The importance of parents in the homework process
As already noted here, well designed homework tasks should not need the assistance of external resources, especially parents. The reason is equity: some students don't have access to the cultural capital that some parents possess, and therefore can't help their child if they don't know how to complete the work themselves. This is known as The Matthew Effect. This is obviously more pertinent in the higher grades when the tasks move beyond even well educated parents.
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When well designed tasks are successfully communicated to parents, homework can become a more successful learning sequence than without involving them. Parents can be powerful allies for teachers, but teachers need to keep them informed (Shumow, 2011; Redding, 2000).
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Reconnecting - Giving parents opportunities to connect with what their child is learning at home could significantly improve performance on those tasks. Parents have the chance to talk with their child about what the expectations are for the work, whether they need support, and generally how they are going with the tasks. In doing so, they gain access to what is for many parents, an often silent, unknown territory. They then become effective participants in being able to SUPPORT your home learning policy, and help your school to help students achieve their best in revision and in general home learning tasks.
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Reducing - Online homework managers eliminate the arguments about what homework a child may have. Parents have already received the information before the child gets home.
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Reiterating - Online homework managers also collate all teacher grading of homework, and generate reports for students, providing feedback on how set tasks have been handled. This provides a more frequent measure on progress; sometimes parents don't receive much information until report time. The more windows everyone has into the learning journey, the greater the chance for intervention if necessary.
