There are more teaching resources available online than ever before. For teachers, this can be incredibly useful — but it can also make finding the right resource surprisingly time-consuming.
A quick search for a worksheet, lesson activity or revision resource can return hundreds of options, all varying in quality, accuracy and suitability.
So, how can teachers identify high-quality teaching resources online without spending hours searching?
Whether you are looking for classroom activities, homework, revision materials or digital resources, here are some of the key things to consider.
1. Check That the Resource Has a Clear Learning Purpose
A good teaching resource should have a clear purpose.
Before downloading or using a resource, ask:
- What do I want pupils to learn from this?
- Does the resource support that learning objective?
- Is the activity helping pupils practise or develop the right knowledge or skill?
- Will I need to make significant changes before I can use it?
A worksheet may look attractive, but that does not necessarily mean it will add value to the lesson.
The strongest resources are those that make it easy to see how the activity contributes to pupils’ learning.
2. Make Sure It Is Appropriate for Your Pupils
Resources should be suitable for the age, ability and stage of learning of the pupils who will be using them.
Something designed for Year 7 pupils may not necessarily work for a Year 10 GCSE class, even if it covers a similar topic.
Consider:
- the complexity of the language;
- the amount of prior knowledge required;
- the level of challenge;
- the length of the activity; and
- whether pupils will need additional scaffolding.
Where possible, look for teaching resources that clearly identify the intended key stage, year group or level.
This can make it much quicker for teachers to decide whether a resource is appropriate.
3. Look for Resources Relevant to the UK Curriculum
Teachers in UK schools need resources that reflect the topics, terminology and expectations they are working with.
When searching for online teaching resources, check whether the material has been designed with UK schools in mind.
For secondary teachers, this may mean looking for resources relevant to:
- KS3;
- GCSE;
- A Level;
- specific subjects;
- curriculum topics; or
- exam preparation.
This is particularly important when using resources from international websites, where terminology, curriculum content and assessment styles can be very different.
A resource may be high quality in its original context but still require considerable adaptation before it is useful in a UK classroom.
4. Check the Accuracy of the Content
Accuracy should always come before presentation.
Teaching resources should contain reliable, up-to-date information and avoid misleading or oversimplified explanations.
Before using a new resource, it is worth checking:
- factual information;
- spelling and grammar;
- terminology;
- diagrams and labels;
- answers provided; and
- any statistics or case-study information.
This is particularly important for subjects where information changes over time.
High-quality teaching resources should help reduce a teacher’s preparation time — not create additional work correcting mistakes.
5. Consider Whether the Resource Is Easy to Use
The best resources do not need lengthy explanations before pupils can begin.
Instructions should be clear, layouts should be easy to follow and pupils should be able to understand what is expected of them.
Good design does not necessarily mean elaborate design.
Often, a simple and well-organised resource is more effective than one that contains too much information or too many visual elements.
Ask yourself:
Could I give this to my class with minimal additional explanation?
If the answer is yes, it is likely to be much more useful during a busy school day.
6. Look for the Right Level of Challenge
A good resource should make pupils think.
Activities that are too easy may provide little learning value, while resources that introduce too much difficulty too quickly can leave pupils frustrated.
High-quality resources often provide opportunities for pupils to:
- recall previous knowledge;
- apply what they have learned;
- explain ideas;
- make connections;
- analyse information; and
- answer increasingly challenging questions.
It can also be useful to look for resources that include extension or challenge activities for pupils who are ready to progress further.
7. Consider How Easily the Resource Can Be Adapted
No two classes are exactly the same.
Even a very strong teaching resource may need small changes depending on the needs of a particular group.
Resources that can be easily adapted give teachers greater flexibility.
For example, you might want to:
- add sentence starters;
- remove a particularly difficult question;
- add challenge questions;
- change examples;
- provide key-word support; or
- adapt the activity for homework.
Choosing flexible resources can save significant planning time compared with creating new materials from scratch.
8. Think Beyond Worksheets
Online teaching resources can take many different forms.
Alongside traditional worksheets, teachers can make use of:
- quizzes;
- interactive activities;
- revision tasks;
- digital questions;
- self-marking activities;
- retrieval practice;
- presentations;
- independent learning activities; and
- homework resources.
Different resource types can support different stages of learning.
For example, a retrieval quiz may be useful at the beginning of a lesson, while an interactive activity could support independent practice and a longer written task may be more appropriate for assessing understanding.
Building a variety of resource types into lessons can help maintain pupil engagement while reducing the need to create every activity from scratch.
9. Look for Resources That Save You Time
One of the biggest benefits of using teaching resources online is the opportunity to reduce workload.
A useful resource should ideally require less time to adapt than it would take to create the same activity yourself.
Digital resources can offer additional time-saving benefits.
For example, self-marking questions can provide pupils with immediate feedback while reducing the amount of routine marking required from teachers.
Resources that can be easily assigned, reused and accessed digitally can also make lesson preparation simpler.
The aim is not to remove the teacher from the learning process. Instead, technology can take care of repetitive tasks so teachers have more time to focus on teaching, feedback and supporting individual pupils.
10. Find Resource Platforms You Can Trust
Searching across dozens of different websites every week can quickly become another time-consuming task.
Finding a small number of reliable teaching resource platforms can make planning much more efficient.
When deciding whether to return to a resource website, consider:
- Is the content consistently useful?
- Is it easy to search by subject or topic?
- Is it designed for UK teachers?
- Are resources clearly labelled?
- Does the platform save me time?
- Are new resources being added?
- Can I quickly find something relevant to the lesson I am teaching?
The easier it is to find suitable resources, the more useful the platform becomes as part of your regular lesson-planning routine.
What Makes a Good Online Teaching Resource?
Ultimately, the best teaching resources are those that help pupils learn while making teachers’ lives easier.
A high-quality resource should be:
accurate, purposeful, appropriate, easy to use and relevant to the pupils you teach.
It does not need to be complicated.
In many cases, the simplest resources are the most effective because they allow teachers and pupils to focus on the learning rather than the activity itself.
At Teachily, we are developing an online teaching resource platform with UK schools and teachers in mind.
Our aim is to make it easier for teachers to find useful, curriculum-focused resources without spending valuable planning time searching across multiple websites.
From classroom activities to digital and self-marking resources, Teachily is being designed to help make lesson preparation simpler.
Explore teaching resources at Teachily.co.uk.
