the parent to keep up with what the child is doing in school. It can also be a chance to connect together.

3. Homework Teaches Time Management

Homework is much more than just completing the assigned tasks. Homework can develop time management skills , forcing students to plan their time and make sure that all of their homework assignments are done on time. By learning to manage their time, students also practice their problem-solving skills and independent thinking. One of the positive effects of homework is that it forces decision making and compromises to be made.

4. Homework Opens A Bridge Of Communication

Homework creates a connection between the student, the teacher, the school, and the parents. It allows everyone to get to know each other better, and parents can see where their children are struggling. In the same sense, parents can also see where their children are excelling. Homework in turn can allow for a better, more targeted educational plan for the student.

5. Homework Allows For More Learning Time

Homework allows for more time to complete the learning process. School hours are not always enough time for students to really understand core concepts, and homework can counter the effects of time shortages, benefiting students in the long run, even if they can’t see it in the moment.

6. Homework Reduces Screen Time

Many students in North America spend far too many hours watching TV. If they weren’t in school, these numbers would likely increase even more. Although homework is usually undesired, it encourages better study habits and discourages spending time in front of the TV. Homework can be seen as another extracurricular activity, and many families already invest a lot of time and money in different clubs and lessons to fill up their children’s extra time. Just like extracurricular activities, homework can be fit into one’s schedule.

A female student who doesn’t want to do homework.

The Other Side: Why Homework Is Bad

1. homework encourages a sedentary lifestyle.

Should students have homework? Well, that depends on where you stand. There are arguments both for the advantages and the disadvantages of homework.

While classroom time is important, playground time is just as important. If children are given too much homework, they won’t have enough playtime, which can impact their social development and learning. Studies have found that those who get more play get better grades in school , as it can help them pay closer attention in the classroom.

Children are already sitting long hours in the classroom, and homework assignments only add to these hours. Sedentary lifestyles can be dangerous and can cause health problems such as obesity. Homework takes away from time that could be spent investing in physical activity.

2. Homework Isn’t Healthy In Every Home

While many people that think homes are a beneficial environment for children to learn, not all homes provide a healthy environment, and there may be very little investment from parents. Some parents do not provide any kind of support or homework help, and even if they would like to, due to personal barriers, they sometimes cannot. Homework can create friction between children and their parents, which is one of the reasons why homework is bad .

3. Homework Adds To An Already Full-Time Job

School is already a full-time job for students, as they generally spend over 6 hours each day in class. Students also often have extracurricular activities such as sports, music, or art that are just as important as their traditional courses. Adding on extra hours to all of these demands is a lot for children to manage, and prevents students from having extra time to themselves for a variety of creative endeavors. Homework prevents self discovery and having the time to learn new skills outside of the school system. This is one of the main disadvantages of homework.

4. Homework Has Not Been Proven To Provide Results

Endless surveys have found that homework creates a negative attitude towards school, and homework has not been found to be linked to a higher level of academic success.

The positive effects of homework have not been backed up enough. While homework may help some students improve in specific subjects, if they have outside help there is no real proof that homework makes for improvements.

It can be a challenge to really enforce the completion of homework, and students can still get decent grades without doing their homework. Extra school time does not necessarily mean better grades — quality must always come before quantity.

Accurate practice when it comes to homework simply isn’t reliable. Homework could even cause opposite effects if misunderstood, especially since the reliance is placed on the student and their parents — one of the major reasons as to why homework is bad. Many students would rather cheat in class to avoid doing their homework at home, and children often just copy off of each other or from what they read on the internet.

5. Homework Assignments Are Overdone

The general agreement is that students should not be given more than 10 minutes a day per grade level. What this means is that a first grader should be given a maximum of 10 minutes of homework, while a second grader receives 20 minutes, etc. Many students are given a lot more homework than the recommended amount, however.

On average, college students spend as much as 3 hours per night on homework . By giving too much homework, it can increase stress levels and lead to burn out. This in turn provides an opposite effect when it comes to academic success.

The pros and cons of homework are both valid, and it seems as though the question of ‘‘should students have homework?’ is not a simple, straightforward one. Parents and teachers often are found to be clashing heads, while the student is left in the middle without much say.

It’s important to understand all the advantages and disadvantages of homework, taking both perspectives into conversation to find a common ground. At the end of the day, everyone’s goal is the success of the student.

Our Mission

Do No-Zero Policies Help or Hurt Students?

No-zero policies spur serious—and productive—debate among teachers. We look at the big insights on both sides of the argument.

With a no-zero grading policy, the glass is always half full.

The controversial grading policy—which is rising in popularity across the country—sets the lowest possible grade for any assignment or test at 50 percent, even when students turn in no work at all.

Schools systems like Fairfax County Public Schools and the Philadelphia School District have adopted similar approaches in recent years, arguing that they give all students a chance to succeed. These changes in grading policy are moving in tandem with national efforts to abolish letter grades and minimize the value placed on AP exams and SAT scores in favor of assessments focused on students’ skills, competencies, and work samples.

“I think grades oftentimes become an indicator of ‘completion’ and not necessarily a movement toward proficiency of content standards,” Jennie Frederiksen wrote on Facebook. “Teaching is hard work. Let’s have grades that reflect actual learning.”

But others feel differently. A no-zero grading policy allows students to do minimal work and still pass, pushes students forward who haven’t mastered the content, and doesn’t teach students the real-life consequences of not meeting their responsibilities, according to many of the 300 members of the Edutopia audience who reacted to our Facebook post “ Is Our Grading System Fair? ”

“We are creating a generation of entitled people who are hitting the colleges and the job market with major holes in their abilities to survive,” wrote Tom Bannan on Facebook, reflecting on the lack of forgiveness for poor or unfinished work in real-life work environments. And the actual cause of failing grades isn’t tough grading systems or pitiless educators, according to many who joined the Facebook thread. “Zeros don’t create holes,” said Lara Morales. “Kids choosing not to do their work creates holes.”

Giving Students a Second Chance

For many in favor of a no-zero grading policy, it comes down to equity. Many educators argue that home-life factors create barriers to student learning, that low grades encourage struggling students to give up, and that teachers who can’t get their kids to comply use grades to punish rather than to assess knowledge.

There are a wide variety of home-life factors—like learning disabilities, learning English as a second language, or working a job to support their families—that impact students’ abilities to succeed academically, teachers noted. If a student misses a major assignment or assessment due to a home-life situation and receives a zero, that’s much more difficult to come back from academically than a 50.

“I work with students that don’t always know where they are sleeping or whether they will be eating when they go home,” says Polly Pennington Wilson. “Sometimes there are outside factors that affect student success. Grades run second to those concerns.”

But the equity argument was just one dimension of the criticism leveled at zeros. A significant number of teachers simply considered it draconian arithmetic—a grading strategy that, once triggered, torpedoed any record of progress and learning across the remainder of the grading period.

“If you are using a 100 point system, 0’s are unfair,” said Edutopia audience member Stephan Currence. “Which student has demonstrated greater mastery: student A: 100, 100, 100, 100, 0, or student B: 75, 80, 90, 80, 90? Mathematically, it is student B with an 83 average, but student A has clearly demonstrated greater mastery.” Even demonstrating consistent mastery for months can be undone by a single zero, in other words, and for many teachers that feels unjust.

Still, some educators assume that giving very low grades—zeros, in some cases—communicates to students that they need to work harder. That’s not how students see it, explains Sarah Duncan, the co-director of the University of Chicago’s Network for College Success , an organization that works with high schools to improve grades and graduation rates for entering freshman.

“Instead of working harder, the vast majority of students who get an F tend to withdraw, try less, and come to school less because they’re taking an F for what it actually stands for: failure,” said Duncan, refuting the argument that zeros create greater accountability in students. “They interpret an F as ‘You do not belong in this environment.’”

The research tends to corroborate that perspective: According to a 2014 literature review that explored the history of grading spanning almost 200 years, grades increase anxiety and decrease the interest in learning for students who struggle.

Finally, a few teachers worried that no-tolerance grading policies are often used as a classroom management strategy—and they’re the wrong tool for the job. “I feel like teachers are not being equipped with the tools to address behavior so they are using grades as a way to try to get kids to comply,” said Currence. “This does not help the child, or parent, understand where they are in terms of learning and what is necessary academically to succeed.”

Just Passing Through

Several of the educators participating in the conversation had direct experience with no-zero policies, however, and felt that in practice they simply didn’t work well.

“[Our 50 policy] had unintended consequences that undermined instruction. Many students learned to subvert the system and would do nothing two quarters [of the] year, collect their 50s, and do well during the next two quarters and on the final,” said Rachel Kent of her school’s adoption of the policy. “In essence, they were smart kids who didn’t want to do the work (or didn’t want to come to school) and knew they could take half of a year off and still pass.”

The same logic drove Leominster Public Schools in Massachusetts to rescind their no-zero grading policy. “We really felt that after years of doing it that way, kids just weren’t learning to be responsible,” said Sky View Middle School Principal Tim Blake, as reported by the Sentinel & Enterprise News .

While teachers who spoke in favor of zeros recognized that the grade can dampen enthusiasm for learning, they suggested that no-zero approaches had a similar effect—with potential long-term consequences for students.

According to these educators, a no-zero grading standard allows students who haven’t mastered the content to slip by, and then move on to increasingly harder subjects, the next grade level, or even to college completely unprepared, putting students in a hole they might never climb out of.

“Why boost a kid’s GPA when they clearly don’t know the subject and lack determination?” said Alo Torres. “If they aren’t ready for the next grade, let them fail. It isn’t a punishment. On the contrary. It is help. It is making sure a child will be successful by not just passing them along before they are ready.”

According to Christina Arenas, a community college professor, high school students are often shocked when they get Ds and don’t move on or coast through. “If your boss gives you a deadline and you miss it, what happens?” asks Arenas. “At some point, our job as educators has to be to prepare them for the real world.”

Maybe It’s Not a Zero-Sum Game

Given the complex range of factors to consider, perhaps both strict pro-zero and no-zero strategies are too inflexible. Giving students productive feedback requires nuance—all children are different.

Already, there is evidence that teachers are starting to find their way back toward the middle. According to our audience, some educators in schools with a no-zero policy give a slightly higher grade to students who put in effort. Teachers with more flexibility say they give slightly lower scores to students who don’t try at all. Others put students’ original scores on their papers, but mark 50 percent in their gradebook so students and their caregivers know the grade that reflects their actual understanding.

To help him remember the reason behind every 50, Jimmy Araujo, a high school biology teacher, uses place markers in his gradebook to note distinctions in student performance.

“NM stands for non-mastery. AB for absent. NHI for not handed in regarding homework assignments. DNA for did not attempt,” Araujo wrote on Facebook. “These allow me to communicate to students and parents better to distinguish where the student needs help.”

Overall, according to the experts, neither no-zero nor zero policies are silver bullets. Grading is more about the feedback provided and expectations set by the teacher to contextualize the grade.

“If you hand me an essay that’s really lousy, do I say ‘F, do better next time,’ or do I say ‘I’m not going to grade this. I expect a much higher quality of work from you. I wrote comments on it. Come to my room at lunchtime, and we’re going to work on it together, and then I need you to turn it in next week,’” Duncan said.

Combined Shape Created with Sketch. Search
Person icon Created with Sketch. Sign in

Pros and cons of Virtual Assignments

In looking back at our pandemic experiences, it can be hard to pick out the positives. Yet there are one or two ideas and innovations coming to the fore with the potential to change the face of global talent development and global mobility. For the better – and indefinitely.

One of those is Virtual Assignments. Loved by some business leaders and mobility professionals, they are seen as a way to be nimble in the short term, with the rapid deployment of skills at low cost. They can offer long-term developmental opportunities as well. But by the same token, there is some skepticism around the potential for misuse and mismanagement. This occasionally stems from cost-conscious leaders and can often lead to employee burnout. Like any other assignment type, the successful Virtual Assignment program requires guidelines and structure.

Making sense of Virtual Assignments

Let’s start by looking at the basics. What exactly is a Virtual Assignment? A general consensus has emerged within our industry. The term describes a temporary assignment to fill a goal or job in another location, without the employee leaving their home location. This type of assignment can take different forms.

With a hybrid assignment, the assumption is that a physical move will occur after a period of Virtual Assignment activity. A second approach, born of necessity, is where an employee and their family experience delays in the home location due to travel restrictions or immigration processing but will eventually physically relocate. The third model is the purest form, where working from the home location is the only plan.

They all have two things in common. They are timebound and are for the benefit of a corporate geography other than the one the employee sits in. This separates virtual assignees from a pan-regional role or a “work from anywhere” employee.

The advantages of Virtual Assignments

The Virtual Assignment is being heralded as a flexible strategy that can be added to a Global Mobility wheelhouse of policies to expand developmental opportunities, open international experiences to employees who might not otherwise be able to travel for personal reasons, and as a means to backfill short-term staffing needs with a low cost and creative approach. This does not look to be a replacement of traditional assignment options, but an innovative addition to the strategy. More reason, then, for mobility professionals to build a clear and well-defined Virtual Assignment policy and process that addresses:

Maximum assignment duration; typical durations range from 6 to 24 months
Business case and justification processes that address role fit, value, assignment goals and home country / host country fit
Candidate selection and preparation
Funding assumptions – who pays the assignment costs?
Payroll model (home or host) and any additional compensation (e.g. anti-social hours allowance if the time zone differences are big)
Stipend or direct reimbursement for home office set-up (if needed)
Cross cultural training / global virtual team training
Employee reintegration into the home location organizational structure at the end of the assignment
Creation and tracking of assignment and development goals within the performance review structure
Upskilling the “receiving” manager to manage virtually across cultures

That said, organizations still need to weigh up the potential benefits and hazards of implementing Virtual Assignments.

How might you misuse a Virtual Assignment?

The biggest concern is that not every role or every employee is a good fit for a Virtual Assignment. A rigorous approval process should identify gaps in the role or candidate selection. These assignments are not right for everyone and not right for every home host country combination. It takes a specific set of competencies to be successful in virtual and multicultural settings, let alone both at the same time. Two stand out:

Curiosity is key to successful global working – always wondering “why?”

It is driven by sensory stimulation which is in overload during early days in a host country. But in a Virtual Assignment it is lacking. Natural curiosity, or the ability to build it up like you would a bicep, needs to be present or willingly adopted for success.

A Virtual Assignment may not be practically possible for all employees. It would be a mistake to underestimate the impact of working a schedule that is widely different from the cadence of home life. There is nothing motivating about working over an extended period of time when your friends / family are out or trying to sleep when everyone else is awake. Productivity will surely suffer if time zone differences are not a consideration.

Virtual Assignment fit

With some judicious choices about when and how to apply them, Virtual Assignments present great opportunities. As companies grapple with creating a more diverse mobility population that better reflects their company and country demographic, Virtual Assignments offer wider access to global skill-building opportunities where a physical assignment would be challenging. Maybe because of mental or physical health issues, timing, or family planning.

Also, as companies look to attract and retain early-career employees who are increasingly joining with higher aspirations for global exposure and experience, Virtual Assignments can be used as a means to initiate projects that satisfy that need. Moreover, with the varied waves of the global pandemic, the possibility that “health passports” will become commonplace puts a big question mark over extended business travel and short-term assignments, at least in the near future. Virtual Assignments may hold the key to providing just-in-time tactical support when traditional move types are not an option.

However you choose to use them, you should manage Virtual Assignments like any other policy such as a remote working policy – with clear “bright lights and guard rails” for consistency to ensure the greatest chance of success.

Want more information on building a clear and well-defined Virtual Assignment policy? Contact Joanne Danehl , Global Director, Global Skills, for Virtual Assignment support training options, or Lisa Johnson , Global Practice Leader, Consulting Services, for policy development. You can also contact us here for information on other services.

Crown World Mobility’s “5 standout talent mobility trends for 2021” exploring Virtual Assignments and other trends influencing our industry’s priorities can also be downloaded here .

PPC Landing Page

First Name *
Last Name *
I'm interested in Please select Getting a Quote Managing a Mobility Program Domestic Moving International Moving Visa and Immigration Managing my Assignees Using a Lump Sum Payment
My location is * Start typing country name Andorra Antigua And Barbuda Argentina Aruba Australia Austria Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Belize Bermuda Botswana Brazil Bulgaria Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cayman Islands Chile China Christmas Islands Colombia Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote D'ivoire Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Germany Greece Guam Guernsey Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Ireland Isle Of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kenya Kosovo Kuwait Latvia Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Malta Martinique Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russian Federation Saint Barthélemy Saint Kitts And Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin (French Part) Saipan Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Serbia Seychelles Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Korea Spain Sri Lanka St. Vincent & The Grenadines Sudan Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Trinidad And Tobago Tristan Da Cunha Tunisia Turkey Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Vanuatu Vatican City State Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands (British) Virgin Islands (US) Zimbabwe
Hidden Would you like to receive relevant updates from Crown? Yes No
I am happy for Crown to use these details to contact me for marketing purposes.
Hidden My region is Select a location North America South America Middle East Asia Central & Eastern Europe UK & Northern Europe Oceania Africa Southern & Western Europe
Hidden Lead Source (LeadSourceCode)
Hidden Lead Type (smsmt_LeadType)
Hidden Rating (LeadQualityCode)
Hidden CWM (smsmt_WorldMobility)
Hidden CRM (smsmt_Records)
Hidden CFA (smsmt_FineArt)
Hidden CWS (smsmt_IsWorkPlaceRelocations)
Hidden CL (smsmt_IsCrownLogistics)
Hidden CR (smsmt_Relocations)
Hidden From Web Lead (smsmt_fromweblead)
Hidden Blank Field
Name This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By submitting this form you consent to the terms of our Privacy Policy and agree to receive relevant updates from Crown World Mobility.

International
Self-Service Moves
Program Management
Supply chain management
Process and Technology

Client login

Use the log in below to access a generic version of our customer portal. For client specific versions of the portal see communications from your Crown consultant.

Relocating employee

Use the log in below to access our customer portal.

Employee login

You May Also Be Interested In

2024 Mobility Trends: Is relocation still a tool for improving employee engagement?

Download our expert report today and explore the evolving relationship between employee engagement and corporate relocation

Providing dynamic support in a volatile world

Given the unprecedented pace and scale of change since 2019, here we explore the ways we have been forging a new path to deliver the best experiences for assignees and their employers.

Red Sea attacks, Panama Canal drought: The impact on international shipping

Our latest update on how issues in the Red Sea and at the Panama Canal are impacting global shipping

Log in to Witsby: ASCD’s Next-Generation Professional Learning and Credentialing Platform

Voices: The Principal / Changing Assignments—Pros and Cons

Allan S. Vann has been a contributor to Educational Leadership.

ASCD is a community dedicated to educators' professional growth and well-being.

Let us help you put your vision into action., from our issue.

To process a transaction with a Purchase Order please send to [email protected]

12 Pros and Cons of Homework

Last Updated on March 11, 2021 by Filip Poutintsev

Homework is defined as tasks assigned to students by school teachers that are intended to be carried out during non-school hours. Homework is designed to reinforce what students have already learned. Homework is a word that most students dread hearing.

Pros and Cons of Homework

The teachers assign homework to the students as they believe that homework will help the students to recollect the topics that were covered in the class. There are some lessons that are perfect for the classroom environment, but there are also some things that children can learn better at home. So homework helps to maintain the balance between them.

Generally, homework includes reading, writing, or completion of a certain problem which will improve the overall performance of the student. This means that kids who do homework are more committed to doing well in school.

Purpose of Homework

The most common purpose of homework is to have students practice material already presented in class so as to reinforce learning and facilitate mastery of specific skills. It is found that appropriate homework in the right amounts can enhance younger students’ learning and prepare them for a routine of studying as they get older.

Homework impacts students’ academic achievement—test scores. Homework is also thought to improve study habits, attitudes toward school, self-discipline, inquisitiveness, and independent problem-solving skills.

Preparation assignments introduce the material that will be presented in future lessons which helps students obtain the maximum benefit when the new material is covered in class.

Should Students Have Homework?

The type and amount of homework given to students have been debated for over a century. For years, teachers and parents thought that homework was a necessary tool when educating children. But studies about the effectiveness of homework have been conflicting and inconclusive.

Proponents of homework say that it improves student achievement and allows for independent learning of classroom and life skills. Also, homework allows parents to monitor their child’s learning. Opponents of homework say that too much may be harmful to students as it can increase stress, reduce leisure and sleep time, lead to cheating, and is not proven to be beneficial for younger.

According to Harris Cooper, a professor at Duke University, there is a positive correlation between homework and student achievement, meaning students who did homework performed better in school.

As a general rule, the maximum amount of time that a student should spend each day on lessons outside of school is 10 minutes per each grade level. This means a first grader should spend 10 minutes daily on his homework while a senior high school kid should spend about 2 hours.

Should students have homework or not? Let’s discuss some of the key pros and cons of the homework.

Pros of Homework

1. homework encourages practice.

One of the positive effects of homework is that it helps to encourage the discipline of practice. Repetition is necessary to get better at skills. Practising the same problem over and over helps to reinforce the discipline of practice. Homework helps make concepts more clear and helps to build a career in the future.

2. Keep Track of the Progress

Homework allows teachers to track students’ progress, meaning that homework helps to find out the academic strengths and weaknesses of children. Homework can also help clue teachers into the existence of any learning disabilities their children may have, allowing them to get help and adjust learning strategies as needed.

3. Improved Academic Outcome

Studies show that homework improves student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) concluded that increased homework led to better GPAs.

It has also found that students who regularly do homework have scored better in standardized tests than other students who didn’t do homework at all.

4. Teaches Time Management

When homework is assigned to the students, students are able to manage their time and make effective study plans. Homework is much more than just completing the assigned tasks but also teaches time management skills.

It helps to manage study time by completing all assignments on time. Time management is a necessary skill that a student must have which is very useful not only in school life but also in the future.

5. Parents are Involved in the Learning Process

Parents need to know what their children are learning in school. Homework helps parents to track down what their children are learning at school and their class performance. By sending homework from the school, it allows the entire family to encounter the assignments that their kids are doing when they are in school during the day. A study shows that parental involvement in homework can improve class performance.

6. Creates Communication Bridge

Homework helps to create a communication network between student, teacher, school, and parents. Teachers are unaware of the lives of the students at home and the parents are unaware of their lives at school. Communication helps to understand each other in a better way, as teachers get to know the needs of students and parents about their children’s strengths and weaknesses.

7. Provides More Learning Time

School hours aren’t always enough for students to grasp the core knowledge. Homework allows for more time to complete the learning process. Setting homework allows students to revise content learned during the day and also helps to get things thoroughly because there is sufficient time for research and also there is less disturbance in the home.

Cons of Homework

1. encourages a sedentary lifestyle.

As the students get long assignments/homework, hence require much time to complete it. If students are given more homework, then they get less amount of time for extracurricular activities and also affect social development. A sedentary lifestyle can be dangerous and can cause health problems such as obesity.

2. Causes Unnecessary Stress

With a large workload and difficult tasks, homework causes students to feel anxious and stressed. Unnecessary stress causes demotivation. In some cases, homework may even be assigned over term breaks or the summer holidays.

This causes severe stress for some children, leading to issues such as sleep deprivation. This causes behavioural changes in students and also ingraining homework as a negative aspect of school life.

3. Eats up Free Time

Free time allows children to not only relax but also discover the world. Childs spend hours completing the assignment which eats up the valuable time kids have to spend with their family, attend extracurricular activities, and catch up with friends. During that time kids can learn many things like riding a bike, reading novels, attending social activities, attending family functions, etc.

4. Not Always Effective

A study found that homework creates a negative attitude towards schooling and the education system. Research by John Hattie, Professor of Education at the University of Melbourne, has found that homework in primary school has a negligible effect on students’ academic growth, as students are completing separate and unrelated projects rather than reinforcing learned knowledge. Homework doesn’t necessarily help to improve students’ academic performance rather it puts a burden on students.

5. Discourages Creative Endeavours

As we know homework eats up the leisure time because students spend hours completing their assignments. During that time students might like to do creative works that they are interested in such as, painting, singing, playing games, learning an instrument, etc . There might be a case where a student is much interested in doing creative work rather than spending hours on homework.

Concluding the article, both the pros and cons of homework are valid. Teachers and parents find homework as a necessary task for the children’s academic success while students find it as a burden or headache. The main purpose of homework is to bridge the gap between children’s learning at school and at home.

On the one hand, homework is an effective way to reinforce the concepts that were learned at school which helps to improve the academic outcome of the students. On the other hand, homework puts a burden on the student and the time that homework demands would be better spent with meaningful activity.

Thus, a good way to think about homework is the way you think about medications or dietary supplements. If you take too little, they’ll have no effect. If you take too much, they can kill you. If you take the right amount, you’ll get better.

https://www.goodschools.com.au/insights/parental-advice/pros-and-cons-of-homework
https://www.goodschools.com.au/insights/parental-advice/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-homework
https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-homework/
https://www.wgu.edu/heyteach/article/should-students-have-homework1808.html

10 Significant Benefits of Community College

8 Important Pros and Cons of Learning to Code

10 Benefits of Bilingual Education

10 Pros and Cons of School Uniform

10 Pros and Cons of a Community College

Advantages and Disadvantages of Electrical Engineering

Online Business
Entertainment
Home Improvement
Environment

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

eschooltravel.com

your best assignment help

Advantages & Disadvantages of Assignments for Students

According to an article published by the U.S. News, a teacher assigns more homework than the students can handle in one night. While homework is super essential for the holistic development of a child, it comes with various drawbacks. Therefore, in this article, we shall talk about the pros and cons of assigning homework.

Pros of Assigning Homework

Written below are all the reasons why homework should not be banned from schools.

Minimizes Screen Time

Without any task or homework, students spend around eight hours using their mobile phones. It is more than the recommended average time of three hours. It further results in laziness and also harms the eyesight. Homework inculcates better long-term habits.

Improves Time Management Skills

Every profession requires time management skills. With these skills, students finish the task in a given slot of time. When a student doesn’t know how to manage time, it becomes impossible to efficiently utilize each hour.

Improves Critical Thinking in Students

Working on different assignments after school helps in improving the critical thinking skills of the students. Besides, it also improves the memory of the individual.

Develops a Sense of Independence

Most of the time, students want to attain more freedom and independence. When they are assigned homework, they tend to work off their own bat and explore their strengths and weaknesses. Thus, homework instills a sense of independence and helps a child grow.

Sparks Enthusiasm

In addition to this, homework sparks enthusiasm if the topics are interesting and relevant. It further motivates the students and encourages them to learn something new. Besides, when encountering new topics, students tend to take help from their parents or peers, sparking new connections.

Cons of Assigning Homework

Students all over the world feel pressured when they have a lot of work to do. They believe that the extra work is unfair and doesn’t help in their personal growth. Apart from that, it is also said that homework should only take thirty-forty minutes of their time after school. Here are all the cons of assigning homework.

No Free Time at Home

After spending 7-8 hours in school, extra work at home takes around two hours on average. Thus, homework feels more like a punishment than learning something new. Children can utilize the same playing a sport that they love or indulge in other favorite hobbies. It helps the child feel more in control of his life besides helping him find his purpose on this planet, which homework alone won’t help.

Homework and assignments do not help in grades but put more pressure on exams or tests. To complete the homework, the students miss out on revisions and perform badly in tests or exams. They usually don’t know about the possibilities online services give them. Don’t miss your chance to get assistance with online classes, homework assignments and exams at myhomeworkdone.com . Their team consists of just the best experts who are ready to help you 24/7.

Adverse Effect on Mental Health

Extra work after school harms a child’s brain and overall mental health. Most of the time, teachers fail to realize this and keep piling students with extra work.

Challenging Tasks

Some students find it difficult to balance their personal and professional lives when required to submit assignments after school is over. They are quite tired by the end of the day and have zero energy. Moreover, they cannot even take a break to relax for a while.

Lack of Support

Sometimes it is difficult for students to work on their own. It can be due to the lack of resources of support from their parents or guardian. Therefore, the lack of resources demotivates the child, and he may not even turn in the assignment.

Irrelevant Tasks

Homework that has nothing important to do with the topic of a subject only wastes the students’ time. Besides, after assigning irrelevant topics, the teachers should not expect excellent work since students have no clue what the topic is about.

Final Verdict

Since there are several advantages and disadvantages of homework, it is quite difficult to decide if they should be assigned or not. Even if teachers assign tasks to the students, they should be given enough time to complete it.

Will it boost or harm your career?

February 1, 2021

There is no suspicion that working abroad is romantic. Living in a culture with different languages, habits, and working styles is an exciting and once-in-a-lifetime experience. It can not only much promote your career development, but also broaden your horizons. However, what many companies now call “global” assignments has some disadvantages. Some parts of the world are indeed dangerous for some visitors, but in most postings worldwide, the challenges are related to different cultures and ways of doing business. Here are some pros and cons of an international assignment to help you decide if it is a smart career move.

Pros of international assignment, international work experience.

Indeed, the world is growing and becoming more and more mobile and accessible. This is the main driving force. Business leaders today are not geographically constrained. Work experience in an international corporate environment and culture is often described as a prerequisite for most senior positions at major international companies. Instantly add diverse and multicultural elements to your portfolio and experiences to make them more appealing to your position on a global scale.

Global companies are paying more and more attention to international diversity, and there is no sign that this trend stops. Therefore, the overseas experience gained by international mission professionals will help those seeking senior management positions. If you are one of these ambitious professionals, the question should be whether you can afford not to participate in the international assignment?

The company devotes substantial resources to expats international assignments. Allocation itself is usually performed for a specific purpose, and ROI is an important goal. For example, you can transfer assignees with specific skills to a new location to lead a project that is considered essential. Therefore, being selected for a job is usually a compliment, but it is also an opportunity. A successful project overview allows you to prove that you are the assignee and develop your career from the benefits of success. If you can withstand the pressure, then your international assignment can prove beneficial. Are you ready to move forward and succeed?

Experience Different Ways of Doing Business

Learning a particular field and working in that field in the same country means a fairly fixed set of expectations and assumptions. Overall, understanding how other countries treat your industry and business can be an excellent way to open yourself to new ways of doing things. The best part? Wherever you are, you will get these learning outcomes.

Diversify Your Income

When it is difficult to predict what will happen politically, earning income in different currencies is an excellent way to diversify risks and protect the financial future. For example, in the past two years, the pound sterling value has changed 30% from the value of the euro. If you are particularly interested in the domestic economy, relocation is still a way to obtain better salaries and employment opportunities in a more stable business environment.

Explore the world

If you are passionate about traveling, nothing is better than working abroad. Not only you experience the country more deeply, but you can also get rewarded for it. You do not need to spend two weeks to get to know the country’s culture and personality directly. This is also an excellent opportunity to explore neighboring countries. If you are learning a language, immersion in the countryside is also an excellent way to quickly improve your skills.

Cross-Cultural Communication

Cons of an international assignment, emotional problems.

Life as an expat is a rewarding experience. However, it can be challenging. Loneliness, culture shock, and nostalgia usually overwhelm foreigners, and not all migrants are ready to face this strong, perhaps new emotion. The combination of pain and diligence described above has reportedly resulted in high burnout among professional immigrants.

Less Job Flexibility

You love your new country, but do you hate work? Unlike going home, if your position is not suitable for you, you can shop here. Working abroad may mean that your job is linked to your visa. Even if you are not restricted by a visa, your lack of language skills and local experience may limit your escape options.

Interrupted Career Progression

For outsiders, “Out of sight, out of mind” can be a very familiar word. Even if you live in the same company, you do not go out every day or work in different time zones. This means that good impressions are slowly disappearing and are no longer the number one promotion. In the country of visit, it may be necessary to take a junior position due to a lack of local experience or limited language skills, which can feel like a step back professionally.

Cultural and Language Barriers

Among foreigners who cannot establish the necessary business relationships or live daily lives, posting emails in places where there is a tremendous cultural difference or where communication in a new language is required can cause trouble. Non-traditional families, such as gay couples, may face cultural resistance and pressure, making assignment management difficult in the long run

Legal risks

Domestic work laws and regulations regarding wages, taxes, and pensions usually differ between residents and foreigners. As with immigration requirements, compliance with legal requirements must be ensured.

Technological change

Your country’s technology can lag foreign countries for several years. After returning home, it may take several months to digest all the changes.

As global mobility increases, many employees want foreign stamps on their passports to support their personal growth and career development. They are increasingly looking for commuters, rotational, expatriate, or other alternative jobs to build resumes. International assignments are an essential tool for international career development. In this case, employees with international experience are the greater wealth for the organization.

Some potential business traveling international career in which global travel is usually necessary like international accountant, marketing and sales International missions help improve cultural literacy, promote foreign language learning, expand professionals’ network, and broaden their horizons. But of course there are always pros and cons of an international assignment.

If you need a Global Digital Nomad insurance, make sure to check out SafetyWing. Booking through this link will get you a 5% discount.

Subscribe to the Globexs newsletter

We are passionate about Global Mobility, and we would love to share our enthusiasm with you. But we are also dedicated to efficient communication. Please let us know what topics you are interested in so that we only send you newsletters with relevant information.

Join the local Globexs expat community

Join our Facebook groups in Spain: Expats living and working in Valencia, Madrid , Malaga , Barcelona , Asturias and Basque Country .

Join our Facebook groups in Belgium: Expats living and working in Antwerp , Brussels and Ghent .

Join our Facebook group in Holland: Expats living and working in Holland

Looking for a furnished apartment?

Are you a digital nomad, a teleworkers or a remote worker and you have the freedom to work from anywhere? Check out our selection of furnished rental apartments.

Related blogposts

Monthly furnished apartments in Madrid

Monthly furnished apartments in Madrid Madrid is proving to have a siren-call for digital nomads seeking a new life in sunny Spain. The capital, it

Digital nomads are chasing the best monthly rentals in Valencia

Digital nomads are chasing the best monthly rentals in Valencia Valencia has been voted best city in the world for expats, as reported in Forbes

Relocation tips when moving to Valencia

Why Valencia is such a popular destination for foreigners relocating to Spain Moving to Spain from another European country is on the bucket list of

Corporate housing (6)
Corporate rentals (1)
Expats in Belgium (19)
Expats in Spain (50)
Global mobility (103)
Info for owners (2)
Invest in Valencia (4)
Legal advice for expats (4)
Moving to Madrid (2)
Moving to Malta (2)
News from Globexs (14)
Property management Valencia (2)
Valencia city (30)

Foreigners in Valencia are trying to wrap their head around Fallas

March 11, 2024

The flamingos are back in town!

February 24, 2024

February 7, 2024

Best areas to live in Madrid

January 2, 2024

Living in Madrid: Exploring the Pros and Cons

December 18, 2023

Moving to Madrid: Everything you should Know

December 14, 2023

Living in Malta as an Expat: The Pros and Cons

November 29, 2023

Where to rent a property in Malta?

November 22, 2023

The Globexs experience

At globexs we all agree that our job is making people feel welcome. globexs is, in essence, a people-company: people working for people. us working for expats. we are the little tap on your shoulder and the voice whispering in your ear that everything will be allright 👌., this is the globexs experience, and this is what distinguishes us from traditional rental companies..

About SoFi Invest

Overall Rating
Pros and Cons
Ways to Invest
How SoFi Compares
Related Terms
Methodology

SoFi Invest Review 2024

Paid non-client promotion: Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See how we rate investing products to write unbiased product reviews.

Get up to $1,000 in stock when you fund a new account.

$0 ($1 to start investing); $5 fractional shares; $2,000 for margin trading

0% for active trading and automated investing

Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. No minimum to start investing
Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. No account or trading fees, and low fees to own funds
Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Access to Certified Financial Planners at no additional charge
Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. IPOs available
Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. SoFi 1% IRA match
con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. No tax-loss harvesting, an advanced investing technique where you sell a stock or mutual fund at a loss for a tax benefit
con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. No option for stop-loss orders when actively investing. SoFi's active investing account only uses market orders
con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Currently only available to US residents

SoFi Invest us a great platform for US investors who are looking for an intuitive online trading experience, an open active or automated investing account.

Promotion: Get up to $1,000 in stock when you fund a new account.
App store rating: 4.8 iOS/4.1 Android
Consider it if: You want an easy-to-use platform paired with rock-bottom pricing.

SoFi Invest is an all-inclusive online brokerage for both passive and active investors. Buy IPO stock, build your nest egg, or invest in alternative investments like venture capital, private credit, and commodities. Cryptocurrency trading on SoFi Invest is no longer available.

The easy-to-use platform provides investors with portfolio-balancing tools, financial planners, and curated content from SoFi's educational content hub. As one of the best robo-advisors , SoFi's cost-effective automated trading platform offers goal-based investing strategies, simple diversification, and auto-rebalancing.

You can trade stocks, ETFs , fractional shares, IPOs, options, commodities, and other alternative investments. Retirement-focused investors can earn a 2% match on all SoFi contributions through Tax Day on April 15. Stocks, fractional shares, and ETFs are available for commission-free trading with SoFi Invest.

But if you're simply looking to start investing, SoFi has all you need, with complimentary access to Certified Financial Planners ( CFPs ). Only US residents are eligible to open an account.

Who is SoFi Best For?

SoFi Invest is best for traders wanting to invest in commission-free stocks, ETFs, and options. It offers a good selection of accounts, including a self-managed brokerage account, a robo-advisor , and retirement savings accounts (both active and automatic options available).

Educational resources and financial advice from SoFi make it ideal for beginner investors looking for low-cost trades and strong financial planning resources. It's also a great option for folks with other SoFi accounts as it is easy to move money between SoFi Checking and Savings and SoFi Invest accounts.

However, SoFi doesn't offer tax-loss harvesting. Advanced traders can only access stop-limit orders for whole shares during market hours. It's also not great for traders wanting to invest in cryptocurrencies as SoFi no longer supports crypto-trading. The remaining SoFi crypto accounts migrated to Blockchain.com.

SoFi: Overall Rating

Sofi invest pros and cons, is sofi invest trustworthy.

SoFi has received an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau . The BBB uses a grade range of A+ to F when evaluating company trustworthiness and considers several factors — including customer complaint history, licensing and government actions, and advertising issues — when reaching a final rating.

The BBB says its ratings don't guarantee a company's reliability or performance.

December 6, 2023, FINRA sanctioned four firms (M1 Finance, Public Investing, SogoTrade, and SoFi) to pay $2.6 million for allegedly failing to establish, maintain, and enforce a supervisory system. The brokerages agreed to pay the $2.6 million without admitting or denying the charges.

Ways to Invest with SoFi

Active investing account.

SoFi Active Invest is a brokerage account that gives you 100% control to buy and sell commission-free stocks, ETFs, and fractional shares. Options trading is also available a multiple trading levels (SoFi currently offers long puts and cover calls and buy writes) and with no contract fees.

As the name implies, this account is best for active traders wanting to pick and choose their portfolio of investments. Those with a SoFi Active account are automatically eligible to become a SoFi member, which grants you access to product discounts, exclusive events, and more.

As a member, you can also invest in initial public offerings (IPOs) for no minimum, which are shares sold by privately owned companies to the general public. In addition, members can access broader portfolio diversification n and growth potential by investing in alternative investments like commodities, foreign currencies, real-estate, and pre-IPO unicorns. Access short-term money market funds, interval funds, and professionally managed mutual funds.

SoFi Automated

SoFi Automated Investing accounts to invest your funds in a pre-built portfolio of SoFi ETFs and ETFs from other brokerages like Vanguard and BlackRock. SoFi assesses your risk tolerance, time horizon, and investment goals to create your investment portfolio .

Automated investing solutions by SoFi include goal-planning strategies like saving for a home, retirement, getting married, planning to travel, or setting up a college fund. For no extra cost, automated accounts come with one-on-one guidance from financial advisors to help you reach your goals.

Access investment planning tools like automatic portfolio rebalancing (every quarter), recurring deposits, and portfolio diversification tools. Regarding account types, SoFi Automated Investing supports individual investment accounts, joint accounts, and IRAs.

You only need $1 to start investing. There are no advisory fees with SoFi Automated Investing.

Retirement savings accounts

All SoFi active and automated IRAs are now eligible to earn an automatic 2% match on contributions. That means every dollar deposited into your account will receive a 2% match from SoFi. Match contributions won't count toward your annual contribution limit.

Like other automated accounts, SoFi's robo-advisor creates a customized portfolio of stocks and bonds based on your risk tolerance, time horizon, and retirement goals. However, IRAs are also available as active investing accounts.

Retirement account options include:

Traditional IRA
Rollover IRA

You'll also get access to a handful of financial tools and planning resources, including SoFi financial planners, goal-building tools, auto rebalancing (for automated accounts), and member benefits.

Margin trading accounts

If you're eager to invest but don't currently have the funds to make the purchase, you can open a margin trading account and take a loan from SoFi that finances up to 50% of your next investment purchase. SoFi can also loan you cash at a 10% annual interest rate. The payback feature assists you in paying back your loans on time.

Toward the bottom of the webpage on margin trading, SoFi warns against inexperienced investors opening a margin account due to the increased risk associated with margin trading. Investors are also required to have at least $2,000 in their accounts.

Investment options

SoFi offers stocks, bonds, fractional shares, ETFs, options, and IPOs with a focus on building long-term wealth. Investment options will vary based on the kind of account you open. For example, only folks with an Active Investing account can access IPO trading.

Most of SoFi's investing portfolio diversification focuses on low-cost Core ETFs and Thematic ETFs, like:

SoFi Select 500 ETF (SFY): Assets from 500 of the largest publicly traded US companies
SoFi Next 500 ETF (SFYX): Assets from 500 mid-level US companies
SoFi Weekly Income ETF (TGIF): Mix of investment grade and high-yield fixed-income securities
SoFi Weekly Dividend ETFs (WKLY): Assets from global companies that consistently pay dividends
SoFi Web 3 ETF (TWEB): Fast-growing technology companies building the next generation of the internet
SoFi Smart Energy ETF (ENRG): Companies that focus on sustainability and building cleaner, reliable energy systems
SoFi Be Your Own Boss ETF (BYOB): Companies developing new ways to improve access to goods, services, and work
SoFi Social 50 ETF (SFYF): SoFi's top 50 stock options

Available alternative investments include a range of commodities, venture capital , real estate, foreign currencies, private credit, hedge funds, and pre-IPO unicorns.

Low fees are one of SoFi's biggest perks. It doesn't charge advisory or management fees, and certain trades are commission-free (stocks, ETFs, and fractional shares). There technically isn't an account minimum to open a SoFi Invest account. But there is a required $1 minimum to start investing for all account types.

Fractional shares can be bought in quantities of $5. So even though it isn't technically an account minimum, you won't be able to purchase fractional shares of a stock or ETF unless you have at least $5 in your account. Similarly, you need at least $2,000 to open a margin trading account.

Margin trading charges a 10% annual interest rate on your margin loan that is accrued daily and is deducted from your account once per month. Your interest rate is calculated daily by automatically multiplying your outstanding margin debit balance by the 10% annual interest rate and then dividing by 360.

SoFi — Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

SoFi Invest is a popular investment platform suitable for active and passive investors looking for low-cost trading options. Access commission-free stocks, ETFs, and fractional shares with an active SoFi Invest brokerage account. SoFi Automated, the platform's robo-advisor, offers personalized portfolios diversified across a range of low-cost ETFs. Plus, automated accounts get access to one-on-one financial advice so you can better reach your goals.

SoFi Invest sticks out as one of the best investment platforms for its beginner-friendly interface and low-cost trades. Whether you're looking to hand-pick assets or get an automatic diversified portfolio recommendation, SoFi helps investors reach their goals through low-risk investing strategies.

There's no minimum to open an active or automated account with SoFi, but you will need at least $1 to start investing. You'll get commission-free trading with SoFi Invest, but only for stocks, ETFs, and fraction als. Options have no contract fees, but you may have to pay a commission. Fractional shares can only be bought in $5 quantities. There's a $2,000 minimum requirement to unlock margin trading.

SoFi Invest is one of Business Insider's top picks for beginner investors due to the platform's low fees, educational hub, easy-to-use interface, simplified trading strategies, and range of financial products. Whether you're looking to hand-pick stocks, save towards retirement, or diversify your portfolio with commodities — SoFi has got you covered.

Experienced investors can use SoFi's integrated financial services ecosystem to access a suite of financial and estate planning features. Active investing accounts allow for hands-on portfolio management, with the ability to trade options contracts and IPOs. However, SoFi Invest does not offer as many advanced charting tools and features as other investment platforms.

Along with investing through SoFi, you can also invest in SoFi. SoFi Technologies , Inc. stock is under the ticker (SOFI) on the Nasdaq. If you're considering investing in SoFi stock, review the company's history and market performance to ensure it's a good idea before buying.

You can earn up to $1,000 in stock when you fund at least $25 in a new SoFi Invest Active account within 30 days of opening. After meeting the requirements, you can choose one promotion piece to identify how much you'll win. There's a 0.028% chance of earning the $1,000 bonus and more than an 85% chance of earning only $5.

How SoFi Invest Compares

SoFi Invest vs. Robinhood

SoFi Invest and Robinhood are competitive investment options for low fees, simple user interfaces, and IRA matching contributions. However, each platform offers different account types and investment choices.

Robinhood and SoFi Invest are the only online brokerages that offer matching bonuses on IRA contributions. Currently Robinhood provides a 1% match (3% for Gold members), so SoFi's new 2% match has it beat.

While both are great for traders of stocks, ETFs, margins, and fractional shares, SoFi offers a wider range of account types (e.g., automated investing accounts and more IRA options). Robinhood Investing doesn't offer a robo-advising option or SEP IRAs.

If you're interested in margin trading, Robinhood offers a lower interest rate for Robinhood Gold members (ranging from 8%) compared to SoFi. But non-Gold members will have to pay up to a 12% interest rate, making SoFi the better option.

Robinhood review

SoFi Invest vs. Wealthfront

SoFi and Wealthfront mainly differ when it comes to investment types and features. SoFi and Wealthfront Investing both offer self-directed and automated accounts. However, Wealthfront also offers 529 plans, a high-yield bond portfolio, and crypto trusts.

With a Wealthfront brokerage account, you can invest in stocks, fractional shares, ETFs, index funds, and bond ETFs. Self-directed Wealthfront accounts have a $1 account minimum, but automated accounts have a much higher $500 account minimum. So, if you're seeking out a robo-advisor specifically, SoFi could be a better option.

But unlike SoFi, Wealthfront does offer tax-loss harvesting and additional features like US direct indexing and smart beta tools.

Wealthfront review

Methodology: How We Reviewed SoFi Investing

When reviewing investment apps, we use Personal Finance Insider's rating methodology for investing platforms to compare and examine pricing, account types, investment availability, and overall customer experience. Each platform receives a rating between 0 and 5.

Investment platforms offer varying assets, financial tools, fees, and other resources. Some investment apps are better for more advanced investors or active investors, while others may better suit beginner investors and passive investors. SoFi Invest was evaluated with a focus on how it serves in each category.

Main content

Search Search Please fill out this field.
Reverse Mortgage

What Is a Reverse Mortgage? Types, How They Work, Pros & Cons

Halfpoint Images / Getty Images

What Is a Reverse Mortgage?

A reverse mortgage allows older homeowners to tap their home equity for money to use for other purposes. It’s essentially a loan against a home that you either own outright or have a small mortgage on that can be paid off with the reverse mortgage funds, leaving you extra cash to use as you like. Learn more about the pros and cons of reverse mortgages, including the typical criteria to get one.

Key Takeaways

A reverse mortgage lets you convert some of your home equity into cash, but they are designed for older homeowners.
Eligibility for a reverse mortgage is based on factors such as age and the amount of equity you have, among others.
For the most common type of reverse mortgage (HECM), you must be over 62.
Getting a reverse mortgage involves figuring out the loan amount, repayment terms, and interest rates.
Reverse mortgages allow you to tap your equity while staying in your home.

How a Reverse Mortgage Works

Reverse mortgages are designed for older homeowners who own their homes and need a source of money. The most common type of reverse mortgage is the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), which is for homeowners 62 and over. You must have at least 50% equity in your home for these loans, and the home must be your primary residence.

You may find some private reverse mortgages are available to younger homeowners, such as those 55 and older. They may have different equity criteria as well. But homeowners taking out a reverse mortgage have either paid down their mortgage and have no loan, or have a small loan amount.

The 2024 loan limit for a government-backed reverse mortgage is between $498,257 and $1,724,725, depending on where you live.

A reverse mortgage lets you keep the title to your home while you access your equity. As opposed to a traditional mortgage, you don’t make monthly mortgage payments toward a reverse mortgage. However, interest and fees are added to the loan balance every month, which lowers the amount of home equity.

If you are approved for a reverse mortgage, you might receive proceeds in one lump sum, a series of monthly payments, or a line of credit. Then, you must pay property taxes and homeowners insurance and keep up with home maintenance. A reverse mortgage is paid back once you no longer live in the home and the home is sold.

Interest Rates on Reverse Mortgages

Typically, the interest rate for a reverse mortgage is higher than the interest rate for a regular mortgage but on par with interest rates for home equity loans and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) . The interest rate for a reverse mortgage may be fixed or adjustable.

Several factors can affect your interest rate on a reverse mortgage. First, rates will vary by lender.

As with a traditional mortgage, a lender will review your credit history as part of the approval process. Although lenders rely less on your credit as a determining factor for approval, it can play a role in what interest rate you are offered. Having a better credit score and better credit history, including a record of making on-time payments and a low debt balance, can result in a lower interest rate.

Some lenders may also offer lower rates to older borrowers.

Eligibility Criteria for a Reverse Mortgage

Not every homeowner can take out a reverse mortgage. Just like with traditional mortgages, you must meet the lender’s criteria as well as other factors. Eligibility criteria for an HECM include:

You must be over age 62.
The mortgage must be on your primary residence.
You must have no late payments in the past 24 months for property-related expenses, such as mortgage payments, property tax bills, and insurance premiums.
You must complete a government-approved counseling session.

A reverse mortgage lender will review your credit history, but these loans don’t have specific credit score or income requirements like traditional mortgages.

Types of Reverse Mortgages

Generally, there are three types of reverse mortgages:

Home equity conversion mortgages (HECMs) : Most reverse mortgages are HECMs, which are insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), a division of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Proprietary reverse mortgages : Geared toward borrowers who own higher-value homes, proprietary reverse mortgages are offered by some private lenders. These loans aren’t government-insured and may have different lending criteria.
Single-purpose reverse mortgages : Some state government agencies, local government agencies, and nonprofit organizations offer single-purpose reverse mortgages . These funds must be used for a stated purpose, such as to pay taxes or make home improvements.

Pros & Cons of a Reverse Mortgage

Flexibility with loan funds

Less stringent loan requirements

Ability to remain in your home

Age requirements

Interest rates and costs

Impact on estate

Pros Explained

Flexibility with loan funds : You have flexibility when using proceeds from a reverse mortgage. You might put the money toward additional income, home improvement projects , debt payoffs, or retirement savings, for example.
Less stringent loan requirements : Lenders generally have no minimum credit score or income requirements for a reverse loan, although they will review your credit history for past delinquencies and other factors.
Ability to remain in your home : When you want to tap your equity for cash, a reverse mortgage is a solution that allows you to stay in your home. You can then delay mortgage payments until you no longer occupy the home.

Cons Explained

Age requirements : You generally have to be an older homeowner to get a reverse mortgage. For the most common type of reverse mortgage, and the only one backed by the U.S. government, you must be 62 or older.
Interest rates and costs : Interest rates for reverse mortgages tend to be higher than those for traditional mortgages. Among the upfront and ongoing expenses are lending fees, closing costs, loan servicing fees, government-mandating counseling, homeowners insurance, property taxes, and annual mortgage insurance.
Impact on estate : A homeowner with a reverse mortgage can leave the home to their heirs, but the heirs must repay the mortgage.

What Is the 60% Rule in a Reverse Mortgage?

In the first year of an FHA-approved reverse mortgage, you can tap into just 60% of the loan amount, or the amount required to pay off your current mortgage plus 10%, whichever is greater. This rule will be in effect through 2027.

Can I Lose My Home With a Reverse Mortgage?

Yes, you can lose your home with a reverse mortgage if you don’t abide by the loan’s terms. A lender might foreclose on your home if you fail to keep up with property tax payments, homeowners insurance premiums, or home maintenance requirements.

Can I Use the Funds From a Reverse Mortgage for Any Purpose?

Yes, you can typically use the funds from a reverse mortgage for any purpose. Examples include wiping out credit card debt, stashing money in an emergency fund, or paying for home improvements. However, if you have a single-purpose mortgage, you must use the funds for a stated purpose, such as renovating your home or paying your taxes.

What Are Some Alternatives to a Reverse Mortgage?

If you need funds and want to tap your home equity, you have alternatives to a reverse mortgage. You can use a home equity loan, home equity line of credit (HELOC) , or cash-out refinance loan to access your equity. There are no age requirements for these loans, but you may face stricter credit requirements than you would with a reverse mortgage.

Can You Have More Than One Reverse Mortgage?

You can have only one active reverse mortgage at a time. Once you’ve paid off a reverse mortgage, you can get another one.

The Bottom Line

A reverse mortgage can be a great option for older homeowners who need an extra source of funds. It allows you to tap into your home’s equity without needing to make monthly loan payments or sell your home. But a reverse mortgage does come with drawbacks, such as the need to keep up with home maintenance, homeowners insurance premiums, and property tax payments. Consider consulting with a financial advisor to learn how a reverse mortgage may fit into your overall financial plan.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “ Can Anyone Take Out a Reverse Mortgage Loan? ”

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. “ FHA Announces 2024 Loan Limits, Empowering Homebuyers Amidst Rising Home Prices .”

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “ What Is a Reverse Mortgage? ”

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. ” How Much Money Can I Get With a Reverse Mortgage Loan? ”

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “ When Do I Have to Pay Back a Reverse Mortgage Loan? ”

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “ Are There Different Types of Reverse Mortgages? ”

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “ How Much Will a Reverse Mortgage Loan Cost? ”

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “ With a Reverse Mortgage Loan, Can My Heirs Keep or Sell My Home After I Die? ”

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. “ Mortgagee Letter 2013-27: Changes to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program Requirements .” Page 6, 8.

Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. “ You Have a Reverse Mortgage: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities ,” Pages 3-4.

Terms of Service
Editorial Policy
Privacy Policy
Your Privacy Choices

TechRepublic

Account information.

Share with Your Friends

Vtiger CRM Review (2024): Features, Pricing and Alternatives

Your email has been sent

Vtiger is a powerful AI customer relationship management tool that helps businesses align their marketing, sales and customer support teams with unified client data. Their platform allows different departments to work collaboratively and build out pipelines for high-quality leads to be funneled into, sell quickly with lead routing and segmentation, and then deliver exceptional ongoing support to clients.

Before committing to Vtiger there are other top AI powered CRMs to consider, like Salesforce or Freshsales. If your business is looking for a straightforward, sales-heavy provider, there are options like Pipedrive. Since many of these providers offer similar core features but different specialities, it’s worth comparing them and testing driving demos or free trials.

One Pilot: Free CRM plan with a max of 15 users and 3,000 records. Most ideal for companies just starting their CRM journey.
One Growth: $12 per user, per month when billed annually and $15 per user, per month when billed monthly. This tier has a max user number of 15 and 100,000 records, multiple pipelines, invoicing and more.
One Professional: $30 per user, per month when billed annually and $42 per user, per month when billed monthly for standard users. $20 additional fee per user, per month for single app users. Users of this tier get everything in One Growth and lead scoring, social ticketing and sales insights.
One Enterprise: $42 per user, per month when billed annually and $58 per user, per month when billed monthly for standard users. $30 additional fee per user, per month for single app users. This plan comes with everything in One Professional plus multi currencies, work order management, automated time tracking and more.

Key features of Vtiger

Process designer.

Vtiger’s process designer automates team — and even cross-department — actions. Businesses can build out new processes with a simple drag and drop feature ( Figure A ). Build workflows, schedule time interactions and submit for approvals all through the business process designer tool (BPA). This tool doesn’t require any coding or backend development, making it user friendly for any business type.

Example Vtiger process builder and record dashboard

Deal room is a private digital synergy space offered by Vtiger where sales reps can engage and track content with leads ( Figure B ). It’s a dashboard where both leads and reps are viewed together to collaborate and clearly understand next steps or due dates. It’s also a way for reps to answer questions quickly or respond to objections. Users can also view stakeholders involved, which helps visibility across the board for optimized deal management.

Sample unified view of a deal room tracker

Appointment pages

Appointment pages allow businesses to publish sales rep calendars for leads or clients to schedule appointments directly through Vtiger. The tool can show rep’s availability for clients to select a time and date that works for everyone ( Figure C ). The tool can also personalize appointment pages, schedule email reminders and more. This unique feature allows reps to manage appointments easily with built-in automations.

Calculus AI

Vtiger Calculus is an AI tool that takes inputs from the CRM to give businesses the best advice for any customer-facing team. It utilizes NLQ to extract different information in everyday language, all of which drives faster business decisions. This feature is available as an add-on and works as a custom chatbot, as a conversation analytics reporting tool or to give intelligent recommendations based on impactful predictions ( Figure D ).

Vtiger pros and cons

Alternatives to vtiger.

Vtiger is an all-in-one CRM tool that can support end-to-end business processes — from marketing to ongoing client retention. It makes sense to compare it to a mixed bag of popular free CRMs or providers that offer scalability for SMBs looking for a CRM . Because of this, some other providers to consider alongside Vtiger are Salesforce, Pipedrive and Freshsales.

If your business has the bandwidth to develop your own CRM with added customization, there are open-source CRMs to also check out.

Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM platform that comes with a comprehensive suite of tools that help businesses capture high quality leads, nurture relationships and close deals. Both Vtiger and Salesforce offer an AI assistant that can do more than just create marketing content, and both tools can provide data insights and even recommend next steps.

Compared to Vtiger, though, Salesforce doesn’t offer a free-for-life version of their software but can provide opportunity scoring and territory management for companies of any size.

Head over to our Salesforce review for more insight into its pricing, features and more.

Pipedrive is a popular CRM software that provides visual sales pipelines for a competitive price. Vtiger and Pipedrive both feature advanced reporting and analytics that users can use to create custom reports and dashboards for tracking deals, client activity and more.

However, Pipedrive does uniquely provide an email software that can streamline a business’s email marketing campaigns by offering templates, email segmentation and tracking.

To learn more about this provider, read our Pipedrive review .

Freshsales is a top scoring sales CRM provider that uses AI to help users build out pipelines, boost conversions and power productivity. Both Freshsales and Vtiger offer a free version of their CRM tool for small businesses or even startups to implement with basic features. Compared to Vtiger, though, Freshsales offers a longer free trial and available integrations with other native products for marketing or customer support.

For more information, check out our independent Freshsales review .

Review methodology

I used an in-house rubric with criteria and subcriteria for general CRM software offerings to review Vtiger. I researched Vtiger’s top features, pricing plans, ease of use and more against the top CRM providers and their standards. I relied on Vtiger’s online resources as well as real user feedback and reviews.

The criteria I used to score Vtiger were the following:

Cost: Weighted 25% of the total score.
Core features: Weighted 25% of the total score.
Integrations: Weighted 15% of the total score.
Customizations: Weighted 15% of the total score.
Ease of use: Weighted 10% of the total score.
Customer support: Weighted 10% of the total score.
Leveraging an AI-powered Salesforce CRM Will Require Better Data Management
7 Best Free CRM for 2024
Zoho CRM vs. Hubspot: Which Is Best for Your Business in 2024?
Hiring kit: CRM developer
Big data: More must-read coverage

Create a TechRepublic Account

Get the web's best business technology news, tutorials, reviews, trends, and analysis—in your inbox. Let's start with the basics.

* - indicates required fields

Sign in to TechRepublic

Lost your password? Request a new password

Reset Password

Please enter your email adress. You will receive an email message with instructions on how to reset your password.

Check your email for a password reset link. If you didn't receive an email don't forgot to check your spam folder, otherwise contact support .

Welcome. Tell us a little bit about you.

This will help us provide you with customized content.

Want to receive more TechRepublic news?

You're all set.

Thanks for signing up! Keep an eye out for a confirmation email from our team. To ensure any newsletters you subscribed to hit your inbox, make sure to add [email protected] to your contacts list.

IMAGES

The Ultimate Guide to Essay Writing
27 Top Homework Pros and Cons (2024)
27 Printable Pros and Cons Lists / Charts / Templates ᐅ TemplateLab
27 Printable Pros and Cons Lists / Charts / Templates ᐅ TemplateLab
20 Free Pros and Cons List Template & Examples
Free Pros and Cons List Template & Examples

VIDEO

The Pros & Cons of Section 8 Tenants 🏠
MiddyTutorials. IELTS Writing Task 2 (Essay
Pros And Cons of a Custom Operator
How you talk about your assignment submission after earning an A on it
More Pros and Cons
B2 First WRITING TASK: PROS AND CONS, FOR AND AGAINST ESSAY IN ENGLISH

COMMENTS

Advantages and Disadvantages of Assignments For Students
Advantages of Assignments For Students. Boosts understanding of topics - Assignments help students dive deeper into topics, providing a clear and thorough understanding that goes beyond surface-level knowledge.; Encourages independent learning - They promote self-learning, pushing students to study and solve problems on their own, fostering self-reliance.
Is homework a necessary evil?
After decades of debate, researchers are still sorting out the truth about homework's pros and cons. One point they can agree on: Quality assignments matter. By Kirsten Weir. March 2016, Vol 47, No. 3. Print version: page 36. 8 min read
20 Pros and Cons of Homework
3. It teaches time management skills. Homework goes beyond completing a task. It forces children (and parents, to some extent) to develop time management skills. Schedules must be organized to ensure that all tasks can be completed during the day. This creates independent thinking and develops problem-solving skills.
Does homework still have value? A Johns Hopkins education expert weighs
The necessity of homework has been a subject of debate since at least as far back as the 1890s, according to Joyce L. Epstein, co-director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University. "It's always been the case that parents, kids—and sometimes teachers, too—wonder if this is just busy work ...
Should kids have homework? Pros and cons of assignments
Pros and cons of homework. Pros. Some researchers have identified a strong correlation between homework and academic success. Harris Cooper, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, led a meta-analysis in 2006, "Does homework improve academic achievement?," which showed that homework can improve students' scores on class tests. The study demonstrated that accross different ...
Does offering students a choice in assignments lead to greater
Here are a few other ideas for teachers who want to effectively offer students choice in assignments: Assign students to complete five out of ten potential homework problems; Create a short list of project topics and let students select which one they want to pursue; Provide a handful of different options for students to present their work (e.g ...
Homework Pros and Cons
Homework does not help younger students, and may not help high school students. We've known for a while that homework does not help elementary students. A 2006 study found that "homework had no association with achievement gains" when measured by standardized tests results or grades. [ 7]
Why Students Should Be Allowed to Re-Do Their Work
paces work on long-term assignments. sets achievable goals with respect to time. completes make-up work in a timely fashion. Work Habits The student: is a conscientious, hard-working student. works independently. is a self-motivated student. consistently completes homework assignments. puts forth their best effort into homework assignments.
The Pro's and Con's of Assigning Homework
Number 4: It reduces the amount of outdoor time. As homework responsibilities have risen, the amount of time children spent outside playing has decreased. In the past generation, the amount of outdoor playtime has been almost cut in half. At the same time, homework assignments have risen by an almost equal level.
The pros and cons of virtual assignments
A virtual assignment saves you relocating. Starting a virtual assignment is much less upheaval than relocating yourself and your family to a new country. You can enjoy your home comforts with most of your regular routine remaining the same. It is really the best of both worlds, having the opportunity without the major life adjustments.
The Pros and Cons of Homework
Pro 1: Homework Helps to Improve Student Achievement. Homework teaches students various beneficial skills that they will carry with them throughout their academic and professional life, from time management and organization to self-motivation and autonomous learning. Homework helps students of all ages build critical study abilities that help ...
Advantages and Disadvantages of Assignments for Students
Assignments are those tasks your teachers give you to complete outside of the classroom. They serve a purpose, but like anything in life, they have their pros and cons.
Should Students Have Homework? Pros and Cons of Academic Assignments
Pros and cons of school assignments. As you read why should students have homework articles, consider the pros and cons before making a final decision. This is because the issue has grown to be a household topic, with parents and students looking for ways to help distinguish the concept from the academic system.
The Pros and Cons: Should Students Have Homework?
It allows everyone to get to know each other better, and parents can see where their children are struggling. In the same sense, parents can also see where their children are excelling. Homework in turn can allow for a better, more targeted educational plan for the student. 5. Homework Allows For More Learning Time.
Do No-Zero Policies Help or Hurt Students?
July 3, 2018. With a no-zero grading policy, the glass is always half full. The controversial grading policy—which is rising in popularity across the country—sets the lowest possible grade for any assignment or test at 50 percent, even when students turn in no work at all. Schools systems like Fairfax County Public Schools and the ...
Pro and Con: Homework
CON. Too much homework can be harmful. Homework disadvantages low-income students. There is a lack of evidence that homework helps younger children. This article was published on February 25, 2022, at Britannica's ProCon.org, a nonpartisan issue-information source. Some say homework improves student achievement, reinforces learning a life ...
Pros and cons of Virtual Assignments
For the better - and indefinitely. One of those is Virtual Assignments. Loved by some business leaders and mobility professionals, they are seen as a way to be nimble in the short term, with the rapid deployment of skills at low cost. They can offer long-term developmental opportunities as well. But by the same token, there is some skepticism ...
Voices: The Principal / Changing Assignments—Pros and Cons
This past year, my philosophy on the benefits of changing assignments was put to a different test. My district embarked on a reorganization plan, converting its two K-5 schools into a K-2, 3-5 configuration. As the senior principal, I received first choice, and I opted to start as principal of the 3-5 school this fall.
12 Pros and Cons of Homework
One of the positive effects of homework is that it helps to encourage the discipline of practice. Repetition is necessary to get better at skills. Practising the same problem over and over helps to reinforce the discipline of practice. Homework helps make concepts more clear and helps to build a career in the future. 2.
Pros and Cons of Take-Home Interview Assignments and How to ...
Learn about assigning a take-home interview assignment for job candidates, including the pros and cons of this assessment method and examples of projects. ... Cons of a take-home assignment. Before you decide to implement take-home assignments, consider the following challenges: 1. Time-consuming
Explaining The Main Pros And Cons Of Homework Assignments
Therefore, in this article, we shall talk about the pros and cons of assigning homework. Pros of Assigning Homework. Written below are all the reasons why homework should not be banned from schools. ... Homework and assignments do not help in grades but put more pressure on exams or tests. To complete the homework, the students miss out on ...
What are the pros and cons of giving students assignments to write
Thus, my philosophy is that a Wikipedia assignment should be elective - i.e. either being for extra credit or being an option the student can choose instead of a traditional paper/essay. Another reason for this rule is that some students would feel self-conscious about writing material for public consumption, and I think it's wrong to force ...
Pros and cons of an international assignment
Here are some pros and cons of an international assignment to help you decide if it is a smart career move. Table of Contents Pros of international assignment. International Work Experience. Indeed, the world is growing and becoming more and more mobile and accessible. This is the main driving force.
Pros and Cons of Using E Learning Platform
All Coursera courses and programs support on-demand video lectures, homework exercises, peer-reviewed assignments, and community discussion forums. ... Therefore, if after doing your research and weighing the pros and cons of using an electronic learning platform, you decide that an in-person learning environment will best suit your learning ...
Colleges weigh pros and cons of extending deposit deadlines
The National Association of College Admissions Counselors, which has been tracking commitment deadlines at its nearly 2,000 member institutions, found that the vast majority of the roughly 460 that responded by March 28 had pushed their deposit deadlines back to at least May 15. Only 25 institutions said they were not pushing their deadlines back, while 37 indicated they were considering doing ...
SoFi Invest 2024 Review: Unlock All-in-One Investing Strategies
Start investing. On SoFi's website. Insider's Rating 4.65/5. Perks. Get up to $1,000 in stock when you fund a new account. Account Minimum. $0 ($1 to start investing); $5 fractional shares ...
The pros and cons of corporate uniforms
People will be happier to be a corporate billboard if they feel pride in their employer. Some work clothing looks good and some of it is a paean to polyester: you do not so much represent a brand ...
What Is a Reverse Mortgage? Types, How They Work, Pros & Cons
Cons Explained Age requirements : You generally have to be an older homeowner to get a reverse mortgage. For the most common type of reverse mortgage, and the only one backed by the U.S ...
ServiceTitan Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons
Check out our ServiceTitan review to explore its features, pros, and cons to help you decide if it's right for your field service needs in 2024. ServiceTitan is a cloud-based software designed for ...
Vtiger CRM Review (2024): Features, Pricing and Alternatives
Lead auto-assignment and routing. Profile and engagement scoring. ... Vtiger pros and cons. Pros Cons; 15-day free trial. Users report the mobile app is barebones with feature options.