S

Helping students finish their

homework in a timely manner

KG and JH

Research shows the amount of time spent on homework varies with ethnicity.

As well as age and grades,

Finally, it shows how students procrastinate

Kendall’s typical homework experience

Kendall can’t keep track of all her assignments

Students like Kendall often struggle with keeping track of their assignments as well as completing them in a timely manner. There are many different reasons for these problems to occur.

To Kendall, completing all her homework on time is very difficult

She is busy

She can be lazy

She isn’t too organized

She doesn’t have the best work ethic

She gets distracted easily

After talking with Kendall, we decided to interview other high school students, this is what we found.

After meeting Kendall, we decided to interview other high school students and this is what we found.

90% of students would use an app that helps them keep track of homework and time-management

80% of students keep track of their homework in a handwritten notebook

70% of kids keep their phone with them while doing homework

100% of students spend over 90 minutes on homework

70% of students get distracted by their phone or internet during homework

Kendall has tried the following options to help her with her homework.

The app, MyHomework- This lets you track your homework assignments and classes. You add the assignments and when it is due as well as priority level. You can also set reminders to do your homework.

MyGradeBook allows you to track your grades and homework assignments as well as allowing your parents access your grades.

The Second App

The Third App

StudyBlue allows you to create your own flashcards and you can share with peers. It also can track what cards you have mastered and allow you to spend more time on the other cards. Cards can be text, images or audio.

Then we quickly came across this question

How can we help students keep track of their assignments and help them with time management?

We came up with 3 solution ideas that could benefit Kendall as well as other students

An application that blocks a set list of websites until you have completed/marked all of your homework as complete

A web application that you can add friends/classmates to in order to figure out what your homework is for a class even if you missed it/forgot to write it down.

An app that denies web access as well as text messages unless they are from your parents during the time you are doing homework.

Our Aha Moment

We then quickly realized that the main reasons kids don’t do their homework are:

Not remembering what’s due, laziness, and miscommunication

We then started to implement these three core elements into an application that would relieve all of these problems...

How this idea works

This app has three major features. It is able to block texts on your phone, as well as block certain websites you might use to procrastinate. It also is a calendar that you can mark your assignments down in. The final feature is that you can add your classmates to the calendar and they can also mark homework assignments and add notes and details.

Citations

"App-studyblue." INTO Higher Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. http://blog.intohigher.com/studying-abroad/10-of-the-best-free-apps-for-students/attachment/app-studyblue/

"Organization & Time Management Android Apps for High School and College Students | OT's with Apps." OTs with Apps. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. http://otswithapps.com/2012/08/06/organization-time-management-android-apps-for-high-school-and-college-students/.

"Reviews." My GradeBook : Student Grades. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.roxannebrittain.rbrittaingradebook.

"Perry County District Library." Homework Help. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2014. http://www.pcdl.org/homework.

McDowell, Gayle L. "COMPANIES WHO GIVE CANDIDATES HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS: KNOCK IT OFF!" Http://www.technologywoman.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2014. http://www.technologywoman.com/2013/09/18/companies-who-give-candidates-homework-assignments-knock-it-off/.

"MICHA.ELMUELLER." MICHAELMUELLER RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2014. http://micha.elmueller.net/2013/06/when-do-students-submit-assignments/.

"How Much Time Do American Kids Spend Doing Homework?" Http://www.tino.us. N.p., 31 Dec. 2010. Web. 7 Feb. 2014. http://www.tino.us/2010/12/.

Ryan, Julia. "How Much Homework Do American Kids Do?" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 19 Sept. 2013. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/09/how-much-homework-do-american-kids-do/279805/.

Appendix

Design 1

Design 2

Design 3 (the one we chose)

Design 4

Design 5