10 Low-Prep Homework Ideas for Online ESL Teachers

Cover image with the title "10 low prep homework ideas that are more effective and engaging". Graphics include a struck-through "stress" icon, students looking excited while completing online homework tasks, and a teacher looking happy due to her reduced homework workload and improved student progress.

AI Summary

Struggling to get your online ESL students to complete homework? This guide shares 10 creative, low-prep ESL homework ideas, with insights from experienced online ESL teachers, that make learning fun, boost engagement between lessons, and reduce teacher workload. Discover practical, ready-to-use activities—from interactive quizzes and multimedia tasks to real-life projects—that help reinforce learning and keep your students motivated between every online class.

Table Of Contents

1: Use interactive quizzes and games
2: Encourage multimedia submissions
3: Try project-based homework
4: Assign real-life tasks
5: Create their own revision materials
6: Flip the classroom with preview tasks
7: Wider reading / listening / watching
8: Research tasks
9: Journaling, blogging, or vlogging
10: Use pre-made workbooks
Summary
Looking for more engaging online ESL teaching materials?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Struggling to get your students to do their homework in online ESL classes? You’re not alone! For many online teachers, homework can feel like a constant battle – either students don’t want to do it, or parents expect mountains of it, leaving you buried in worksheet prep and feedback.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Whether you’re teaching young learners or teens, group classes or one-on-ones, the right kind of homework can:

Keep students engaged between lessons
Reinforce what they’ve learned
Prepare students for the next class
And save you time on prep and marking

Photo of a Chinese student completing their homework worksheet, using a printed PDF workbook from Abridge Academy. They are circling the word "circle" with a pen, as part of a task practicing vocabulary for different shapes.

Homework is definitely a big part of their lesson structure. It reinforces memory and encourages them to think about the lesson taken.
Teacher Alan

💭 If you’re wondering…

How can I make homework more fun and engaging for ESL students?
How do I ensure homework is actually effective?
How can I reduce my workload as an online teacher?

Then this post is for you.

Here are 10 low-prep, creative, and effective homework ideas you can start using in your online ESL classes today, along with insights from real teachers like you.

1: Use interactive quizzes and games

Image showing three screenshots of the Abridge Academy curriculum slides. One shows a gap-fill exercises focusing on the comparative and superlative forms of "good" or "bad". The second shows a short spelling exercise in which students need to write the past tense form of verbs ending in -e or -y. The third shows a drop-down gap-fill exercises based on a text about water polo. The words around the screenshots say "interactive activities" and "self-marking" along with gold star ratings.

Websites such as WordWall allow you to easily and quickly create automated quizzes and games directly linked to the vocabulary, grammar, or functional language your students are practicing in class. These kind of interactive quizzes have been proven to improve language acquisition and retention.¹ Plus they’re fun, fast, and offer instant feedback – and the leaderboard adds a competitive twist!

If you are an Abridge Academy curriculum member, check out the “downloads and links” section under each lesson, which often includes links to pre-made WordWall activities you can share with your students.

💡 Tip: Shout out the top scorers at the start of the next lesson to boost motivation.

Interactive options are great for kids. [Automated feedback] is so convenient, such a time-saver for teachers!
Teacher Carolyn

2: Encourage multimedia submissions

Instead of written tasks, ask students to send a quick voice note or short video via a messaging app.

This is perfect for pronunciation, storytelling, roleplays, or debate lessons.

Bonus points if it’s in a class group chat, prompting follow-on discussions between students!

To reduce your workload planning and creating homework tasks, this multimedia task could simply be a one or two sentence instruction, along with a screenshot of the relevant part of the lesson (e.g. the dialogue or sentence structure you want them to base their submission on).

🎤 Example: “Record one argument for or against the debate topic, including a conditional sentence.”

I ask students to record themselves repeating the example dialogue for homework. It’s really helped my students focus on clearly pronouncing new words, thinking about word stress and pitch, and improving spoken fluency. Plus they feel more confident then adapting these sentences in their own roleplay conversations during class.
Teacher Maria

3: Try project-based homework

Blog post cover image with the text "extend learning with creative activities and projects" by Teacher Gissele. Images show a teacher smiling with glasses on against a blue background, as well as photos of an art project about shapes and a fruit smoothie project based around a video. — Read more: Project Based Learning ideas by Teacher Gissele

Wrap up a unit with a mini project, such as designing a travel brochure, creating a comic strip, or making a poster in English. This helps engage their creativity, while also providing a real-life application for the language they have been learning in class.

If you teach group classes, consider assigning pair homework, so they have a partner to collaborate with on these projects. Students could also share their projects with a short presentation at the start of the next lesson (great for peer feedback) or in the class group chat.

📌 Tip: Abridge Academy’s end-of-unit projects (included at the end of each workbook) make this super easy to implement!

The word “project” automatically sounds more fun than “homework”, so my students are more likely to do it. After doing the new Abridge Academy story lessons, my students wanted to create their own fairy tales. I provided a rough direction or format to follow, but kept it flexible for students to submit their work in their chosen format (video, storyboard, written, etc) to give them other ways to be creative.
Teacher Grant

4: Assign real-life tasks

The main goal of our students is to be able to use English in real-life contexts – so set that as their homework task!

Examples include:

Go to a local café and order a drink and snack in English.
Record a video of you interviewing your parents about their jobs.
Visit a local museum and read about the exhibits in English.
Message a travel agent, asking them for advice on places to visit.
Cook a meal following instructions in English.

Image shows four adult ESL students practicing using English in a real life scenario. They are looking at a travel guide book and a map, and appear to be discussing travel plans or navigating around a new city.

💡 Tip: Ask students to prepare some evidence of their task completion and encourage them to discuss their experience in the next class.

5: Create their own revision materials

Cover image about the Abridge Academy vocabulary flashcards. A teacher shows a flashcard to a student, who looks excited as she chooses the correct word. A screenshot of the Abridge Academy vocabulary flashcards is in the background, showing how they include images, new words, an example sentence, and the CEFR level of each word. Flashcards are colour-coded according to parts of speech. In this image, nouns are in pink whereas verbs are in blue. This is the same colour-coding scheme used throughout the Abridge Academy lesson slides and supplementary materials.

Continual review is essential to language learning success! Of course, you can provide students with useful revision materials such as vocabulary flashcards (included in the Abridge Academy curriculum). However, research shows that making their own resources is actually more effective² – the process of consolidating and organising key ideas is in itself an important learning opportunity.

Here are some suggestions you could ask students to try:

Add new words to their vocabulary bank, using physical flashcards or spaced repetition apps such as Anki.
Make a poster summarising the new grammar point, including three example sentences.
Label a diagram with the key words, to add to your notebook.
Create a mind map summarising useful phrases for different restaurant-based conversations.

Useful tools

Flashcard apps: Anki, Quizlet, OmniSets
Mind mapping tools: Drawio, Freeform, Mindmup, Noteey

6: Flip the classroom with preview tasks

Cover image of the Abridge Academy lesson preview slides. Image shows a laptop with the slides in full screen mode, showing the new vocabulary images, text, and audio (in British and American English). A magnifying glass icon overlay represents students previewing these lesson slides before class to pre-learn new vocabulary as part of a flipped learning approach.

Flipped learning is an increasingly popular teaching approach, particularly among online teachers with teenage or older students. Instead of post-lesson homework, assign short preview activities for students to pre-learn key ideas before class. This ensures that students come to class prepared, and has been proven to boost language proficiency, knowledge and skills.³

The Abridge Academy curriculum lessons already include slide previews, including audio for new vocabulary and example sentences, interactive tasks, and more. You can also encourage students to draw a mind map, add to their vocabulary banks, or prepare their own ideas for discussion questions to keep this pre-learning active and focused.

📚 Bonus: You’ll spend less time explaining basic concepts during class, and more time on active language use.

The lesson previews is what my parents consider to be homework because they find them more interactive and independent for their kids to use. Super interesting, and then we usually do the workbooks in class (as a review before each new lesson).
Teacher Ivy

Banner image promoting the Abridge Academy curriculum. Text reads: Interactive, fun, and professional online ESL teaching resources. Quote reads: I love it, the kids love it, and the parents love it! Screenshots showing a phonics game, lesson feedback slide, and homework workbook illustrate some key features of the Abridge Academy curriculum for online ESL teachers wanting to teach more professional, interactive, and high-quality online classes while saving time lesson planning.

7: Wider reading / listening / watching

Homework doesn’t have to be boring exercises! While active language use and practice is important, more passive exposure to natural language is also valuable for broadening vocabulary, experiencing authentic language use, and developing a genuine enjoyment of English.

Look up books, online articles, movies, short videos, podcasts, music, etc relating to the topic you are focusing on in class and recommend these to your students. If you want them to focus on specific language skills, you could assign more active tasks for them to complete, such as noting down five new words with their definitions, writing a short summary, or preparing a review of the book / movie.

Useful tools and websites

YouTube channels: SuperSimpleSongs, English SingSing, EasyEnglishPractice, Pocket Passport
Bilingual subtitling and language learning tool: Language Reactor
Written articles adapted for ESL learners: Breaking News English, News in Levels, British Council Magazine Zone

8: Research tasks

In preparation for a debate or more in-depth discussion-focused lesson, ask students to research key points, evidence, data, or examples before the class.

This not only develops independent research skills, but also sets them up to create more powerful arguments during the class debate.

You could provide them with some quick search prompts or useful websites / articles to assist with this, or leave it more open-ended.

This isn’t just for advanced debating or speaking lessons either – you could also encourage students to research local cultural insights (e.g. famous food, places to visit, popular events and festivals, etc) for related lesson discussions.

9: Journaling, blogging, or vlogging

We all know that regular practice is important for language development! An easy, zero-prep homework activity your students can work on every week is to write or record a diary entry about interesting events. This not only consolidates topics such as daily activities, places, food, hobbies, etc but also develops structured language use and can prompt them to look up additional vocabulary relating to their personal interests.

This record could be in a variety of formats, including:

Diary entry
Blog article (consider setting up a class blog to share these too!)
Vlog (video blog)
Social media post
Podcast / audio recording
Postcard or letter

Image shows a girl journalling, as if writing about a day out or an experience travelling abroad. She is holding a pencil while writing in a notebook. The notebook also includes photos and doodles in a scrapbook style.

My students publish on my blog and then other students read what they have written within my lessons. As my students read the work of others within their grade, they are inspired and excited to produce their own best work.
Teacher Dustin

10: Use pre-made workbooks

Cover image about the Abridge Academy homework workbooks. Graphics include an ipad with an interactive volcano labelling task, and another ipad with a grammar worksheet.

If you’re looking for more traditional homework assignments, the Abridge Academy curriculum includes pre-made workbooks and worksheets to accompany the lessons. There’s no need to create them from scratch yourself! Simply download the PDF files then send to your students via a messaging app or your teaching platform’s homework assignment system, or upload to a website such as Live Worksheets for digital submissions.

The parents love that there is homework for the students to do. It has made life much easier!
Teacher Annabelle

Workbooks typically focus on core vocabulary, grammar, and writing tasks. This is particularly helpful for students who are preparing for exams or academic use of English, as well as giving them the opportunity to review and consolidate learning between classes. And if your students don’t want to do the workbooks at home, you can also use them as extension activities during class time too!

The new workbooks are amazing! My parents like that they are printable as many of them are concerned about their eyesight and screen time. The workbooks also help students with their handwriting practice too. Thank you for the resources you provide, they are fabulous
Teacher Claire

Summary

Homework doesn’t have to be boring, stressful, or time-consuming for you or your students. By thinking outside the box and embracing creative, low-prep options like interactive quizzes, multimedia tasks, and real-world projects, you can:

Boost student engagement between lessons
Reinforce learning in fun, meaningful ways
Reduce your prep and marking workload
Show parents the real value of your classes

Whether you’re using Abridge Academy’s ready-to-go resources or trying out some of the fresh ideas shared here, remember: the most effective homework is purposeful, practical, and personalised to your students’ interests and goals.

✨ Try one or two ideas this week — and see what works best for your learners!

Looking for more engaging online ESL teaching materials?

The Abridge Academy lessons are super interactive, with plenty of activities and games to keep your learners engaged in class. Our structured step-by-step curriculum covers all language areas, while supplementary courses (such as debating, phonics, stories, topical reading, and academic writing) provide more focused extended practice.

🎁 FREE Placement test, trial classes, and student onboarding materials.
✅ Super interactive and engaging lessons, specifically designed for online learning.
✅ Zero prep – includes lesson slides, homework workbooks, supplementary activities, flashcards, lesson previews, and more.
✅ Suitable for beginner to advanced students (CEFR levels A1-C1), particularly kids and teens.

→Get started for free today!

References

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the best ESL homework ideas for online classes?

The online learning environment requires (and enables) a different approach to homework assignments. Top online ESL homework ideas include:
– Interactive quizzes and games, such as those provided by Abridge Academy
– Multimedia tasks such as audio or video submissions
– Creative projects using collaborative online tools
– Real-life tasks applying their online learning to practical scenarios.
– Creating revision materials or flashcards with digital learning apps
– Flipped learning activities preparing students in advance for the next class
– Wider reading / listening / watching using online materials
– Research tasks requiring them to find data or ideas online in preparation for a debate or class discussion
– Writing blog posts and social media posts or creating vlogs and podcasts.
– Using digital worksheet tools such as LiveWorksheets

How can I make ESL homework more engaging for students?

– Consider your students’ interests to assign more appealing homework projects, such as writing a biography of their favourite cartoon character vs writing a biography of a sports star.
– Provide a choice of approaches, such as picking who to write a biography of, so students can focus on topics most appropriate to their interests and personal goals.
– Keep things varied by assigning different formats of homework from week-to-week, to avoid task fatigue and boredom while developing a wider range of skills.
– Use interactive digital learning tools to make assignments more fun and engaging.

What are the advantages of digital homework?

Digital homework enables teachers to save time while delivering better results for students.

Key advantages for students of online homework include:
– More interactive, engaging, and fun.
– Provide instant feedback through self-marking quizzes and tasks.
– More accessible to students with additional needs through compatibility with accessibility tools such as screen readers.
– Don’t require printing, which helps students with limited access to resources.
– Support social learning through collaborative projects and peer-feedback.
– Adapt to students’ understanding with AI-powered adaptive pathways or feedback linking to further learning opportunities.

Key advantages for teachers include:
– Reduce marking time with quizzes or tasks that are self-marking.
– Easily track and analyse data to identify learning gaps or trends.
– Improve student homework completion rates and outcomes.

How much homework should I give online ESL students?

The amount of homework to give online ESL students really depends on your specific students’ goals. Many students take online ESL classes as a supplement to their school lessons, for which they already have homework, so it may not be appropriate to give them large amounts of additional homework from you too. Instead, consider shorter 5-10 minute digital tasks such as a quick vocabulary review quiz, or flipped-learning style tasks such as previewing lesson slides and researching useful data / ideas for the next class discussion.
Alternatively, if your classes are your students’ main source of English learning, e.g. homeschooling students or those who are not learning English in school, you could assign 0.5 – 2 hours of work per week, depending on their age. This could include more formal worksheets or written essays, or more interactive digital homework such as creating a presentation, writing a blog post, recording a video submission, or a real-life task.

How can I reduce my homework marking and feedback time?

Homework can be a huge additional workload for teachers, but this can be reduced by more strategically using resources or designing activities to reduce workload.
To reduce homework marking and feedback time:
– Set self-marking quizzes which provide students with instant, automated feedback.
– Encourage peer-review instead of teacher feedback, e.g. asking students to write comments on each others’ video submissions.
– Provide live feedback at the start of the next class rather than written feedback.

How can I reduce my homework marking and prep time?

To reduce homework preparation time:
– Use pre-made homework activities such as the Abridge Academy workbooks.
– Use tools such as WordWall which allow you to create interactive assignments in just a few minutes.- Set students more student-led or open-ended tasks requiring just a sentence or two of instruction from you, e.g. “write a paragraph arguing for or against school uniform, using at least one conditional sentence.”