Homework activities set by a teacher for children to carry out at home is an aspect of education reform within the imperative of change in response to increasing access to information communications technologies (ICT). Access to the Internet provides students with connections to resources, people and activities that have the potential to enhance learning for disadvantaged students by widening the potential socio-material support networks. This paper or poster will present research that explores the experience of home learning in a digital age from the perspective of students living in low socio-economic or disadvantaged households, their parents and their teachers. This research is the first stage of a design based project aiming to identify features of homework tasks that enhance learning for primary aged students, particularly for those living in disadvantaged households with access to the Internet.

Existing research literature that considers the impact homework has on student achievement is fraught with complexity. Meta-analyses on the effects of homework on school achievement show small to medium positive effects (Cooper, Robinson & Patal, 2006; Hattie, 2009; Sheerens et al, 2007). A Dutch study found that when homework was given to all students, the achievement of students from low socio-economic/migrant households fell further behind that of peers from higher socio-economic families (Rønning, 2011). The primary school students in the study from low socio-economic/migrant households were found to receive less help with homework from their families. The resources, knowledge, cultural values and experiences of the family (the cultural capital) available in the home can influence the learning that occurs through homework and there is the possibility that this could be mediated through broader access through ICTs.

Inequality in educational achievement and opportunities and outcomes is an issue across the OECD (Ferreira & Gignoux, 2014). A current inequity in educational outcomes across New Zealand is the lower achievement of students from low socio-economic households and those of Māori or Pacific Island ethnicity when compared with other students (Nusche, Laveault, MacBeath et al, 2011; Snook & O’Neill, 2014). While the research suggests that homework is unlikely to significantly benefit students from low socio-economic households compared to their resource rich counterparts, this may not be the case when homework is reframed within a socio-material construct for a digital age, and the activities are carefully designed to leverage the affordances of the resources and knowledge available in and beyond the home. A socio-material perspective places an emphasis on the access and interactions that a student has with people and material resources and the learning that occurs as a result of those interactions (Fenwick, Edwards & Sawchuck, 2015).

How parents perceive and negotiate their role in home learning could be useful knowledge for teachers who are designing learning activities. In a study of parent-child homework negotiations in Swedish families, Forsberg (2007) analysed video of the home environment and found that parents wanted their children to do homework independently, therefore they controlled the completion of homework, or helped the student complete it, both of which positioned the child as ‘irresponsible’. This research was situated within the cultural context where the Swedish discourse on parental involvement links good parenthood with involvement in children’s education. The families in this study were volunteers from a middle-class population who identified themselves as ‘normal families without any major problems’ (p212). How parents from less advantaged families support their child’s learning in the context of a digitally mediated environment provide an interesting comparison to the Forsberg’s (2007) findings.

The main research question explored for this presentation is:

How do disadvantaged students experience home learning in a digital age?

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