# Homework and questions

Homework is work a student submits for a lesson as text or files, and a curator reviews it manually. Lesson questions are a conversation between the student and the curator right on the lesson page. Both features are turned on in the course settings, and both can depend on the [access package](https://support.watbot.org/schools/sales) the student bought.

## Homework

### How to turn it on

In the course's "Settings" subsection, choose a rule in the "Homework" field:

| Option | What it means |
|---|---|
| "No homework" | Lessons have no submission form |
| "Can be submitted, review is optional" | The student can send work to the curator, but the lesson counts as completed without it |
| "The lesson counts once a curator accepts the homework" | The lesson is completed only when the curator has accepted the work |

The rule applies to all lessons of the course. For an individual lesson, you can change it in the "Homework for this lesson" field below the lesson content; an empty field means as set in the course. A lesson with required homework is marked "With homework" in the curriculum.

Describe the assignment itself in the lesson text: there is no separate field for it.

> [!NOTE]
> If the course is sold in packages and "Homework review" is turned off in the student's package, the student has no submission form, and they mark a lesson with required homework as completed themselves.

### What the student submits

On the lesson page, in the "Homework" block, the student writes an answer and attaches files. One submission can have up to 10 files, each up to 100 MB: images, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, archives, audio and video. Students' files take up space on the school's disk.

After submission, the assignment gets the "Under review" status. If the curator returns the work, the student submits it again — this is a new attempt.

If "Homework after the quiz" is turned on in the course, the form opens only after the lesson's graded quiz is passed.

### How to review an assignment

1. Open the "Homework review" section. The number next to the section name in the menu is how many works are waiting for review.
2. By default, assignments with the "Under review" status are shown. The filters at the top switch the course and the status: "Under review", "Needs rework", "Accepted", "All".
3. Click an assignment. The "Review homework" window shows the whole conversation: the student's answers, their files and previous comments. The attempt number is shown next to the lesson name.
4. Write a "Comment for the student".
5. Click "Accept" or "Send for rework". A comment is required to send the work back for rework.

![The assignment review window with the student–curator thread](https://support.watbot.org/_media/en/07-schools/_images/homework.webp?v=1791781230)

What happens next:

- **"Accept"** — the assignment gets the "Accepted" status, and the lesson counts as completed for the student. An accepted assignment is not reviewed again.
- **"Send for rework"** — the status becomes "Needs rework". The student sees the comment and submits the work again.

The student receives an email about the result and, if they have connected a messenger, a message from the [school chatbot](https://support.watbot.org/schools/students).

If several curators review and a colleague managed to review the assignment while you were writing a comment, you will see the message "The homework has changed — a colleague may have reviewed it already". Look through the conversation and send your review again if it is still needed.

## Lesson questions

### How to turn them on

In the course's "Settings" subsection, turn on "Lesson questions". The "Questions about the lesson" block appears on the student's lesson page.

If the course is sold in packages, questions are available to students whose package has "Questions to the curator" turned on.

To keep the queue from being flooded, the number of questions per student is limited: how many they can keep open at the same time and how many they can ask per day. The limit does not prevent clarifying a question already asked.

### How to answer

1. Open the "Questions" section. The number next to the name in the menu is how many questions are waiting for an answer.
2. By default, questions with the "Waiting" status are shown, with those that have waited the longest first. The filters at the top switch the course and the status.
3. Click a question. The "Answer the student" window shows the conversation.
4. Type your text in the "Your answer" field and click "Answer".

Question statuses:

| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| "Waiting" | The student asked a question or clarified it after your answer |
| "Answered" | You have answered. The student can clarify — then the question is waiting for an answer again |
| "Closed" | The conversation is over. The student asks a new question separately |

You can close the conversation with the "Close the question" button; the student can also close their own question. An answered question that the student has not clarified for several days closes on its own.

The student receives an email and a message from the school chatbot about the answer.

## Curators

A curator is a team member who reviews assignments and answers questions for a specific course.

1. Give the team member access to the project with a role that has the "Review homework" permission. How to do this is on the [Team members and content review](https://support.watbot.org/schools/team) page.
2. Open the course, the "Curators" subsection.
3. Choose the team member in the "Select a user" list and click "Assign".

How it works:

- The school owner sees assignments and questions for all courses; there is no need to assign them as a curator.
- A team member sees only the courses where they are assigned as a curator in the "Homework review" and "Questions" sections.
- When a student submits an assignment or asks a question, the course curators get a notification in the dashboard. If the course has no curators, the notification goes to the school owner.
- A curator can also give a student a [quiz retake](https://support.watbot.org/schools/quizzes).

To remove a curator, click "Delete" in their row.

## If something does not work

| Message | Cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "Only a project administrator can be a curator." | The selected user is not a member of the project team | First give them access to the project |
| A team member does not see the "Homework review" and "Questions" sections | Their role does not have the "Review homework" permission | Add the permission to the role |
| A team member sees the section, but the list is empty | They are not assigned as a curator of any course | Assign them in the course's "Curators" subsection |
| The student sees "This lesson has no homework." | Homework is turned off in the lesson or course, or the review is not included in the student's package | Check the course, lesson and package settings |
| The student sees "Questions are turned off for this course." | Questions are turned off in the course, or they are not included in the student's package | Check the course and package settings |
| The student sees "File upload is temporarily unavailable. Please contact the school." | The school's disk is full or no [plan](https://support.watbot.org/schools/start) is active | Free up space or change the plan |