Take a look inside 6 images
Oh My Homework
Pros: Kids who understand concepts but are stuck can see steps to get to an answer.
Cons: Many of the tools simply solve the problems for students without deeper explanation.
Bottom Line: It's an OK, free reference for students who are temporarily stuck, but there are better choices for true homework help.
Oh My Homework could be used as an intervention tool -- specifically when teachers intentionally plan to remove some of the mathematics thinking from tasks for targeted students. However, there are other tools available, like Desmos, that have better supports for kids. If you do choose to use Oh My Homework with students, make sure to orient students to the specific menu that they will need. It takes a little while to figure out how to use the different calculators.
If students are looking for a free reference tool or a way to check their work, this app could potentially be helpful, but teachers will have to make sure students can explain their thinking to insure that kids aren't just using the app to churn out answers.
Oh My Homework provides a series of tools that scaffold learning for kids. The English menu provides examples that help kids make sense of conventions like past and present tense. In the Physics menu, students can plug in a variety of homework problems around topics including kinematics, dynamics, work, power, and energy. The Chemistry menu lists each of the elements in the periodic table. When students select an element, the app lists details such as the number of valence electrons and the oxidation state for that element. There are a number of different math tools as well. One calculator helps kids add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions. Kids can also get help solving problems with exponents, roots, area, perimeter, and volume.
Each set of tools in Oh My Homework is slightly different, but some provide tips to help students solve problems. Sometimes the interface is a little hard to navigate. For example, the variable (x) symbol is the same as the multiplication symbol, so it takes a little while to figure out how to use the quadratic calculator. The quadratic calculator will also create a graph for students. However, it may not show all the steps they need to help them understand how to graph a function themselves. If students need to factor before graphing, the quadratic tool does not provide support for that work.
Unfortunately, Oh My Homework also does some of the thinking for students. In speed problems, users are first asked, "What do you want to calculate?" If a student selects time, the tool rearranges the equation to solve for t. Additionally, it doesn't show students the steps for rearranging an equation. In most physics classes, students are expected to do this work themselves. And while referencing tenses and conjugation might help students in particular circumstances, they won't learn much about proper usage or do any meaningful practice activities. Overall, there are definitely better choices for tools to get kids unstuck around homework, so this free option is probably best used sparingly.