Why Searching The Web For Homework Answers Is A Great Idea

There's more than one way to solve a problem, as any teacher will tell you. With that in mind, why wouldn't you want to broaden your horizons by searching for alternate solutions to your homework problems on the web? Doing a quick Google search for homework answers turn up dozen of sites where students can collaborate, get help, and find new ways to answer the questions on their homework exercises. I can think of a few good reasons why googling your homework is an excellent idea.


You'll learn more.
The thought process involved in creating a search term in such a way that the search brings up relevant information is an art form in and of itself, and searching for homework answers on the web is no exception to that rule. But in the process of searching for answers, kids actually have to think about what they are looking for as an answer, sort the results their search returns, and eventually choose an answer they think is correct based on their own reasoning. And a common result with searching for life's burning questions - for example, who was Nathaniel Bacon - will often turn up far more information than students ever wanted to know, meaning they are actually getting more detail than their teacher can provide in class.

Your teacher is doing it.
You can bet that if students are smart enough to check out the web for answers to their homework, teachers are doing the same thing to make sure that students are getting the right answers and to make sure that they still know it all. They might even be googling homework answers before class to make sure they know all the possible solutions to a given problem before students think of them, or to see what other students answered to a similar question, so they know what kind of reaction to expect.

You'll get better grades.
Here's a shocker, but kids who look up the answers to their homework and get the right answer score higher. A pleasant side of effect of properly looking up homework answers is getting the expected answer, and therefore getting a good grade on the assignment. Also, if the teacher does claim that you've provided the wrong answer, you're in the perfect position to reverse the teach-student role with your newfound knowledge that you wouldn't have had otherwise. You can go from being wrong to being an excellent student as fast as you can explain to your teacher why your answer is also correct.

Of course, there's always math.
It's worth mentioning that few, if any, of the above pros apply to math homework. If you google math homework, you're either going to get the right answer or the wrong answer, and unfortunately if you don't already have some idea what the right answer is or find a solution that explains itself to you, you're not going to get the wrong answer, not learn anything new, and ultimately not do well in that class.